# Conflict — support, neutrality and opposition

Revision: qa-2026-09-14-neutral. Supersedes the earlier Clear/Mixed/Against rule, which incorrectly treated a neutral read as opposition. Historical scores retain their original revision and are not relabeled.

## Before you classify the evidence

- **Four reads** — Structure, efficiency, VWAP and value each supply one reading about the proposed side. Treat them as related chart observations, not four independent proofs.
- **FOR / NEUTRAL / AGAINST** — FOR backs the proposed side. NEUTRAL backs neither side: it provides no directional confirmation and no opposition. AGAINST backs the opposite side. Keep all three totals separate.
- **The votes** — Structure UP backs long, DOWN backs short, NONE is neutral. An efficiency leg backs its net direction; churn and in-between are neutral. Trending VWAP backs the side price is on; stretched VWAP backs the side toward VWAP; at fair (including between the bands) is neutral. Above value backs long, below value backs short, inside value is neutral.
- **Supported** — At least three FOR and zero AGAINST. This is the confluence threshold for this drill, not a universal trading threshold.
- **Unconfirmed** — Zero AGAINST and fewer than three FOR. One FOR and three NEUTRAL is weak support, not three opposing reads. All NEUTRAL means no directional confirmation.
- **Conflicted** — At least one FOR and at least one AGAINST. There is active evidence on both sides, regardless of how many other reads are neutral.
- **Opposed** — At least one AGAINST and zero FOR. The remaining reads can be neutral; they do not increase opposition.
- **The read** — Select FOR, NEUTRAL or AGAINST for each read, then classify the evidence. All four choices and the verdict must be correct; nothing is preselected.
- **Limits** — These labels describe the specified chart rules, not a forecast, permission to trade, or a recommendation to trade the other side. The synthetic continuation is drawn independently of the evidence verdict.
- **M** — The median high-to-low range of the last 20 bars. Every distance here is in M.
- **Confidence is a number** — Low means 40%, Medium 65%, High 90% that all four reads and your verdict are right. Scored Brier-style: sure and wrong costs 0.81, unsure and wrong costs 0.16, sure and right costs 0.01.

## The rep and reveal

A frozen 40-bar chart shows the structure swings, anchored VWAP and bands, and value profile. The proposed LONG or SHORT side is stated. Select FOR / NEUTRAL / AGAINST for each of the four reads, then Supported / Unconfirmed / Conflicted / Opposed. The soft clock is 30 seconds. Instructions remain available before answering.

The reveal reports all three counts and each read’s state and choice. Example: **1 FOR · 3 NEUTRAL · 0 AGAINST — Unconfirmed: weak support; the other reads are neutral.** It must never say “3 of 4 disagree” for that evidence. An all-neutral chart is also Unconfirmed.

## Individual chart rules

- **Structure** (the last 15 bars): a swing is a bar higher (lower) than one bar on each side, the last bar never a swing; take the last three swing highs and the last three swing lows in the window. UP: highs strictly rising and lows strictly rising. DOWN: both strictly falling. NONE: anything else.
- **Efficiency** (the last 10 bars): net = |last close − the close 10 bars back|; path = the 10 close-to-close moves added up; both at two decimals of M; efficiency = net ÷ path at two decimals. Leg at 0.6 or more, its direction the net's; churn at 0.3 or less; in-between otherwise.
- **VWAP** (from the 18:00 anchor): d = |close − VWAP| in M at two decimals; slope = (VWAP now − VWAP 12 bars ago) ÷ 12 in M per bar at three decimals, taken toward price's side. At fair: d ≤ 0.25; between the bands (0.25 < d ≤ 0.5) scores as at fair. Trending: d > 0.5 and the slope toward price 0.05 or more. Stretched: d > 0.5 otherwise.
- **Value** (the 40 bars): each bar's volume spread evenly over its range into rows of 0.1 M anchored at the middle of the session's range; POC the row with the most volume; the value area the 70% of the volume around the POC, built outward one row at a time, the heavier neighbour first; VAH the top of the highest value row, VAL the bottom of the lowest. Above: round2((close − VAH) ÷ M) > 0. Below: round2((VAL − close) ÷ M) > 0. Inside otherwise.


## Scoring

Each read’s absolute backed side is converted relative to the proposed side: same side = FOR, no backed side = NEUTRAL, opposite side = AGAINST. Count the three groups separately.

1. Both FOR and AGAINST present: Conflicted.
2. AGAINST present and no FOR: Opposed.
3. No AGAINST and at least three FOR: Supported.
4. Otherwise: Unconfirmed.

All four read choices and the verdict must match. A correct verdict cannot hide a wrong read. Save the three counts, per-read evidence states, user choices, and exercise revision in standalone and mixed-session results.

## Chart recipes and limitations

Historical internal recipe buckets keep the existing mix of chart shapes and long/short sides; their old names are not scoring labels. The generator still rejects charts whose actual read states do not match the target. Finished evidence verdicts are measured rather than forced into quarters or thirds. Recipe constraints can correlate one indicator with a verdict, so every read must be answered. The regression measures complete-response shortcuts relative to the proposed side; mirroring must not conceal them.

The synthetic continuation’s target direction uses a 50/50 draw independent of evidence category. Its realized path is an illustration, not evidence of the profitability of any category.

Regression coverage includes all 81 four-read FOR/NEUTRAL/AGAINST combinations for both proposed sides, the reported neutral example, side mirroring, individual grading, session serialization, generated chart rule checks, and mixed-session forwarding.