Ballast 0.4.4-beta — core-first onboarding and clearer asset settings

Prepared September 18, 2026 UTC for invited beta testers. This release builds on 0.4.3-beta, preserving its asset chooser, contextual help and earlier safeguards.

Start with the portfolio bot

Strategies now opens on CORE + dip engine. The welcome tour, System and Paper Trading explain the long-term portfolio, dip-trading positions and cash reserves together, with direct links to the revised four-minute introductory lesson. Finance is where you choose core assets; System contains allocation and trading rules. Preview the capital plan before running, and practice with simulated funds. Research desks remain optional additions rather than the starting point.

Core holdings can receive principal through enabled base deployment as well as after-tax realized profit funding. Retained portions of dip trades are distinct from that portfolio. The core summary now shows all saved tier thresholds and the actual first-equity-leg retention setting. It no longer suggests an exit can identify a guaranteed market top. The Paper empty-state funding description is also corrected.

Understand tiers and asset controls

Tier explanations distinguish sample dip/profit thresholds, equity additional-leg waits and stop tightening, crypto-specific stops, conviction and core allocation. Adding an asset does not automatically backtest or optimize it. Existing saved thresholds, assignments and trading policies are unchanged.

The System stock/ETF section is labeled Equity assets & conviction and its button Save equity. The chooser and course use the same wording. Choosing an asset form still saves nothing; save actions remain explicit.

Optional core target weights

Finance now has a Core holdings & target balance editor, also linked from System. Choose equity tickers and targets totaling 100% within the bot-managed core portfolio. Future purchases favor dollar shortfalls without selling to rebalance. Removed and zero-target holdings remain held and consume allocation room; missing prices block new core buys. Exact weights are not guaranteed. Overall core funding, cash reserves, daily limits and position caps still apply.

PAPER and LIVE plans are separate. Save explicitly; LIVE requires the phrase APPLY LIVE CORE TARGETS. Saving does not start the bot or change mode. Restore previous method returns to the shared symbol list and yield-biased selection, without undoing trades. The connected-account income report is separate.

Learning progress and testing

The foundation, paper and tier lessons have new revisions. Unchanged lessons retain completion; changed lessons can be reviewed again. The Guide lists all 27 lessons and the current 80-minute initial estimate; personal timing feedback can refine estimates locally.

For review, open Strategies, System, Paper Trading and Guide. Check the core explanation, tier help, equity save wording and changed-lesson progress. No live trade is required to test these changes. Paper prices may be synthetic without broker access; paper results do not demonstrate live performance.

Update scope and limitations

This is a program-file patch preserving private data, credentials, preferences, positions and existing trading settings. It includes the 0.4.3 asset chooser and contextual help for installations upgrading from 0.4.2. Existing risk rules and dependencies are unchanged. The new optional core allocation policy requires explicit confirmation separately in each mode; installation does not activate it. Normal installation briefly restarts the local app; local protection is unavailable while it is stopped.

Existing Windows publisher-signing and independent clean-device review limits remain documented in REVIEW-BEFORE-RUNNING.md. Website reputation review is separate from this local candidate; this patch does not establish Cloudflare clearance. Do not bypass browser or antivirus warnings.