Configuring a Watchlist + Thesis
A watchlist is the unit of work in Telumin. It pairs a set of tickers with a written thesis and a stop policy — the pipeline then continuously checks the world against your thesis.
What a watchlist is
A watchlist is the smallest unit of intent in Telumin. Each watchlist binds together:
- Tickers — the universe you care about (1–50, depending on tier).
- Thesis — a written statement of what you believe and why, plus the Day-1 conditions that have to remain true for the position to remain valid.
- Stop policy — a trailing stop, a fixed stop, or a thesis-break stop tied to specific Day-1 conditions.
- Cadence — how often the pipeline should re-evaluate (continuous, daily, weekly, on-event).
Without a thesis, thesis-guard checks have nothing to verify against. Without a stop policy, the stop-loss watcher has no threshold to watch. Both are required for the protect loop to run.
Setup steps
Create the watchlist
Add tickers and choose a benchmark. The pipeline continuously checks inbound signals against the tickers you list here.
Write the thesis (Investment Diary)
Open the Investment Diary entry. State the thesis, the Day-1 conditions (the specific facts about the world that have to remain true), and the catalyst horizon. The pipeline will continuously check inbound signals against these conditions.
Set the stop policy
Choose a trailing stop (e.g. -8% from the post-entry high), a fixed stop, or a thesis-break stop. When the threshold is crossed, the watcher alerts you — you decide what to do next.
Schedule and arm
Pick a cadence (continuous, market-open, end-of-day, or pre-earnings). Arming the watchlist starts the Temporal workflows for stop-loss watching and thesis-guard checks. You can review signals for as long as you want before acting.
Common watchlist patterns
Core long book
A small concentrated long book (5–15 names) with a quarterly rebalance and an 8–12% trailing stop. Pipeline checks earnings calls and 8-Ks against the thesis daily.
Earnings season basket
A larger basket (20–50) of names you want distilled earnings notes for. Triggers per-call distillation; signals push to the Signal API and your Slack.
Macro overlay
ETFs and futures used for hedging. Stop policy is thesis-break (e.g. ‘close hedge if Fed pauses’) rather than trailing — the Skeptic clears the policy change.
Research pen
Pre-trade names you’re sizing up. Diary entries required, no execution wiring. Once a thesis is mature, you promote the position into a live watchlist.
What makes a usable thesis?
The 3-line thesis test
A usable thesis answers three questions in three lines: (1) what you believe, (2) what specific Day-1 facts have to remain true, and (3) what would force you to exit. The Investment Diary requires all three before the protect loop arms — on purpose.
The Skeptic uses the thesis to score relevance: a signal that contradicts a Day-1 condition is escalated even if its absolute confidence is moderate. A signal that has nothing to do with your thesis is suppressed.
Watchlist limits
Configure your first watchlist
Start in paper mode, write a 3-line thesis, and arm a trailing stop. Promote to live when the dry run convinces you.