Investing Engines Dashboard

Peterson's Investing Engine

An On-going Investing & FinTech Experiment

In mid-2025 I began using AI to help with investing. After twenty years of playing the market myself, the frustration was always the gaps: weeks or months with nothing worth acting on. My first tools flagged signals, but mostly produced noise. It took about a year to build a system that researches the market and finds meaningful opportunities on its own. I refer to these as investing engines, and my current focus is making them respond well to rising and falling markets alike. Simulated trading began in early 2026; real money in June 2026. The results are early, but the numbers are accurate. White sections update daily; teal sections I update by hand. Founders profile.

Data points
12,503,741
that run our engines · updated daily
Proprietary data points
1.8M
non-public · produced by our engines
Annualized return
36.72%
realized trades · invested capital · as of Aug-2026
Sharpe
1.76
vs. SPY · as of Aug-2026
Beta
0.21
vs. SPY · as of Aug-2026
Alpha (ann.)
+10.94%
vs. SPY · as of Aug-2026
0.18
vs. SPY · as of Aug-2026
Max drawdown
-1.93%
as of Aug-2026

Normalized equity curve

indexed to 100 on the first day · as of Sep 2, 2026
9698100102104JunJulAugSep
Portfolio 102.8 SPY 101.1

AI risk appetite

as of Sep 2
44 / 100
Selective
-4.2 pts vs. the prior week

A daily temperature reading of our AI's appetite for risk. High readings mean it sees opportunity worth pursuing; lower means it's waiting and watching.

Market nervousness

as of Sep 3
33Uneasy16 acutely

How much of the market is pricing in unusual worry right now. Higher means more companies are bracing for a bumpy ride.

Market breadth

as of Sep 2
55%Mixed
  • Above their long-term trend55%
  • Above their short-term trend47%
  • Near a one-year high16%
  • Near a one-year low11%

How many companies are participating in the market's move, not just the biggest names. Broad participation is a healthier market than a narrow one.

Sector momentum

as of Sep 3
Sector1w1m3m
Health Care+0.5%+4.6%+14.3%
Consumer Cyclical+3.1%+2.9%+3.3%
Financials+0.5%+2.3%+3.3%
Consumer Defensive-0.5%+1.8%+2.7%
Communication Services+3.7%+0.2%+6.7%
Industrials+1.2%0.0%-0.5%
Information Technology+1.5%-2.4%-12.4%
Materials-0.8%-2.6%-0.6%
Energy-0.7%-2.8%-9.0%
Utilities+2.0%-4.0%-13.7%
Real Estate-1.3%-5.0%-17.6%

Which parts of the market have been leading and lagging over the past week, month, and quarter.

Insider buying vs. selling

trailing 30 days
10%of insider trades were purchases
  • Technology2% buying
  • Healthcare4% buying
  • Financial Services17% buying
  • Industrials15% buying
  • Consumer Cyclical15% buying
  • Communication Services10% buying
  • Energy30% buying
  • Real Estate34% buying

When company executives and directors trade their own shares, how often they were buying rather than selling, by sector. Selling is normal; a rise in buying is the interesting signal.

Agency attention by sector

trailing 4 weeks
  • Healthcare20%
  • Technology16%
  • Financial Services15%
  • Industrials13%
  • Consumer Cyclical12%
  • Consumer Defensive9%
  • Real Estate5%
  • Basic Materials4%

Where government and agency actions, to include approvals, enforcement, filings, and rulings, have been concentrating over the past month, by sector.

What kind of action

trailing 4 weeks
  • Mergers & acquisitions32%
  • Lawsuits22%
  • Share issuance14%
  • Leadership changes14%
  • Health approvals & rejections9%
  • Enforcement3%
  • Insider buying3%
  • Activist investors1%

The mix of notable company events on the public record this month, from deals and lawsuits to approvals and leadership changes.

Earnings season

next 4 weeks
Sectorwk of Aug 3163%wk of Sep 720%wk of Sep 148%wk of Sep 219%
Technology14%7%1%2%
Consumer Cyclical10%6%0%3%
Industrials12%3%1%1%
Healthcare7%2%3%0%
Consumer Defensive4%2%1%0%
Financial Services6%0%0%0%
Communication Services4%0%1%0%
Basic Materials3%0%0%1%

Where the coming weeks' company results are concentrated. Darker cells mean a busier week for that sector.

Economic calendar

the week ahead
  • Thu, Sep 3
    • Continuing Jobless Claims (Aug/22)
    • Initial Jobless Claims (Aug/29)
    • ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI (Aug)
    • ISM Non-Manufacturing Prices (Aug)
    • ISM Services PMI (Aug)
    • Jobless Claims 4-Week Average (Aug/29)
    • Balance of Trade (Jul)
    • Exports (Jul)
    • Fed Hammack Speech
    • Fed Waller Speech
    • Imports (Jul)
    • ISM Non-Manufacturing Employment (Aug)
  • Fri, Sep 4
    • Non Farm Payrolls (Aug)
    • Nonfarm Payrolls Private (Aug)
    • U-6 Unemployment Rate (Aug)
    • Unemployment Rate (Aug)
    • Average Hourly Earnings MoM (Aug)
    • Average Hourly Earnings YoY (Aug)
    • CFTC Crude Oil speculative net positions
    • CFTC Gold Speculative net positions
    • CFTC Nasdaq 100 speculative net positions
    • CFTC S&P 500 speculative net positions
    • Participation Rate (Aug)
  • Sun, Sep 6
    • OPEC Meeting
  • Wed, Sep 9
    • API Crude Oil Stock Change (Sep/04)
    • MBA 30-Year Mortgage Rate (Sep/04)

Government and central-bank releases on the calendar for the coming days. Bold items tend to move markets.

Recent deal announcements

81 within the last 30 days
  • Sep 3APGEAbbVie has completed its acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics (APGE), representing the closing of the previously announced deal. This is a definitive transaction completion event.
  • Sep 3DECDiversified Energy Company (DEC) held an M&A call, suggesting a merger or acquisition transaction is underway; however, the transcript body contains no substantive details about deal terms, counterparty, or structure.
  • Sep 3SEISolaris Energy (SEI) has announced a deal with Omega to expand its power infrastructure, suggesting an acquisition or partnership agreement.
  • Sep 2APOGApogee Enterprises (APOG) has announced plans to acquire GroGlass, though deal terms and structure have not been disclosed in the available text.
  • Sep 2KKRKKR is reportedly set to acquire A1 Garage Door Service for approximately $2 billion, according to unnamed sources. This represents a significant M&A transaction for KKR as the acquirer.
  • Sep 2LPSNLivePerson (LPSN) stockholders have voted to approve the acquisition of the company by SoundHound AI. This represents a definitive milestone in the M&A process, indicating the deal is progressing toward close.
  • Sep 2NWPXNWPX Infrastructure has announced the acquisition of Serpentix Conveyor, LLC. No deal terms or financial details are provided in the available text.
  • Sep 2PANWPalo Alto Networks reportedly acquired Thrive-backed Console for approximately $500 million, according to unnamed sources. This represents a material M&A transaction for PANW.
  • Sep 2VRTVertiv (VRT) has announced a $1.45 billion deal to acquire a microgrid provider, expanding its datacenter infrastructure capabilities. The acquisition represents a material M&A transaction for the company.
  • Sep 1ALGTA news article discusses a reported merger between Allegiant Travel (ALGT) and Sun Country, framing it as a buy opportunity.

Mergers and acquisitions our systems flagged from the news. The ten most recent, one per company; the count shows the rest we track.