Strategy alerts

What do the two levels of alert mean?

The level decides whether the alert stops the run and whether you can leave it as is.

• Blocking — the strategy cannot be backtested. In both All at once and Step by step, the section strip marks the section that holds it red. There is no "Leave as is" action; the underlying setting has to change.
• To review — the strategy runs, but the setup is likely unintended. On both views the section strip marks the section violet instead. You can fix the setting, or press Leave as is if the setup is deliberate.

What does the footer on a Settings card show?

Each Settings card shows at most one footer, for its single most severe control. A control to review carries a Leave as is action; a blocking one offers its fix instead — for example, the Risk-Off card's footer reads Choose the Risk-Off, and the Asset selection card's footer on a Free-plan strategy holding a screener reads Remove the screener (or Change strategy type) beside the plan link Switch to Starter. When a selection is below what its strategy type needs — Multiple instruments with one instrument, say — the Asset selection card's footer carries the same blocking sentence the section strip's popover lists, "Add at least 2 instruments before running this strategy.", and it clears from the footer, the strip and the popover together as soon as you add the missing instrument. Further controls in the same card sit behind a line such as "and 1 more control in this card". Once you leave the footer's control as is, it drops out of the footer entirely — a closed control no longer shows anywhere on the card. It lives only in the section strip's count and its popover, under Reviewed by you · {count}, where you press Reopen to bring it back.

What does "Leave as is" do, and can I undo it?

Leave as is acknowledges an alert to review and moves it out of the active list into a Reviewed by you · {count} section — it changes nothing about the strategy itself, it only records that you have reviewed the alert. Reopen brings one back to the active list, and Reopen all brings back every reviewed alert; Leave all as is handles the whole active batch at once. Leaving as is the last active alert to review turns the strip grey: it reads {count} reviewed, or All clear once nothing was ever left as is either.

Every alert to review can be left as is; no blocking alert can. Once left as is, an alert is stored on the strategy and never cleared automatically, so if the same condition arises again later it stays in Reviewed by you rather than reopening. On a Combined, leaving an alert as is — or reopening it — applies to the strategy you pressed it on alone: the same alert on another of its strategies, or on the Combined itself, keeps its own state.

What does the section strip show?

All at once and Step by step show the same section strip: one small mark per section, always in the same order — Selection, Rebalance, Allocation, Risk, Exits. On a Combined's own tab or walk the order is Strategies, Allocation, Risk, Rebalance, followed by one double mark standing for its member strategies ("Its strategies"). Each mark is faint grey while its section has nothing, a solid darker grey once every alert in it was left as is, violet while it holds an alert to review, and red while it holds a blocking alert. A strategy the Backtest refuses because its selection is below its type's minimum — Multiple instruments holding a single instrument, say — also turns Selection red (on a Combined's own tab, Strategies) and counts as one blocking item, and the popover lists it in the refusal's own sentence, so the strip never reads ready beside a refused Backtest. The same holds for a Combined with more member strategies switched on than your plan includes: Strategies turns red and the popover lists the refusal's sentence — "The Combined uses 6 strategies, your plan includes 5. Switch off the extra strategies or move to Ultimate.", or, on a plan without Combined strategies at all, "The Starter plan does not include Combined strategies. Move to Advanced." It sits in the strategy's header, above the section band, in every section of the strategy and in every chapter of Step by step.

The strip is always shown, followed by the count in words: {count} blocking once at least one section is red, {count} to review once none are red but at least one is violet, {count} reviewed (grey) once every section is clear but at least one alert was left as is, and All clear (grey) once there is nothing at all — open or reviewed.

What happens when I click the section strip?

