Performance.
Calculation.
Methodology.

Every performance figure VitalQuant publishes — in strategy reports, the Vital Signs tables, and the Weekly Market Analysis — is produced by a single, consistent methodology applied the same way to every strategy. The approach is systematic and point-in-time: results reflect what a disciplined investor following the published signals would have experienced under a defined and deliberately conservative set of trading assumptions. These figures are the output of computer models and are illustrative; actual investor results vary with timing, contributions, taxes, and execution.

A single reference price is used for every transaction, so results are reproducible and comparable across strategies. Rebalances are assumed to occur at the start of the week — on Monday, or the first trading day if Monday's market is closed. The reference price is established after that day's close as a weighted average of the day's high, low, and closing prices:

Doubling the close weights the price toward where the security actually settled while still reflecting the day's range. Each position is then bought or sold in a single lot at this price. Position sizing and rebalance frequency are defined per strategy.

To reflect real-world frictions — commissions and market impact — each trade is penalized for slippage: buy prices are marked up and sell prices marked down. Slippage is variable and scaled to liquidity, measured as a stock's 10-day average of price times volume (dollar volume). Thinly traded names carry a larger penalty; highly liquid names carry very little. ETF-based strategies use a flat 0.10%, since ETFs are liquid by design.

Total return includes dividends. Stock splits are applied on their effective date, and historical figures are expressed in current-share terms. Stock dividends follow the same logic, distinguishing the ex-date from the payment date — a position held on the ex-date receives the adjustment. Cash dividends are not automatically reinvested; they accumulate in the cash balance and are deployed when a strategy next has enough cash to open a full position. In practice, dividends are effectively reinvested only when a strategy sells and repurchases the same security at the same rebalance. Spinoffs and other corporate actions are treated as cash-equivalent: cash is taken where available and any securities received are sold, at the economic value reported by our data providers.

A position is sold when it leaves its strategy's investable universe — whether the company ceases to exist (for example, through bankruptcy or acquisition) or simply no longer qualifies (for example, dropping out of an index). The sale is recorded at the next rebalance using the last known price on the exit date. As a result, a strategy may temporarily hold cash between a forced exit and its next purchase.

In the interest of conservatism, cash is assumed to earn a zero return in all periods. This understates returns during the cash positions raised by our Vital Risk Control™ framework, but we prefer the conservative treatment over crediting an interest rate that an investor might not capture.

Headline figures are computed on the resulting equity curve and benchmarked against each strategy's index — Rock Steady against the S&P 500, Smallcap Winners against the S&P SmallCap 600, and Magnificent Two against the Nasdaq 100. Risk metrics are reported since inception.

• Total Return — cumulative gain including dividends, net of slippage.
• Annualized Return (CAGR) — the constant compound yearly rate linking the start and end values; a geometric, not simple, average.
• Standard Deviation — the dispersion of returns; a measure of volatility.
• Sharpe Ratio — return earned above the risk-free rate per unit of total volatility.
• Sortino Ratio — like Sharpe, but penalizing only downside (below-target) volatility.
• Maximum Drawdown — the largest peak-to-trough decline over the period.
• Alpha & Beta — return added beyond what benchmark exposure predicts (alpha), and sensitivity to benchmark moves (beta).