Comparison modes
Comparison modes are the ways a screener filter tests an instrument's metric — what the reading is measured against: a fixed number, a range, the metric's own earlier reading, a rank within the results, or a market or sector figure. A mode changes what the filter's threshold means, not which metric it reads.
Also seen as: filter relation
How does Fincanva handle it?
- The mode is chosen per filter in the filter editor, among vs Value, Between, vs Lagged Self, Highest / Lowest and vs Aggregate; 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.
- The symbol that does the testing inside a mode is a separate choice, covered in standard operators.
How does each comparison mode work?
- 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.
What does it look like in practice?
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.
UPDATED 2026-10-06