The HeadsUp signals represented by one thumb up or one thumb down indicate the
sentiment that senior management expresses in the earnings news release; these alerts are
more likely to occur either before the main market opens or after the main market
closes.
The BigMovers signals represented by three thumbs up or three thumbs down indicate
the sentiment that senior management expresses in the earnings news release correlated
with Wall Street analyst sentiment regarding the company meeting or missing the
earnings per share estimate; these alerts too are more likely to occur either before the
main market opens or after the main market closes.
The UpperHand signals represented by two thumbs up or two thumbs down indicate
the sentiment that senior management expresses in the earnings news release correlated
with trading market sentiment as expressed by two technical indicators that show the
market being overbought or oversold; these alerts occur only while the main market is
open.
Public companies report earnings on a quarterly basis. In the US, there is a so-called
earnings reports season that works cyclically. At the start and at the end of the season,
there are only a few companies reporting earnings, but after two to three weeks from the
122 Quantifying news: Alternative metrics
Figure 4.2.The layout of the Media Sentiment system.