μαMicro AlphasSignal Research

Start here

Start from the question you're actually asking

This isn't a beginner course. It's for the working quant who lands here mid-job — with a number in hand and a question to settle. Pick the question that's yours; each one leads with a tool you can run on your own numbers, then the guides behind it.

Four questions bring most quants here. Find yours below — or, if you'd rather read everything in order, jump to the curated paths at the bottom.

01Sanity-check a number

Is this signal — or this number — actually any good?

"An IC of 0.04. A Sharpe of 1.6 out of a backtest. Real edge, or noise I've talked myself into?"

You'll walk away with: Whether a number is skill or luck at your breadth — and how much to discount a backtested Sharpe before you stake anything on it.

Run it on your numbers

SimulatorSignal Skill ExplorerWhat does a tiny edge really look like?Open CalculatorInformation Coefficient CalculatorHow predictive is your signal?Open SimulatorBacktest Overfitting SimulatorIs your backtest fooling you?Open

The guides behind it

Information CoefficientInformation RatioValidating Trading Signals
02Debug a fading edge

My live signal is fading — is it dead, or just noisy?

"The IC slid from 0.06 to 0.02 over six months. Do I cut it, or is that still within noise?"

You'll walk away with: Genuine decay vs. sampling noise, the signal's half-life, and the rebalance frequency that keeps the most alpha on the table.

Run it on your numbers

CalculatorSignal Decay CalculatorHow fast does the edge fade?Open SimulatorSignal Skill ExplorerWhat does a tiny edge really look like?Open

The guides behind it

Factor DecayAlpha & Signal Decay
03Make sense of a claim

A paper or a vendor leans on a term I half-know — is it legit?

"They cite VPIN, or fractional differentiation, or Kyle's lambda. What is it really — and should I trust the claim built on it?"

You'll walk away with: The concept and, just as importantly, its limitations — enough to judge the claim instead of taking it on faith.

Run it on your numbers

SimulatorVPIN & the Volume ClockCan you see toxic order flow coming?Open

The guides behind it

VPINFractional DifferentiationKyle's LambdaAmihud IlliquidityMicrostructure Alpha — the hub
04Combine or diversify

Should I stack these signals — and will the book survive a crisis?

"Five weak signals. Does adding them help, or does their correlation eat the gain — and does my diversification hold when it actually matters?"

You'll walk away with: Whether breadth pays off at your correlation (the c/√ρ ceiling), and when diversification quietly collapses to a single bet.

Run it on your numbers

SimulatorSignal Combination SimulatorHow many signals do you actually need?Open SimulatorCorrelation HeatmapDoes diversification survive a crisis?Open

The guides behind it

Signal Correlation AnalysisPortfolio Optimization from Signals

Prefer to read it in order?

Every guide sits in a curated path. Pick a pillar and read it as a course — start at the cornerstone and work down.

Just browsing? See all interactive tools, the glossary, or the curated reading list of the papers behind every guide.