Sneaky Pivot on gold (spec snx_spec.md), CLOCK-AUDIT clock (a check added after the results; hole windows are on the corrected clock). Run 2026-10-23T06:48:08.175Z; 500 control runs per variant. Net of $0.30 an ounce a round trip; 15-minute bars from 08:20 New York, exit by 13:30. data: 7067434 minutes 2004-06-11 01:19 .. 2026-10-07 16:57 New York; 5355 usable days, 5318 trading days usable / trading days by year: 2004 51/27 | 2005 102/96 | 2006 165/161 | 2007 245/245 | 2008 255/255 | 2009 256/256 | 2010 245/245 | 2011 242/240 | 2012 244/243 | 2013 258/258 | 2014 258/258 | 2015 257/257 | 2016 258/258 | 2017 257/257 | 2018 258/258 | 2019 258/258 | 2020 259/259 | 2021 257/257 | 2022 258/258 | 2023 257/257 | 2024 259/259 | 2025 258/258 | 2026 198/198 bar 1 (08:21-08:35) reached the range low on 20.0% of days (25.5% within the near tolerance), the range high on 26.3% (32.9%); both on 6 from 08:36 to 13:30 the range low broke on 1813 days: price reached the swing low later that day on 53.9% (no swing low on 9), and came back to the range high on 3.7% from 08:36 to 13:30 the range high broke on 2137 days: price reached the swing high later that day on 51.4% (no swing high on 167), and came back to the range low on 3.9% === SX-STRICT-T1: bar 1 touches the range line; target bar 1's far end === DEV n= 209 net -$31.24 avg -$0.15 PF 0.88 t -0.67 VAL n= 236 net -$77.49 avg -$0.33 PF 0.72 t -1.92 HOLDOUT n= 203 net -$10.32 avg -$0.05 PF 0.98 t -0.09 ALL n=648 net -$119.05 avg -$0.18 an ounce a trade (gross +$0.12); in R: net -0.053, gross 0.050; PF 0.89 t -0.91; drawdown on closed trades -$224.09 winners 59.9% (95% 56.1-63.6%); ended by target 409 (63.1%), 13:30 close 24 (3.7%), stop 215 (33.2%); risk median $3.41, target distance median $1.99; sneaky on bar 3: 293; minutes held median 19; without the 10 best -$302.86 longs n=283 net -$98.30 | shorts n=365 net -$20.75 by year (n, net): 2004 1 -$0.01 | 2005 7 -$3.37 | 2006 21 -$10.28 | 2007 28 -$5.69 | 2008 19 -$5.36 | 2009 39 -$22.19 | 2010 32 +$24.98 | 2011 24 -$10.78 | 2012 38 +$1.46 | 2013 42 -$49.98 | 2014 40 +$1.17 | 2015 27 -$8.32 | 2016 35 +$12.74 | 2017 36 -$6.19 | 2018 27 -$10.15 | 2019 29 -$16.76 | 2020 26 -$15.84 | 2021 30 +$15.27 | 2022 35 +$27.23 | 2023 25 -$19.98 | 2024 31 +$26.84 | 2025 31 +$15.00 | 2026 25 -$58.84 control (trades moved to other days, same minute, 500 runs, 1 s): mean trades 648.00, median avg -$0.30, 5-95% -$0.55 .. -$0.09; real avg -$0.18 at percentile 80.20 [FAIL] 1 PF >= 1.2 in validation: VAL PF 0.72 [PASS] 2 >= 50 trades in each period: 209 / 236 / 203 [FAIL] 3 t >= 2.5 on development: DEV t -0.67 [FAIL] 4 above 95th pct of the control: percentile 80.20 [FAIL] 5 positive without top-10 trades: -$302.86 [FAIL] 6 holdout net positive (flagged used): HOLDOUT net -$10.32 PF 0.98 VERDICT Buried (1/6 gates) rule 3: 166 trades touching a known hole; without them avg -$0.18, gates 2/6 -> Buried (verdict unchanged) === SX-STRICT-T2: bar 1 touches the range line; target the opposite range line === DEV n= 417 net -$44.99 avg -$0.11 PF 0.95 t -0.36 VAL n= 416 net -$102.43 avg -$0.25 PF 0.87 t -1.06 HOLDOUT n= 389 net -$294.34 avg -$0.76 PF 0.86 t -0.97 ALL n=1222 net -$441.76 avg -$0.36 an ounce a trade (gross -$0.06); in R: net -0.027, gross 0.062; PF 0.89 t -1.29; drawdown on closed trades -$677.15 winners 38.2% (95% 35.5-41.0%); ended by 13:30 close 519 (42.5%), target 75 (6.1%), stop 628 (51.4%); risk median $4.07, target distance median $19.00; sneaky on bar 3: 415; minutes held median 141; without the 10 best -$951.66 longs n=535 net -$372.60 | shorts n=687 net -$69.16 by year (n, net): 2004 4 -$1.84 | 2005 20 -$21.18 | 2006 39 -$0.97 | 2007 54 -$11.44 | 2008 59 -$13.49 | 2009 64 +$8.37 | 2010 58 -$0.23 | 2011 51 -$30.71 | 2012 68 +$26.50 | 2013 66 -$177.71 | 2014 67 +$41.39 | 2015 45 -$5.25 | 2016 54 +$6.80 | 2017 68 +$32.07 | 2018 62 -$7.36 | 2019 54 +$7.63 | 2020 54 -$62.12 | 2021 51 +$28.53 | 2022 58 +$90.88 | 2023 52 +$5.71 | 2024 55 +$44.01 | 2025 65 +$55.48 | 2026 54 -$456.83 control (trades moved