Clicking the strip opens the Strategy controls popover, which lists every section as a heading, in the strip's order — Selection, Rebalance, Allocation, Risk, Exits, or, on a Combined's own tab or walk, Strategies, Allocation, Risk, Rebalance. Each heading carries its section's mark and its state in words, such as "1 to review" or "1 to review · 1 note"; the sections with nothing to say are not headings but share one closing line, such as "All clear: Rebalance · Exits". Under a heading come its open controls: clicking a control takes you to the card that fixes it, and a control to review also has Leave as is beside it. Then, in the same section, what you already reviewed, each with Reopen, and the section's grey notes, which also take you to the card they explain when clicked. On a Combined's own tab or walk, each member strategy with something to say follows as its own heading, named after it: clicking one of its controls opens that strategy at the card instead of scrolling on the same page. If there is nothing at all to list — no open control, nothing reviewed, no note — clicking the strip opens nothing. In Step by step, clicking a control takes you to the chapter that owns it, on the page that fixes it. The chapter is the one whose control resolves the alert: the missing Risk-Off alert, for example, belongs to Risk and exits, not to Allocation. On a public, read-only strategy the strip is not shown at all, so there is no popover: its alerts are not the viewer's to decide.

What happens to a refused Backtest?

A refused Backtest button keeps its normal face — it is not replaced by a different control — but its base turns red to show it is refused. Beside it sits the reason, as a link to the fix: for a strategy alert, the control's short title (for example, "Nothing set for when the risk triggers"); when several blocking alerts fire, the reason is the first in the strip's order, Selection before Allocation before Risk; on a Combined, the member strategy together with its reason, {strategy}: {reason}, followed by · +{count} when more are refused; for a refusal that is not a strategy alert — a missing instrument, an Incomplete Combined, and the other setup checks — the refusal sentence itself. See Why was my run refused? for the full list of non-alert refusals.

Which alerts can appear, and what fixes each one?

Each quote below is the exact text the app shows, followed by what triggers it and what clears it. The bold title before each quote is the alert's short form on its card and on a refused Backtest. Where a number in a sentence depends on your settings, the quote shows an example value. The controls are grouped by the section of the strip that shows them; the Rebalance section has none today.

Which controls belong to the Selection section?

The Selection section's controls are about what the strategy chooses from — its picked instruments, its entry and exit screeners, and Max positions. They sit on the Asset selection card.

