Real-World & Alternative DataExtended setexperimental liveNew

Search Volume Lead Indicator

Updated dailyData needs: lowlong only

2011

Da, Z., Engelberg, J. & Gao, P. (2011). "In Search of Attention." Journal of Finance 66(5), 1461-1499.

In plain terms

When retail investors suddenly start searching for a small-cap stock, it usually pops over the next 1-2 weeks from order-flow alone.

How it works

Retail-investor search-volume spikes on small/mid-cap tickers predict 2-week outperformance via retail order-flow buying pressure.

Live results

0 times picked on its own · 69 times inside a blend (65 beat the stock) · updated 2026-06-06

This strategy is a frequent ingredient in blends that combine a few strategies on one stock. It has contributed to 69 such blended picks (65 of which beat simply holding the stock). Picking it on its own is only one of the ways it shows up.

How its picks scored vs. buy & hold

Each pick is graded on a recent year it was never tuned on, against simply owning the same stock

Where its edge concentrates

Share of picks in each company-size group that beat buy & hold

How often it trades

Active vs. patient. Bars on the left mean it waits for rare setups; bars on the right mean it trades often

Return vs. buy & hold

How much each pick beat or trailed simply owning the stock over the test year (extreme microcap moves trimmed)

Loading substrate evidence…

Data dependencies

Daily prices
Adjusted-close OHLCV for every US-listed ticker; primary price feed.
Google trends svi
Google search-volume index for the ticker as keyword.

Expected edge

Reported return: +1.5% over 10d
Tested over: 5/10/15d

Da-Engelberg-Gao 2011; ~1.5% over 2 weeks on small-cap attention.

Example tickers where this is likely to fire

SOFI OPEN BBBY

Illustrative only, the signal fires based on the live data, not a fixed list.

Related families

Wsb Attention AlphaReal-World & Alternative Data

When WallStreetBets suddenly piles into a name AND the chart is already trending up, that's a 2-5 day continuation. When they pile in and the chart isn't cooperating, ride the fade once the noise dies down a week later.

Google Trends Finbert CompositeReal-World & Alternative Data

When Google Trends search interest spikes AND earnings-call sentiment confirms the direction, you get a ~1-3% short-term move.

Explore Search Volume Lead Indicator on alphactor.ai

See which tickers this family is currently firing on, with live signals and rankings.

Open universe with this filter →Browse all 572 families