Stock market research | AnalyticsAlpha.com

Define the observation

Begin with the instrument, exchange or venue scope, currency, timestamp, and adjustment policy. Record whether a series represents a traded price, an end-of-session value, or an index calculated from returns. These choices change what comparisons mean.

A chart of raw prices should not silently become a total-return comparison. Dividends, splits, and other adjustments need a documented treatment. An apparent discontinuity is a reason to inspect the data rather than immediately infer a trading opportunity.

Separate price change from volume

A return compares prices across an interval. Volume counts a specified form of activity over that interval. Rising volume does not by itself identify who traded, why they traded, or what happens next. Keep the venue and session scope consistent when comparing observations.

Use the interactive chart lab to see one fixed series through price, volume, moving-average, and momentum views. The panels transform or contextualize sample observations; they do not forecast subsequent prices.

Compare like with like

Align the dates and interval definitions before comparing instruments. Check whether missing records are carried forward, excluded, or treated as unavailable. A forward-filled value may look calm simply because there was no new observation.

When the question is portfolio performance, move to a benchmark aligned with the mandate and return convention. The benchmarking guide explains why a convenient comparison is not necessarily a fair one.

Make the next question testable

Describe the observation in neutral terms: the last close exceeded a specified average, or a return changed over a defined window. Then write a separate hypothesis about what may follow. Specify what information was available and when an order could actually be placed.

The backtesting workflow provides a way to test such a rule while making execution, costs, and data timing visible. A visually appealing chart remains an observation until a research process supplies further evidence.

Interactive sample

Explore the chart lab.

Chart lab / learn by exploring

One dataset. Four perspectives.

Switch the view. Understand what changes.

✦ Sample data

Twenty completed sessions. Price rises from $100.00 to $108.40, with intervening declines. This is an invented sequence, not an instrument quote.

View the underlying sample data

Invented observations. Volume is in thousands of shares; — means insufficient history.
Session	Close	Volume	5-session SMA	5-session change
1	$100.00	380	—	—
2	$101.20	440	—	—
3	$100.60	325	—	—
4	$102.40	510	—	—
5	$101.80	365	$101.20	—
6	$103.70	600	$101.94	3.70%
7	$102.90	430	$102.28	1.68%
8	$104.20	480	$103.00	3.58%
9	$103.10	420	$103.14	0.68%
10	$104.90	590	$103.76	3.05%
11	$105.30	630	$104.08	1.54%
12	$104.60	420	$104.42	1.65%
13	$105.90	560	$104.76	1.63%
14	$106.40	605	$105.42	3.20%
15	$105.50	510	$105.54	0.57%
16	$107.10	680	$105.90	1.71%
17	$106.20	520	$106.22	1.53%
18	$107.60	700	$106.56	1.61%
19	$108.10	610	$106.90	1.60%
20	$108.40	660	$107.48	2.75%