• Blocking · The strategy has no instruments — "There is nothing for the strategy to choose from: no instruments and no entry screener. Add instruments or an entry screener: until you do, the backtest cannot run." The strategy has no picked instrument and no entry screener, so it has no candidate to buy on any date and would never invest. Add instruments or attach an entry screener. When the strategy type already requires instruments or a screener, the run refusal names that requirement instead, so the same fact is not said twice — see Saving, running, and copying a strategy.
• Blocking · The strategy can't run on the Free plan — "This strategy uses a screener, and strategies with screeners start at Starter. Nothing changes until you decide: remove it or switch to Starter. Until then the backtest will not run." The strategy holds at least one entry or exit screener and your plan includes no screeners inside strategies — Free, today. The strategy stays intact and editable; only the run is refused, before you press anything. The card's footer carries the ways out: Remove the screener (Remove the screeners when there are several), or, on a Screener strategy — which cannot run without one — Change strategy type, whose sentence then reads "change type" instead of "remove it"; beside them, the plan link Switch to Starter. See plan compliance.
• Blocking · Your plan holds at most 10 instruments — "You have 12 instruments and your plan holds at most 10 in one strategy: while there are more, the strategy can't be saved and the backtest won't run. Remove 2 or move to a higher plan." You picked more instruments than your plan holds in one strategy — the most Max positions your plan allows. It is the Basket's alert: there Max positions is the number of instruments you picked, so a list over the limit is a strategy over the limit. In Compose a list longer than the limit raises it only while Max positions is above the limit too; with Max positions within your plan the strategy runs, and "Some instruments stay out" below says which are held. A pasted or added list over the limit is kept whole, never cut to fit. Besides the backtest, it stops the save: Save does not go through and shows this alert's sentence instead. On the top plan, where no higher plan raises the limit, the sentence ends at "Remove 2". It cannot be left as is: remove instruments until the list is within the limit, or move to a higher plan.
• Blocking · The strategy uses 3 screeners, your plan includes 1 — "The strategy uses 3 screeners, your plan includes 1. Remove the extra screeners or move to Ultimate." Your plan includes screeners inside strategies, but fewer than this strategy holds — entry and exit screeners together, counted on every member of a Combined, switched-off ones included. It usually follows a downgrade. The plan it names is the first one that holds that many screeners; where no plan does, the sentence ends at "Remove the extra screeners." The strategy stays intact and editable; only the run is refused, before you press anything. It cannot be left as is: remove screeners until the count is within your plan, or move to the plan it names. See plan compliance.
• Blocking · The strategy holds 25 positions, your plan includes 10 — "The strategy holds 25 positions, your plan includes 10. Lower Max positions to 10 or move to Advanced." Max positions is switched on and set above what your plan allows, while the picked list itself is within it — Compose, a screener strategy, or a strategy kept after a downgrade. With Max positions switched off nothing is counted and this alert does not appear. Like the screener count, it is read on every member of a Combined, switched-off ones included. The plan it names is the first one that allows that many positions; where no plan does, the sentence ends at "Lower Max positions to 10." It cannot be left as is: lower Max positions to your plan's limit, or move to the plan it names.
• To review · An instrument exits as soon as it enters — "The same screener is both an entry and an exit screener: a title that passes both is sold and bought back in the same rebalance unless a wait of at least 1 month applies, and entry wins. Keep it in only one of the two lists." The same source screener is attached as an entry screener and as an exit screener. Remove it from one of the two lists, or Leave as is. The same screener attached twice as an entry screener raises nothing, because a repeat there changes nothing.
• To review · Some instruments stay out — "You picked more instruments than Max positions allows: the engine keeps the first ones and open positions keep their slot, so it is always the same ones, chosen in an internal order, not alphabetical. The others enter only when one frees up. Raise Max positions or remove some instruments." You picked more instruments than Max positions allows, with no entry screener, and the Risk-On method is not Ranking-based, which chooses among them by its own ranking. The remaining instruments are bought only when a position frees up — when an exit frees one. Raise Max positions, remove instruments, or Leave as is. Where Fincanva sets Max positions to the number of instruments you pick, this alert does not arise.
• To review · No rule decides which names enter — "If more than 10 titles pass, the engine takes the most traded (when there are more than 60) or the first in an internal order, not the best: add a «Highest by…» row to decide yourself." An entry screener has no «Highest by…» or «Lowest by…» row, so nothing in it says which of the titles that pass should fill the positions. The first number is your Max positions; the second is six times it. Add an ordering row to the screener, or Leave as is. It does not fire when the Risk-On method is Ranking-based, which fills the positions from its own ranking, nor when the entry screener runs over picked instruments that can all be held — no more of them than Max positions — because a screener over picked instruments chooses only among them, and every one of them has a slot. How the screener's result is cut and ordered is on screener attach.
• To review · The engine does not keep the top of your ranking — "The last ranking row keeps 100 titles, more than 60: the engine cuts them to the most traded and fills the positions with the most liquid instead of the top of your ranking. Bring the row to 60 titles or fewer." The last «Highest by…» or «Lowest by…» row of an entry screener keeps more titles than six times Max positions. Bring the row down to that number, or Leave as is. Silent under a Ranking-based Risk-On method, for the same reason as the previous control, and when the entry screener runs over no more picked instruments than six times Max positions, because it can never pass more titles than you picked.
• To review · The exit screener changes nothing — "The engine sells and buys back the same instrument in the same rebalance, because it is on your list and there is no wait here: remove the exit screener, or switch to Compose with an entry screener and a wait of at least 2 months." The strategy has picked instruments and an exit screener but no entry screener. Without an entry screener the candidates are always your picked list, and no wait can apply, so whatever the exit screener sells is bought straight back. The number is twice your rebalance interval. Remove the exit screener, move to Compose with an entry screener and a reinvest delay, or Leave as is. This control replaces the grey note "It sells with the exit screener", which said the opposite of what the engine does.

Which controls belong to the Allocation section?

The Allocation section's controls are about the allocation method and its weights. They sit on the Allocation card; the ones marked below also appear on a Combined's own Allocation card.

• Blocking · The strategy does not run with this in-sample period — "With this method the engine accepts only 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 18 or 24 months, and with 9 the backtest stops with an error: choose one of these values." The method reads annualised volatility over its calculation window, and the window holds a number of months outside those seven. Choose one of the seven. It is raised on a Combined's own allocation too, and it stays silent on a strategy holding one picked instrument when the method has nothing to weigh and so never reads the window.

