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Wsb Attention Alpha

Updated dailyData needs: lowlong onlyshort onlylong short

2023

#98 wsb_attention_alpha — Cookson-Engelberg-Mullins 2023 RFS + Da-Engelberg-Gao 2011 JF social-media extension.

In plain terms

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.

How it works

ApeWisdom aggregates daily mentions from r/WallStreetBets and adjacent retail subreddits. Two distinct sub-edges: (a) mention spike + uptrend → 2-5 day continuation (squeeze-setup tail, Cookson-Engelberg-Mullins 2023 RFS); (b) mention spike with no uptrend → 5-20 day mean-reversion (attention-tax tail, Da-Engelberg-Gao 2011 JF social-media extension). We use own-name 60d trend to route between the two regimes.

Live results

0 times picked on its own · 13 times inside a blend (13 beat the stock) · updated 2026-07-06

This strategy is a frequent ingredient in blends that combine a few strategies on one stock. It has contributed to 13 such blended picks (13 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

Wsb mentions
A data feed this strategy reads, refreshed on its normal schedule.

Expected edge

Reported return: Continuation 2-3% over 5d; fade 4-7% over 15d (era-dependent)
Tested over: 2018-2024

Continuation tail: 2-3% over 5d on squeeze setups; fade tail: 4-7% short premium on post-spike reversion in the 2021-2024 retail era.

Example tickers where this is likely to fire

GME AMC PLTR

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

Related families

Attention SpikeReal-World & Alternative Data

When Google searches for a ticker spike abnormally, retail piles in and pushes the price up for about two weeks. That attention-driven run-up then unwinds over the following six to twelve months, so the strategy rides the pop and later shorts the fade.

Wikipedia Attention SpikeReal-World & Alternative Data

Abnormal Wikipedia pageviews for a ticker predict a 2-week rally then a year-out reversal. Cleaner than Google Trends per Pyun 2024.

Short-Squeeze CompositeCombined Strategies

Combines three squeeze precursors (borrow rate + SEC threshold list + Wikipedia attention) into one composite — when all three fire, squeeze is loaded.

Crowded Long UnwindPrice & Market Behavior

When 13F filer concentration is at multi-year highs AND price is rolling over with vol expansion, expect forced-deleveraging cascade. Mirror of squeeze.

Explore Wsb Attention Alpha on alphactor.ai

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