> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.chicago.global/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Composite Market-Sentiment Score > Understanding the composite market-sentiment score - liquidity, momentum, and breadth combined into one risk-appetite measure The composite market-sentiment score is a single number summarizing a market's risk appetite, built from three measurable components: **liquidity** (how freely money is flowing and how easily risk can be traded), **momentum** (the direction and strength of recent price trends), and **breadth** (how widely gains or losses are shared across stocks). ## Beginner ### What It Means Fundamentals describe economic conditions; market internals describe trading and participation. This score reads the internals: whether money is flowing freely, whether trends are firm, and whether gains are broadly shared. Each component is expressed as a [z-score](/glossary/z-score) against its own history, then combined into one number. ### Example Imagine an economy whose headline data looks fine, but liquidity is quietly draining, the trend is flattening, and each new high is carried by fewer stocks. The fundamentals say "fine"; the internals say "fragile". This score is built to surface that divergence between the internals and the headline data. ### Why It Matters Market internals provide another perspective on the macro view. When the two diverge, the component readings help identify whether liquidity, momentum or participation accounts for the difference. *** ## Advanced ### How to Read It Positive readings indicate risk-seeking conditions; negative readings indicate risk aversion; the magnitude indicates intensity. The score maps to one of five [sentiment regimes](/glossary/sentiment-regime), from Strong Risk-Off to Strong Risk-On. ### The Component Decomposition The reports name which component is driving the reading, and the distinction carries real information: * **Liquidity-led deterioration** means the market's capacity to absorb risk is shrinking * **Momentum-led deterioration** means trends are rolling over, visible, but sometimes just consolidation * **Breadth-led deterioration** means participation is narrowing while the index holds up The liquidity and sentiment section identifies these drivers so readers can distinguish changes in funding conditions from changes in price trends. ### Common Misreadings * **Treating it as a mood survey**: the score is built from measurable market behavior, flows, trends, participation, not from polling anyone * **Reading level without direction**: a modestly positive but rapidly falling score is often more informative than a stable negative one * **Confusing it with the positioning framework's sentiment pillar**: this score measures one market's internals; the [Psychological Wavelength](/glossary/psychological-wavelength) is a pillar of the cross-asset positioning framework ### Related Terms The five states the score maps to The participation component How the components are standardized