Performance Methodology

1. Core principles

The Friday Five aims to present performance that is:

• Reproducible from identified data and timestamps.
• Clear about whether results are actual, hypothetical, paper-traded, backtested, or model-based.
• Inclusive of losing and closed examples, not only favorable outcomes.
• Adjusted consistently for corporate actions.
• Accompanied by assumptions, benchmark, costs, and limitations when relevant.

2. Security identity and eligibility

Before publication, verify:

• Company or fund name.
• Ticker and primary exchange.
• Security type.
• Measurement dates and market holidays.
• Corporate actions, symbol changes, mergers, spin-offs, splits, special dividends, and delistings.
• Liquidity and whether the displayed price was reasonably executable.

Unless stated otherwise, rankings cover common stocks and exchange-traded funds listed on major U.S. exchanges. Excluded categories should be identified, such as over-the-counter securities, warrants, rights, preferred shares, leveraged products, or securities below a stated price or liquidity threshold.

3. Weekly performance

Unless an article states otherwise, weekly price performance is calculated from the official closing price on the final trading day of the prior week to the official closing price on the final trading day of the measured week:

Weekly Return (%) = ((Ending Price / Starting Price) - 1) × 100

If a market holiday changes the trading week, use the last available official close in each period and state the dates.

4. Monthly performance

Unless stated otherwise, monthly price performance is calculated from the official close on the last trading day before the measured calendar month to the official close on the final trading day of the measured calendar month:

Monthly Return (%) = ((Month-End Price / Pre-Month Price) - 1) × 100

5. Price return versus total return

Every presentation must identify whether it uses:

• Price return: change in market price, adjusted for splits but excluding cash distributions; or
• Total return: change in value including reinvested distributions according to the identified methodology.

The default Friday Five stock-ranking metric is price return using split-adjusted closing prices, excluding dividends, unless the article labels a different method.

Do not mix price-return and total-return figures in the same ranking without clear labels.

6. Corporate actions

Stock splits and reverse splits should be normalized so the action alone does not create a false gain or loss. Special dividends, spin-offs, mergers, and rights distributions require case-specific review and a methodology note.

A security may be excluded when a corporate action prevents a fair comparison.

7. Intraday references

Intraday returns, entries, targets, and stops must state:

• Date and time.
• Time zone.
• Data source.
• Whether the price is bid, ask, last trade, midpoint, volume-weighted average, open, high, low, or close.
• Whether the level was published before or after it occurred.

A price observed after publication may not be represented as an available entry unless the assumptions explain why execution was feasible.

8. Model trades and portfolios

A model trade is not a subscriber account and does not represent individualized advice. Each model must state:

• Publication timestamp.
• Security and instrument.
• Entry rule and assumed price.
• Position-sizing rule.
• Exit, target, stop, or expiration rule.
• Benchmark.
• Fees, spread, slippage, taxes, and dividend assumptions.
• Whether partial shares are assumed.
• Whether capital is continuously available.

If assumptions are not included, the presentation must not be marketed as a complete track record.

9. Options methodology

Options presentations must identify:

• Underlying symbol.
• Strategy and position legs.
• Expiration date.
• Strike prices.
• Option type.
• Assumed contracts and multiplier.
• Premium basis: bid, ask, midpoint, last, or executable fill.
• Commissions, contract fees, spread, slippage, assignment, exercise, and early-exercise assumptions.
• Maximum defined gain and loss when calculable.
• Treatment at expiration and of early exits.

A multi-leg strategy may not be marked using favorable prices from different moments unless the methodology expressly models simultaneous execution and realistic spreads.

10. Actual, hypothetical, paper, and backtested labels

Use one of these labels prominently:

• Actual publisher account: supported by internal records; not independently audited unless expressly stated.
• Paper trade: recorded prospectively without real capital.
• Hypothetical model: calculated from stated rules without actual execution.
• Backtest: rules applied retrospectively to historical data.
• Illustrative example: educational arithmetic, not a track record.

Never present hypothetical, paper, backtested, or illustrative results as actual trading results.

11. Costs and taxes

Unless expressly included, headline stock-ranking returns exclude commissions, spreads, slippage, market impact, borrowing costs, subscription fees, and taxes. Any portfolio or strategy performance should state which costs are included.

Tax treatment varies by investor and may materially change after-tax results.

12. Benchmarks

When comparing performance, identify the benchmark, ticker or index, return type, dates, and whether dividends are included. The benchmark period and return method should match the presented strategy as closely as practical.

13. Verification process

Before publication, a reviewer or verification agent should independently confirm:

1. Ticker and security identity.
2. Start and end dates.
3. Start and end values.
4. Return formula.
5. Corporate-action treatment.
6. Liquidity and data anomalies.
7. Catalyst attribution and source dates.
8. Labels for actual, hypothetical, paper, backtested, or illustrative results.
9. Conflict and position disclosures.
10. Consistency between article text, charts, tables, PDF, email, and website.

14. Corrections

Material calculation or classification errors will be corrected under the Corrections Policy. The correction should identify the original value, corrected value, reason, and date.

15. Limitations

Historical results do not guarantee future outcomes. Rankings are retrospective and can be affected by survivorship bias, selection rules, data revisions, illiquidity, and events that could not have been known in advance.