1Relative or absolute
Structure
What is the signal measured against?
Cross-SectionTime-SeriesRelative-ValueRebalance+1
Knowledge · Taxonomy
Every alpha is a point in six dimensions.
A signal is never just “a strategy”. Six questions place it: what it is measured against, how long it holds, how it is built, where it trades, what it reads, and how its risk is shaped. Answer all six and you can tell any two alphas apart.
Six independent axes. A working alpha is a single point across all of them: it can be cross-sectional, multi-day, machine-learned and market-neutral at once.
What this guide covers
The first 2 are open to everyone; the rest open when you sign in.
01 — The map
Six axes, six questions
Each axis answers one question, and the answers combine freely: the same signal can be cross-sectional, machine-learned and market-neutral at once. Hover a tag for its definition.
2Holding period
Frequency
How long does a position live?
IntradayMulti-Day
3How it is built
Method
How is the signal generated?
Rule-BasedStatisticalMachine LearningAutonomous
4Market and its rules
Asset class
Which market, under which rules?
CryptoEquityFXRates+3
5What it reads
Data
What is the signal built from?
OHLCVCrypto-ExtendedOrder BookTrades+4
6Hedge and driver
Risk
What is hedged, and what drives the return?
DirectionalDollar-NeutralBeta-NeutralSector-Neutral+11
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See each axis in motion
You've seen the map: six axes and the question each one answers. The animated demonstrations open as soon as you sign in. Signing in is free.
- All six axes demonstrated in motion, each with its own animated infographic
- How the six tags combine into one short, comparable descriptor
- How to describe any alpha in a single breath, the way a PM expects to hear it
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