Comparison modes

How each comparison mode works

• vs Value — passes instruments whose metric sits on the chosen side of one fixed number, for example P/E < 15.
• Between — passes instruments whose metric falls inside a low–high range, for example P/E between 10 and 20.
• vs Lagged Self — compares the metric to its own value at an earlier point you set (a lag), so you screen on change rather than level.
• Highest / Lowest — ranks instruments on the metric and keeps only the top or bottom N; the pool it ranks is whatever is still passing at that point, so its position in the strip is part of the rule (see sequential filtering and Top-N ranking).
• vs Aggregate — compares the metric to a market or sector statistic such as the median; see aggregate comparisons.

A handful of filters replace these modes entirely with pattern tests — crossings and valuation bands — which are special relations rather than comparison modes.

Defaults in Fincanva

• The mode is chosen per filter in the filter editor; the resolved sentence under You're saying restates it in plain language.
• Not every mode is available for every filter — the editor shows only the relations that filter supports.
• Switching mode keeps the metric but changes the inputs: a single value, a range, a lag, a rank, or a scope plus a statistic.

Worked example

Take a Price/Earnings filter. In vs Value mode you set P/E < 15, so any instrument trading below 15× earnings passes. Switch the same filter to vs Lagged Self and set the lag to 12 months: now it compares each instrument's current P/E to its own P/E a year earlier, passing those whose P/E has fallen — a completely different screen built from the same metric.