Hit flags explain the EV.

Layer 01 — The checkpoint ladder

Hit flags explain the EV.

0.75R and 1.25R test Time-Conservative banking. 1.3R tests whether delaying first protection actually works. 1.4R tests the Exposure-Conservative bank. 1.6R is the trend unlock. 1.8R tests TNP's delayed trail activation. 2R/2.5R/3R+ diagnose right-tail preservation — are aggressive variants preserving upside or destroying expectancy?

• Rollups: variant count, Avg R by variant, Total R, EV share %, variant-vs-Standard ratio, net R after fees, capture/giveback by variant.
• Variant does not choose the branch. Branch identity comes first; variants tune management inside it.

Layer 02 — Where it lives

Inside Variant Attribution.

Within Variant Attribution, this is one load-bearing idea — worth its own page. The parent module frames it this way: The variant layer compares Standard logic against Time/Exposure Conservative and Aggressive management variants inside each branch. Attribution shows where realized R came from; checkpoint hit rates explain why; the seven-lens matrix decides which variant is even permitted.

Layer 03 — Flag integrity

Hit flags are recorded at the moment, not reconstructed later.

Each checkpoint flag — 1R hit, 2R hit, BE triggered — is logged when it happens, because reconstructed flags inherit hindsight. A trade remembered as 'almost made 2R' gets recorded generously; a trade flagged live gets recorded truthfully. The ladder's diagnostic power depends entirely on that timestamp discipline.