Asking New And Better Questions

 

4/19/2026 - I can almost always recognize a promising trader or investment team when they ask unique questions and search for answers in new and different places.  Creativity begins with originality of thought.  We put information together in new ways; we seek out new information.  We don't just look to improve what we're doing.  Rather, we look to do new things.  

The best teams and traders are like the most successful businesses.  They innovate.

Innovation starts by examining new data and old data in new ways.  That's how we get to new and better questions.

The other day, I thought about analyzing stock market data in a new fashion.  Instead of looking for patterns of strength, weakness, volatility, etc., I wondered about the times of day in which the broad market trades most predictably.  In other words, imagine that different time periods are different markets.  Then consider backtesting market patterns/setups for each time period.  When do our trade ideas work best and worst?  How could that inform how we think about (and size) our trades?  Are there market patterns that play out at different times and over different amounts of time?

And what if the patterns play out over different volume regimes, not just time?  

As artificial intelligence capabilities become more a part of the trading universe for individual traders, success will become a function of asking more and better questions and quickly implementing solutions.