The prevailing error is not ignorance
Markets do not lack intelligence, data, or models. They lack jurisdiction. Institutional reports, valuation frameworks, and AI-assisted interpretations can be internally consistent while remaining structurally unauthorized—because they price continuity before establishing whether continuity is self-sustaining under constraint.
ABSA begins with a prior determination: whether the corporate structure permits disciplined interpretation, and whether the act of producing a price—explicit or implied—is admissible at all.
What “valuation-first” analysis presupposes
Conventional practice—whether described as fundamental analysis, value investing, or equity research—often treats valuation as the organizing act. A model is built; assumptions are refined; a price is produced. The output is then defended by narrative coherence and comparables.
The implicit presupposition
That the structure is already admissible for valuation: that continuity is not permissioned, that funding horizons do not govern the operating path, and that growth does not progressively alter control.
The structural consequence
When those conditions are absent, the model may remain numerically correct yet economically illegitimate. The error is not in the spreadsheet. The error is in the premise that the spreadsheet is authorized.
Computation without admissibility is not analysis.
What ABSA governs, beyond admissibility
ABSA is not a slogan about admissibility. It is a forensic framework for structural analysis: a doctrine that defines what constitutes structure, how statements are interpreted under disciplined constraints, how classification is recorded, and when analysis must stop.
ABSA functions (high-level, non-operational)
Structural foundations define the object of analysis before performance is discussed.
Normalization principles govern interpretive treatment prior to inference.
Classification doctrine (Class I–V) records structural condition on an ordered scale.
Boundary conditions define admissibility constraints and stopping rules.
Structural capacities observe internal funding coherence and dependence over time.
S.A.V. (Structural Autonomy Value) is defined within ABSA; determination is governed by doctrine.
ABSA therefore changes the order of operations. It does not ask, “What is this worth?” It asks, “What is this structure, and what does it permit?” Price determination becomes admissible only after structural condition has been classified.
AI is not the exception; it is the amplifier
The limitation ABSA addresses is not technological. It is methodological. Analyst reports and AI systems alike can produce persuasive, rapid, and wide coverage while remaining indifferent to structural jurisdiction. Speed does not confer admissibility. Coverage does not confer authorization.
What analysis can do well
- — Summaries, ratio dashboards, peer comparisons.
- — Scenario trees and valuation ranges.
- — Narrative synthesis consistent with disclosure.
- — Elegant outputs at scale.
What admissibility governs
- — Whether continuity is self-financed or permissioned.
- — Whether reinvestment is discretionary or compulsory.
- — Whether obligation cadence governs the operating path.
- — Whether producing price is legitimate at this stage.
The ABSA sequence
Order of operations
Structure precedes interpretation. Interpretation precedes price.
This sequence is a safeguard. Models fail not because intelligence is absent, but because the structure being modeled does not preserve the conditions the model assumes. ABSA restores analytical boundaries: what may be inferred, what must be withheld, and what must be stopped.
What ABSA is not
ABSA does not
- — Forecast outcomes or assign price targets.
- — Recommend securities or optimize returns.
- — Provide trading signals or portfolio allocations.
- — Replace valuation once valuation is admissible.
ABSA is
- — A structural framework and classificatory doctrine.
- — A method of governance over interpretation.
- — A discipline of admissibility and stopping rules.
- — A prerequisite for defensible price determination.
Closing statement
ABSA does not promise returns. It restores discipline. The framework is formalized in The Forensic Lexicon of Financial Structure. Readers seeking actionable recommendations should consult other sources. Readers seeking defensible analytical boundaries may proceed.