The fundamental difference
Both scores appear on every stock page. They look superficially similar — both have verdicts, both have factors — but they answer different questions.
- Conviction answers "is something happening right now?" It reads short-term signals: delivery, volume, deals, breadth, flows. It updates daily.
- Checklist answers "is this worth owning at all?" It reads slower-moving business quality on fundamentals: valuation, growth, returns & margins, financial health. It updates with the business, not the market.
A stock can score 95 on checklist (high-quality compounder) and Weak on conviction (no current catalyst). It can also score 35 on checklist (mediocre business) and Strong Bullish on conviction (momentum trade in progress).
The four quadrants
| High conviction | Low conviction | |
|---|---|---|
| High checklist | Quality at a moment of momentum — the best setup | Quality holding waiting for a catalyst |
| Low checklist | Momentum trade — possible but riskier | Skip — no quality and no momentum |
Quality + momentum (top-left)
The strongest setup. A business you'd want to own anyway, currently being noticed by the market. Look for: Checklist ≥70, conviction Strong/Moderate Bullish.
These are rare. When they show up, they reward deeper research time.
Quality waiting (top-right)
A high-checklist stock with no current signal. The business is sound; the market hasn't focused on it lately. Three responses:
- Watchlist and wait — set alerts for signal triggers
- Average in slowly — if you already conviction-bought the business
- Pass for now — momentum-driven investors should skip until a catalyst arrives
Momentum without quality (bottom-left)
A weak business currently in motion. Could be a turnaround, a sector tailwind, or a speculative move. Lower base rate of working out, but the moves can be larger when they do.
If you trade this quadrant, size positions smaller and use tighter stops. The lack of business quality means a faster downside if the momentum fails.
Skip (bottom-right)
Neither quality nor momentum. Most of the market sits here at any given time. There's nothing actionable here without a specific outside-data thesis.
Workflow implications
A practical sequence for stock-picking:
- Run a screen. Output ~50 candidates.
- Sort by checklist score descending. Cut to the top 20.
- Filter by conviction band ≥ Moderate Bullish. Cut to the top 5–10.
- Open each stock page. Read the strip. Skim Financials.
- Decide.
This is the quality-first workflow. The momentum-first workflow inverts steps 2 and 3 — sort by conviction first, then filter by checklist threshold.
Both work. The quality-first version is slower but produces fewer false-positive trades. The momentum-first version is faster but requires tighter risk management.
Browse by conviction