What the score is made of
Each component is a rule with a fixed weight, listed in full on the methodology page. Role gives 8 to 25 points, with a CEO at 25, a CFO at 22, a president or COO at 20 and a director at 15. Size in dollars gives up to 25 points, reaching the maximum at $1 million. Size relative to holdings gives up to 10, price context up to 10 when the stock is near its 52-week low, a cluster of insiders up to 15, a repeat buy within 90 days 5, and the insider’s track record from minus 5 to 10. A trade under a 10b5-1 plan subtracts 15, a buy under 1% of holdings subtracts 5, and a 10% owner with no seat subtracts 5. The sum is capped at 100 and floored at 0.
Scores of 80 and above are labelled strong, 60 to 79 notable, 40 to 59 moderate and below 40 weak. Sells get a separate warning score built the same way, with weights for the share of holdings sold, a role exit and heavy deductions for 10b5-1 plans and sales that fund an option exercise.
What the score is not
It is not a prediction and not a recommendation. It ranks filings by how much the circumstances of the trade resemble the ones that have historically been informative: a senior insider, a large amount, their own money, a depressed price, company. Whether such trades were followed by gains is a separate, measured question, answered on the backtest page by tier and horizon with the sample size next to every number. Every component and the reason it was given is stored on the signal, so any score can be traced to the rules.
Questions
What is a good conviction score?
InsiderTell labels 80 and above strong and 60 to 79 notable. Whether strong signals were followed by gains is shown on the backtest page as the median excess return against the S&P 500 at one, three and six months, with the number of signals behind each figure.
Can I see why a signal got its score?
Yes. Every signal page lists each component with its points and the reason, for example the role, the dollar size and whether other insiders bought in the same 14 days. The weights are on the methodology page.
Does the score change after it is published?
Only the cluster component, when later filings reveal other insiders trading in the same window, and the track record when more of the insider’s past buys reach six months. Both are recomputed and the version is stored.