Traders can’t predict the market. Maybe their faces can

THE saying goes that our eyes are the window to the soul. Perhaps over time they’ll serve a less romantic purpose, as windows to making money.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, one of the leading institutions for artificial intelligence research, have embarked on a study using facial-recognition algorithms to track the expressions of traders. Their goal: finding correlations between mood swings and market swings. If the traders look enthusiastic, it might be time to buy. Are there more furrowed brows than usual? Could be time to sell. The provisional US patent application was filed on Sept 13, 2022.

“The market is driven by human emotions,” says Mario Savvides, the project’s lead scientist. “What came to us is, can we abstract things like expression or movements as early indications of volatility? Everyone is getting excited, or everyone is shrugging their shoulders or scratching their head or leaning forward... Did everyone have a reaction within a five-second time frame?”