SYNAPSEWhat a call means, and what a trade is.
A call is the engine's read of SPX, in five words, all session. A trade is the engine's own decision for its own book: what it bought, when, and how it gets out. Everyone gets both at the same moment.
A CALL OR A TRADE IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION
Each is what the engine saw or did for itself, published as it happens. It doesn't know anyone's account, size or goals, and nothing in it says what anyone else should do. Not financial advice. Read the full disclaimer.
Five words, all session.
The engine reads SPX on 5-minute bars from the open to the close and names it in one of five words. A new call posts once it holds for one 5-minute bar. A call describes the market; it carries no trade.
Strength: how big and how clean the move is right now, 1 to 5 bars. Not a probability.
Five fields, the same every time.
This is the format of the TRADE alert, not a trade that happened. Every session's calls are on the last session page.
Only when all five hold.
Most sessions at least one doesn't, and the engine doesn't trade.
One trade a day, held to the clock.
It enters right after the signal, or not at all
If no executable quote arrives in the short window after the signal, the engine records the missed entry and does not trade later that day. A later entry is a different trade from the one it tested.
It holds to 15:58
The engine sells at 15:58 ET whatever the trade is doing. It has no stop and no profit target; only the account-wide circuit breaker can close it sooner. In its backtest every entry paid the ask and every exit took the 15:58 bid, so a different price or a different exit is a different trade.
A call carries no size
The engine sizes its own book from its own account. A call says nothing about size for anyone else, because it knows nothing about anyone else's account. How size changes growth, drawdown and ruin.
It doesn't follow up
No adds, no rolls, no second call. If the day's one call is blocked or missed, the engine says so and that is the day.
True of every same-day option bought outright.
The most it can lose is what was paid
A bought option can fall to zero, and a same-day option can get there within hours. It can't lose more than its price.
Cash, not shares
SPX and XSP options settle in cash at expiration and can only be exercised then, so no shares change hands. Why SPX has the details from Cboe's fact sheets.
Not financial advice. Synapse shows what its engine sees and does. It does not know your account or your goals, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Synapse is a publisher, not a broker or adviser, and never places orders for anyone. Read the full disclaimer or the terms.