• Blocking · The strategy does not run with fixed weights — "Fixed weights are set instrument by instrument, but the screener picks instruments you have not weighted and the backtest would stop: choose a method that computes the weights itself, for example equal weights." The method is Fixed weights, there is no picked instrument, and an entry screener chooses the holdings. The method picker already shows «Fixed weights» greyed out on such a strategy; this control catches a strategy that holds it anyway. Choose another method.

• To review · Everything stays in cash — the allocation in use invests nothing. It has three causes, each with its own sentence:

  • "This allocation invests nothing: every weight is zero, so no capital goes anywhere. Set at least one weight above or below zero." — every weight in a Fixed weights or Ranking-based setup is 0, including the ten zero weights a Ranking-based setup has after Clear. It is raised the same way for a Combined whose own allocation invests nothing across its member strategies in use, and its totals line reads "Invests nothing" either way.
  • "With 5 instruments a minimum weight of 25% asks for more than 100%: the engine finds no valid weights and stays in cash. Bring the minimum below 20%." — a constrained Markowitz allocation, Long-only or Long/short with Min weight 0% or more (which the engine then solves as long-only), whose minimum weight, times the number of instruments it holds, is above 100%.
  • "With 5 instruments only the first 5 ranking levels count and they are all zero, so nothing is invested." — a Ranking-based allocation on fewer than ten picked instruments, with no entry screener, whose weights sit only on levels the engine does not read — see Ranking-based.

  The Risk-Off allocation is checked only while a risk condition is active. Leaving it as is applies where you press it: on a Combined's own allocation to the Combined alone, on a member strategy to that strategy alone. Fix the weights, or Leave as is if an all-cash allocation is what you want.

• To review · Part of the capital stays in cash — "With 5 instruments and a maximum weight of 10%, the engine invests at most 50% and the rest stays in cash: raise the maximum weight or add instruments." A constrained Markowitz allocation, Long-only or Long/short with Min weight 0% or more, whose maximum weight, times the number of instruments it holds, is below 100% — see MPT (Markowitz). With an entry screener the number of instruments is Max positions, the most it can hold; with picked instruments it counts at most those, because a screener over picked instruments chooses only among them. Raise the maximum, add instruments, or Leave as is.

• To review · The engine uses only part of your weights — "With 5 instruments the engine uses only the first 5 levels and the later weights do not count, negative ones (short sales) included: reduce the levels or add instruments." A Ranking-based allocation on fewer than ten picked instruments, with no entry screener, carries weights on levels past the number of instruments, and those weights are never read. It stays silent when every level carries the same weight, which reads the same either way, and when the previous control already says nothing is invested. Move the weights onto the levels that count, add instruments, or Leave as is.

Which controls belong to the Risk section?

The Risk section's controls are about the risk conditions and the Risk-Off allocation they switch to. They sit on the Risk card; the two about the Risk-Off allocation are answered on the Allocation card's Risk-Off tab, and the two marked below also appear on a Combined's own Risk card, naming "the Combined" instead of "the portfolio".

• Blocking · Nothing set for when the risk triggers — "You turned on a risk condition but have not chosen what to do when it triggers. Choose a Risk-Off allocation: until you do, the backtest cannot run." The strategy has an active risk condition but no Risk-Off allocation, so there is nothing to switch to. The alert's action button reads "Choose the Risk-Off". Choose the Risk-Off allocation to clear it.

• To review · Nothing changes when the risk triggers — two causes, each with its own sentence:

  • "When the risk condition triggers, nothing changes, because Risk-Off is the same as Risk-On. Change the Risk-Off allocation, or leave it if that is intended." — both allocation profiles carry the same method and parameters — see Risk-Off canonicalization.
  • "With one instrument the method does not matter and Risk-Off can only change the leverage; with the same leverage the engine removes the rule, so set a different leverage (0 = all in cash)." — the strategy holds one picked instrument and no entry screener, and both profiles carry the same leverage — see What does Risk-Off change on a single instrument?.

  Change the Risk-Off allocation, or Leave as is if the identical profile is a deliberate placeholder.

