Why Most Indicators Fail: Every Stock Has Its Own Personality
The best indicators are always tailor-made
Traders love indicators. RSI, MACD, Fibonacci levels…they’re everywhere.
Ever wonder why an indicator tells you to buy — and the stock immediately drops?
Then it flashes sell — and the price rips higher?
One of the biggest reasons they fail is that they’re too broad.
Each stock has its own personality
Indicators are one-size-fits-all formulas slapped on every ticker, ignoring each stock’s unique personality.
That’s like designing a single training plan for every athlete, from a wrestler to a marathon runner, and expecting identical results.
Tesla doesn’t move like Coca-Cola. NVIDIA doesn’t respond to pullbacks the way Exxon does. Some names have explosive mean-reversion tendencies, while others trend in silence for weeks. Some whip around intraday with massive volume rotations; others barely budge even on major news.
Yet traders apply the same 14-period RSI or Fibonacci levels and wonder why it didn’t work.
Customization Is Edge
Custom indicators are how you fix that.
Formulas calibrated to how one specific stock actually moves. Maybe you need faster sensitivity for a high-beta name like TSLA, or slower smoothing for a steady dividend stock like KO. You’re creating indicators that match the stock’s personality, not forcing it into a template.
Our research has found massive improvements in signal accuracy just by adjusting parameters to match the stock’s traits. That’s enough to gain an edge.
At CI Volatility, we don’t believe in one-size-fits-all.
Every instrument we trade, from volatility indices to equities and leveraged ETFs, has its own personality profile. Our models use highly specific, custom-built indicators for each one.
We study how each asset behaves during calm markets, stress periods, and volatility spikes — and design algorithms that speak its language.
Because in trading, like in tailoring, off-the-rack rarely fits right.
The best indicators are always custom-made.