The phase says where the economy is, not that conditions are attractive — at a cycle top fundamentals improve and capital is abundant exactly when prospective returns are lowest. Read each score with its extremity: +2 (98th) is a warning, +2 (61st) is not. Inflation and monetary scores are inverted so + always means expansionary; their extremity stays on the natural axis.

Two halves, scored separately and never blended: dislocation (bad today) and inflection (improving underneath). A single combined number would rank the worst value traps highest, which is what this model exists to prevent. Candidate means both halves cleared their thresholds — it is a condition, not a recommendation. Indeterminate means a half could not be measured, and is deliberately not reported as a value trap.

“Basis” is how many of the ten components actually fed the score. Excluded components contributed nothing and their weight was redistributed — a score built from 6 of 10 is a different claim from one built from 10.

Quadrant compares each sector's score today against 3 months ago, relative to the day's peers — Leaders (high, rising), Weakening (high, falling), Emerging (low, rising), Falling Knife (low, falling). UNDETERMINED means under 3 months of history, never a guess. The action label is not yet backtest-validated for live use — see specs/027-score-momentum-matrix for the attribution finding.