• To review · When the risk triggers, the portfolio changes late — "When the rule triggers, the portfolio changes only at the next rebalance, up to 3 months later, and a shorter dip passes with no effect; turn on “Auto-rebalance” if you want it to act the same day." Every active risk condition has Auto-rebalance off and the strategy rebalances monthly with rebalances more than one month apart. The number is the rebalance interval. Turn on Auto-rebalance, or Leave as is. Also on a Combined's own risk rule, with the Combined's own rebalance interval. See auto-rebalance on flip.

• To review · The portfolio would keep flipping between Risk-On and Risk-Off — "With values between 30 and 40 the rule would go from Risk-On to Risk-Off at every observation; separate the thresholds so that Risk-On triggers only where Risk-Off does not." A Single series condition whose Risk-Off and Risk-On thresholds overlap: a value that meets both switches the regime at every observation. When both thresholds point the same way the sentence opens "With values above 30" or "With values below 30" instead. Separate the thresholds, or Leave as is. Also on a Combined's own risk rule. See How do the Risk-Off and Risk-On thresholds work?.

Which controls belong to the Exits section?

The Exits section's controls are about what makes a position leave: stop loss, take profit, maximum holding period and the reinvest delay. A Combined has no exits of its own, so none of these appears on its own tab.

• To review · Once full, the portfolio stops changing — "The entry screener only fills free slots. With no exit rule, once the portfolio is full it never changes instruments, even when the screener finds better ones. To make it rotate, add an exit screener, a stop loss, a take profit or a maximum holding period." The strategy has an entry screener and nothing that ever makes a position leave: no stop loss, no take profit, no maximum holding period, no exit screener, and no Risk-Off allocation that differs from Risk-On. It does not fire when the Risk-On method is Ranking-based, which re-ranks its holdings at every rebalance, and it does not fire without an entry screener: a hand-picked basket held for good is a buy-and-hold, not a mistake. Add one of those exits, or Leave as is.
• To review · After a stop the title can come straight back — "If at the next rebalance the title still passes the screener, the engine buys it again: set «Reinvest delay» to keep it out." A stop loss or a take profit is on, an entry screener feeds the strategy, and the Reinvest delay is off. Turn it on, or Leave as is. See position exits.
• To review · The wait after a stop is shorter than it looks — "The wait is counted in calendar months and checked only at rebalances, so with 3 months a title stopped out in the month of the last rebalance is back already at the next one: to always skip at least one you need 6 months." A stop loss or a take profit is on, the strategy rebalances on a monthly cadence — here every 3 months — and the Reinvest delay equals the rebalance interval, the shortest wait the field allows. Double the wait, or Leave as is. See reinvest delay.

What do the grey notes on a Settings card mean?

A note is the third, quiet level of the same controls system: a title and its consequence, saying what the engine will do with the current setup. A card's notes are folded into one row at the end of its body, above a thin line — a small grey square with an "i" and What the engine will do · {count} notes — which starts closed; clicking it opens every note with its title and consequence, and clicking again closes them. Every section card can carry notes — Asset selection, Allocation, Risk and Exits, and a Combined's own Allocation and Risk — and a card with none shows no row. A note never asks for a decision, is never counted in a header total, and never marks the section strip or the lists' Controls column. The Strategy controls popover does list it, though, last, under Notes (see What happens when I click the section strip? above).

On the Asset selection card:

• "The screener chooses among your 5 instruments" — "At each rebalance, only those that pass it enter" (singular: "your one instrument" — "At each rebalance it enters only if it passes"). Shown when you have both picked instruments and an entry screener: the screener filters your picked list rather than searching its whole universe.
• "Passing any one of the screeners is enough to enter" — "A title enters if it passes at least one of the screeners, not all of them; to ask for both conditions, put them in the same screener." Shown when the strategy has two or more entry screeners.
• "2 instruments only exist after the backtest starts" — "The engine cannot pick each one before the first rebalance on or after its own start date, shown beside the instrument." (singular: "One instrument only exists after the backtest starts" — "The engine cannot pick it before the first rebalance on or after its start date, shown beside the instrument."). Shown when you have picked instruments and no entry screener, and the data of at least one of them starts after the backtest's first rebalance — the first Friday of January of the start year. That date is a lower bound, not a promise: before it the instrument is not a candidate at all, and after it the instrument can still wait — an allocation method that reads a window of past prices gives no weight to an instrument with less history than that window, and a full set of positions leaves no slot. Each such instrument shows its first day beside it in the instrument list, as from {date} — for example "from Jun 30, 2015" — with or without a screener. Moving the start year past every first day makes the note and the dates disappear.

