How to read · Friday map
How to read the board
CosAnalyst
research desk
Eleven SPDR sectors versus SPY. Same names every week. The map is set Friday. Monday through Thursday explains the tape on that rank — not a new map.
Map as of Friday 2 Oct 2026 cash close. Prior Friday cards stay on /rankings/. A CosAnalyst Research Project. SIMULATED RESEARCH. Not advice.
The Sector Selector Score
The Sector Selector Score is a rules-based 0–100 measure of sector leadership. It compares each major U.S. sector with the broad market and evaluates relative strength, trend health, and price location. Higher scores indicate stronger confirmed leadership; lower scores indicate lagging or weakening conditions. The model is recalculated after Friday’s close, while weekday updates explain changes without rewriting the weekly map.
States
Each row carries a state. The state is how to read the rank — not a second score.
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| LEADER | Top of the map. Ticket candidates live here. This week: XLE is the ticket. XLK is LEADER, not the new ticket. |
| HOLD | Confirmed leadership. Not a new ticket. None on this Friday’s board. |
| SKIP | Not a ticket. Rank, location, or both fail the rule. This week: XLV and XLC. |
| NEUTRAL | Neither leading nor skipping hard. None on this Friday’s board. |
| WEAKENING | Losing the quarter, the location, or both. Not a short from a healthy board. |
| WATCH | 13-week still lags; location is recovering. Not a ticket. None on this Friday’s board. |
Ticket rule
Defined-risk tickets sit on Friday-map leadership: long options (the debit is the max risk) and debit/credit spreads. No naked shorts. Location can still skip a high score. Skip is first-class. Weekday tape does not rewrite the weekly map.
A name that still scores can fail location and become a SKIP. It is not a Sunday rewrite and not a new ticket. This week that is Health Care — #3 SKIP below the 50-day.
Friday map vs weekday tape
The map is set on Friday cash close. Monday through Thursday notes explain the tape on that rank. We do not invent a midweek score. If the tape sticks, we re-rank Friday.
This week’s map
As of Friday 2 Oct 2026 cash close. Price-only. Energy keeps #1 at 89. Technology jumps again to #2 and clears both moving averages — LEADER, not the new ticket. Health Care slips to #3 SKIP below the 50-day. Communication Services is SKIP. Weakest: Utilities. Every prior Friday stays on /rankings/.
| CURRENT SECTOR RANKINGS · Friday 2 Oct 2026 close | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Sector | ETF | Score | State |
| 01 | Energy | XLE | 89 | LEADER |
| 02 | Technology | XLK | 82 | LEADER |
| 03 | Health Care | XLV | 43 | SKIP |
| 04 | Communication Services | XLC | 38 | SKIP |
| 05 | Financials | XLF | 22 | WEAKENING |
| 06 | Consumer Staples | XLP | 22 | WEAKENING |
| 07 | Materials | XLB | 21 | WEAKENING |
| 08 | Consumer Discretionary | XLY | 18 | WEAKENING |
| 09 | Industrials | XLI | 16 | WEAKENING |
| 10 | Real Estate | XLRE | 7 | WEAKENING |
| 11 | Utilities | XLU | 0 | WEAKENING |
Yahoo Finance daily Close (price-only). Excess vs SPY + distance to 50-day SMA. Same methodology as Fri 25 Sep lock. CHANGE compares to the published 25 Sep board. The 25 Sep card (XLE 80 / XLK 62 / XLV 53) is unchanged on /rankings/#2026-09-25.
Tuesday cash — prior Friday ranks held
Tuesday 1 Sep 2026 cash versus Monday 31 Aug close. Those notes belong to the 28 Aug map. They did not rewrite that Friday, and they are not this week’s lock.
| Tuesday 1 Sep cash % · Friday ranks hold | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ETF | Cash % | Note | Read |
| XLE | +1.27% | Through 64.70 | color |
| XLK | −1.53% | Paid | color |
| XLY | −1.72% | Paid | color |
| XLI | −1.37% | Paid | color |
Energy through 64.70 is Tuesday 1 Sep tape on the 28 Aug map. It is not this Friday’s rank.
Next
The map is the intelligence. The monthly list is the product door. This page is how to read the board — not a ticket.
UNLOCK THIS MONTH'S PLAN → VIEW THE SECTOR MAP → RANKINGS ARCHIVE → READ THIS WEEK’S NOTE →