Alternative Data for Investment Research: Satellites and Social Sentiment
Summary
The document gives brief examples of using large-scale and unconventional data to inform investment research. Satellite images of retail and office parking areas are described as a way to estimate business activity, while satellite monitoring of shipping is presented as a source of cargo and trade information. It also mentions using Twitter sentiment indicators to help with market timing and notes that a major investment bank required new analysts to learn Python in 2018.
These examples illustrate potential inputs to research rather than a complete trading method. The document provides no data sources, signal definitions, validation results, or details about how the examples translate into investment decisions. Satellite observations and social-media sentiment can be indirect or noisy measures, and the short overview does not establish their predictive value or explain how to manage related biases and costs.
Key ideas
- Satellite imagery can be used to estimate activity at business locations.
- Monitoring shipping by satellite can provide clues about cargo flows.
- Social-media sentiment indicators are one possible input to market timing.
- The examples are exploratory and include no evidence of trading performance.
Tags
This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.