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 4 Sep 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: XLV, XLE. |
| HOLD | Confirmed leadership. Not a new ticket. This week: Financials. |
| SKIP | Not a ticket. Rank, location, or both fail the rule. This week: XLK, XLB. |
| 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. This week: XLC. |
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 leads can be a HOLD. It is not a Sunday rewrite and not a new ticket. This week that is Financials.
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 4 Sep 2026 cash close. Price-only. Health Care remains #1. Energy sits one tick behind. Financials hold third. Technology is still a skip. Every prior Friday stays on /rankings/.
| CURRENT SECTOR RANKINGS · Friday 4 Sep 2026 close | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Sector | ETF | Score | State |
| 01 | Health Care | XLV | 76 | LEADER |
| 02 | Energy | XLE | 76 | LEADER |
| 03 | Financials | XLF | 73 | HOLD |
| 04 | Technology | XLK | 50 | SKIP |
| 05 | Materials | XLB | 48 | SKIP |
| 06 | Consumer Staples | XLP | 40 | WEAKENING |
| 07 | Communication Services | XLC | 38 | WATCH |
| 08 | Industrials | XLI | 36 | WEAKENING |
| 09 | Consumer Discretionary | XLY | 35 | WEAKENING |
| 10 | Real Estate | XLRE | 29 | WEAKENING |
| 11 | Utilities | XLU | 25 | WEAKENING |
Yahoo Finance daily Close (price-only). Excess vs SPY + distance to 50-day SMA. CHANGE vs 28 Aug may mix vendors. The 28 Aug card (XLV 95 / XLF 87 / XLE 87) is unchanged on /rankings/#2026-08-28.
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’s tape. XLK remains a skip on the Friday map. We re-rank Friday if oil sticks.
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 →