On the Allocation card:

• "With costs off, the levered return is higher than the real one" — "As long as the analysis runs without costs, borrowed money pays no interest: the levered return comes out higher than the real one." Shown when an allocation the engine reads has a leverage above 1 or a negative weight — a short sale. It appears on the Allocation card only, not on the analysis.
• "When a strategy goes to cash, the others do not take its share" — "When Momentum goes to cash, the engine does not move its share to the other strategies, and the share stays in cash until that strategy invests again." On a Combined's own Allocation card, when a member strategy in use has its risk condition on and a Risk-Off allocation with leverage 0. When several do, it names the first and adds "or one other strategy" or "or one of the other 2 strategies". See per-strategy risk layer.

On the Risk card:

• "When the risk triggers, the portfolio changes at the rebalance" — "A change of regime changes the portfolio at the next rebalance, the first Friday of the month, unless you turn on “Auto-rebalance”." Shown when every active risk condition has Auto-rebalance off and the strategy rebalances every month; at a longer interval it is the control "When the risk triggers, the portfolio changes late" instead. On a Combined's own Risk card it reads "the Combined".
• "With one instrument, risk only changes how much you invest" — "Risk-Off decides how much to invest in the instrument: leverage 0 means cash, 0.5 means half." Shown when a risk condition is active on a strategy holding one picked instrument and no entry screener, and the control "Nothing changes when the risk triggers" is not already raised.

On the Exits card:

• "After a stop the capital stays in cash" — "Stop and target are checked every day; after the exit the capital stays in cash and at the next rebalance the engine buys the instrument again (with a screener: if it still passes)." Shown when a stop loss or a take profit is on, with no entry screener and no wait; with an entry screener it is the control "After a stop the title can come straight back" instead.

How do controls appear on the strategy lists?

On the Single strategies, Combined strategies and Portfolios lists, the column once labelled Warnings is now Controls: it shows the same section strip described above — one small mark per section — always, with every mark grey on a row with nothing left to decide. It no longer opens a clickable chip with its own popover and Accept/Reopen actions. Hovering the strip states the count in words: {count} to review or {count} blocking, or All clear on a clear row (a row with only reviewed alerts also reads All clear here — the list does not separate the two). A Combined's controls are counted per member strategy: two member strategies carrying the same alert count as two, not one.

Opening a row's detail panel adds a Controls section — shown only for your own strategies — with the strip, then each of the strategy's own alerts with Go → to the card that fixes it and, for one to review, Leave as is; a closed one reads Reviewed by you · {title} with Reopen. A Combined's blocked roster — too few strategies, or too few switched on — appears there too, in the run gate's own sentence. In a Combined's panel, its Strategies list shows, under each member strategy with something left to decide, a mini strip, its most severe alert's title (plus · +{count} for more), and Open →.

The Portfolios page's To do list carries its own Controls group for a live portfolio whose only open item is a strategy alert — see Keep your live book in order.

The Public board shows none of this: no Controls column, none in the Columns chooser, and none in the panel — a public strategy's alerts are not the viewer's to decide.

What does it look like in practice?

You build a strategy with an entry screener, equal-weighted, Max positions 10, rebalancing monthly, and you set no exit rules at all. In All at once, the section strip marks Exits violet and reads 1 to review; opening it lists "Once full, the portfolio stops changing" under Exits with Go → to the Exits card. Once the screener has filled the ten slots, no rule ever frees one, so the portfolio keeps the same ten instruments however the screener's results change. Nothing is broken — the strategy will still backtest. You have two routes: add an exit (a stop loss, a take profit, a maximum holding period, an exit screener, or a Risk-Off allocation that differs from Risk-On), which makes the alert stop firing; or press Leave as is, which moves it to Reviewed by you · 1 and turns the strip grey, reading 1 reviewed. Clicking the strip afterwards still lists the alert under Reviewed by you, with Reopen.

The contrast case: the same strategy built on ten hand-picked instruments and no screener raises no alert at all. With nothing to rotate to, holding the basket is the design, not an oversight.