to other days, same minute, 500 runs, 1 s): mean trades 1222.00, median avg -$0.22, 5-95% -$0.51 .. +$0.06; real avg -$0.36 at percentile 20.20 [FAIL] 1 PF >= 1.2 in validation: VAL PF 0.87 [PASS] 2 >= 50 trades in each period: 417 / 416 / 389 [FAIL] 3 t >= 2.5 on development: DEV t -0.36 [FAIL] 4 above 95th pct of the control: percentile 20.20 [FAIL] 5 positive without top-10 trades: -$951.66 [FAIL] 6 holdout net positive (flagged used): HOLDOUT net -$294.34 PF 0.86 VERDICT Buried (1/6 gates) rule 3: 340 trades touching a known hole; without them avg -$0.31, gates 1/6 -> Buried (verdict unchanged) === SX-NEAR-T1: bar 1 within 10% of the average range; target bar 1's far end === DEV n= 260 net -$16.01 avg -$0.06 PF 0.95 t -0.32 VAL n= 296 net -$61.11 avg -$0.21 PF 0.80 t -1.40 HOLDOUT n= 264 net -$41.38 avg -$0.16 PF 0.94 t -0.33 ALL n=820 net -$118.50 avg -$0.14 an ounce a trade (gross +$0.16); in R: net -0.044, gross 0.061; PF 0.91 t -0.83; drawdown on closed trades -$223.31 winners 60.4% (95% 57.0-63.7%); ended by target 529 (64.5%), 13:30 close 27 (3.3%), stop 264 (32.2%); risk median $3.34, target distance median $1.85; sneaky on bar 3: 370; minutes held median 18; without the 10 best -$312.65 longs n=364 net -$117.88 | shorts n=456 net -$0.62 by year (n, net): 2004 1 -$0.01 | 2005 9 -$3.47 | 2006 25 -$11.92 | 2007 35 -$7.83 | 2008 26 +$4.67 | 2009 45 -$17.46 | 2010 40 +$34.06 | 2011 30 -$18.07 | 2012 49 +$4.02 | 2013 56 -$39.52 | 2014 41 +$1.93 | 2015 34 -$4.40 | 2016 41 +$12.98 | 2017 46 -$6.40 | 2018 37 -$8.19 | 2019 41 -$17.51 | 2020 33 -$29.77 | 2021 36 +$13.41 | 2022 47 +$20.47 | 2023 33 -$34.40 | 2024 39 +$22.20 | 2025 41 +$2.16 | 2026 35 -$35.45 control (trades moved to other days, same minute, 500 runs, 1 s): mean trades 820.00, median avg -$0.31, 5-95% -$0.51 .. -$0.13; real avg -$0.14 at percentile 93.60 [FAIL] 1 PF >= 1.2 in validation: VAL PF 0.80 [PASS] 2 >= 50 trades in each period: 260 / 296 / 264 [FAIL] 3 t >= 2.5 on development: DEV t -0.32 [FAIL] 4 above 95th pct of the control: percentile 93.60 [FAIL] 5 positive without top-10 trades: -$312.65 [FAIL] 6 holdout net positive (flagged used): HOLDOUT net -$41.38 PF 0.94 VERDICT Buried (1/6 gates) rule 3: 216 trades touching a known hole; without them avg -$0.15, gates 1/6 -> Buried (verdict unchanged) === SX-NEAR-T2: bar 1 within 10% of the average range; target the opposite range line === DEV n= 539 net -$17.43 avg -$0.03 PF 0.99 t -0.12 VAL n= 518 net -$101.15 avg -$0.20 PF 0.89 t -0.96 HOLDOUT n= 497 net -$429.78 avg -$0.86 PF 0.84 t -1.34 ALL n=1554 net -$548.36 avg -$0.35 an ounce a trade (gross -$0.05); in R: net -0.030, gross 0.061; PF 0.89 t -1.50; drawdown on closed trades -$751.16 winners 37.9% (95% 35.5-40.3%); ended by 13:30 close 637 (41.0%), target 119 (7.7%), stop 798 (51.4%); risk median $4.02, target distance median $17.55; sneaky on bar 3: 511; minutes held median 137; without the 10 best -$1063.52 longs n=676 net -$421.57 | shorts n=878 net -$126.79 by year (n, net): 2004 7 -$1.57 | 2005 25 -$22.69 | 2006 53 -$10.47 | 2007 68 -$9.08 | 2008 78 -$32.05 | 2009 79 +$9.86 | 2010 74 +$43.14 | 2011 68 -$46.19 | 2012 87 +$51.62 | 2013 83 -$154.27 | 2014 76 +$23.19 | 2015 57 -$2.02 | 2016 70 +$9.35 | 2017 84 +$33.43 | 2018 75 -$4.98 | 2019 73 -$5.85 | 2020 65 -$105.73 | 2021 69 +$38.77 | 2022 79 +$35.30 | 2023 69 +$17.45 | 2024 66 +$64.56 | 2025 80 +$43.27 | 2026 69 -$523.40 control (trades moved to other days, same minute, 500 runs, 2 s): mean trades 1554.00, median avg -$0.22, 5-95% -$0.48 .. +$0.02; real avg -$0.35 at percentile 18.80 [FAIL] 1 PF >= 1.2 in validation: VAL PF 0.89 [PASS] 2 >= 50 trades in each period: 539 / 518 / 497 [FAIL] 3 t >= 2.5 on development: DEV t -0.12 [FAIL] 4 above 95th pct of the control: percentile 18.80 [FAIL] 5 positive without top-10 trades: -$1063.52 [FAIL] 6 holdout net positive (flagged used): HOLDOUT net -$429.78 PF 0.84 VERDICT Buried (1/6 gates) rule 3: 440 trades touching a known hole; without them avg -$0.37, gates 1/6 -> Buried (verdict unchanged)