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Algorithms & the Quant

On, on the bench, or off

An algorithm is on (its view is read and, with weight, counts in the score), on the bench (on with weight 0, read but not counted), or off. Nothing on the Algorithms page can block a trade.

Who it is for
Owners & operators
Reading time
2 min read
Updated

Every card on Algorithms has one switch, On or Off, and, for a , one weight. That is the whole control surface. What the PM reads and what counts in the score follow from those two things.

The three states a card can be in

StateThe PMThe score
On, with weightReads its view on every nameCounts, at the share shown on the card
(on, weight 0)Reads its viewIgnored; the card says "on the bench"
OffDoes not see itIgnored
One algorithm's card: its name and role word, the On / Off switch, today's signals, the weight you set and the share of the score that counts.
One algorithm's card: its name and role word, the On / Off switch, today's signals, the weight you set and the share of the score that counts.

Both switches are one click on the card· Algorithms › On / Off and weight, take effect at the PM's next session, and are logged under Activity › Config changes with who and when. New arrive on the bench, so a newcomer never dilutes the score you chose until you give it weight.

Two kinds of card have no weight

is a rule machine: it reads setups and levels (a trigger, a stop, a first target) and the PM sees them beside the score. Its reading is never averaged into the number, so its card has no weight to set and the bar never shows it as a share; it is named under the bar instead.

A (see Signal, Screen, Setups) would never move the score either: it could block a buy in a name that fails it and say "Blocked by …" with the reason wherever the name appears, never a sell. No book has one while the buy block is retired (below); the card shape exists for the day a later decision brings screens back.

Nothing here is a veto any more

Until 11 September 2026 a card had a third position that turned an algorithm into a buy block at the . The first evidence round measured every such block over fourteen years of sessions: none added value and two were harmful, so the setting was retired for every book and the change was written to each book's strategy history. A book that still had one stored shows a one-line note on that card; the next save clears it. The hard stops that remain are the risk rules on Risk, which no algorithm and no agent can argue with.

Choosing

Leave everything you have not looked at on the bench: the PM still sees the view, and the score stays the one you chose. Give weight to a signal once its backtest on its detail page, for example cross-sectional momentum, and its live record on Performance convince you. Switch a signal off only when you do not want the PM to see it at all.