How TradeSmith Turns AI-Powered Stock Predictions Into Profits

By Mike Burnick October 20, 2026

Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).

Editor’s Note: If you’ve ever wondered what Predictive Alpha actually looks like from the inside, today’s issue is for you. TradeSmith Senior Analyst Mike Burnick walks through the system screen by screen, from the target price and target date to the track record behind each forecast. He also shows you how to use it to research options trades.

Here’s Mike…

Whether you love it or hate it, you can’t deny that AI has turned the world upside down.

Here at TradeSmith, we’re less concerned with the “what-ifs” and “could-bes” of AI in the future. Rather, we’re zeroed in on how this technology can help you become a better trader in the present.

Our mission is to bring hedge-fund-level analytics and investment tools to everyday investors like you – by leveraging our cutting-edge research, data, and engineering expertise.

Every day, our team uses powerful machine-learning algorithms to develop and refine trading strategies that can give you an edge on the market. And our latest advances in AI allow us to rapidly scan billions of data points on thousands of stocks to predict how prices will move over the next month.

It’s all part of a system called Predictive Alpha.

Recently, we rolled out a major update to the Predictive Alpha system. And if you’re not familiar with Predictive Alpha, it is an AI-powered algorithm that can forecast the future prices of any of 2,334 stocks – to the day and even the penny – with 85% backtested accuracy.

And in today’s issue, let’s take a closer look at the new changes to this already-impressive AI – and I’ll show you how Predictive Alpha could change your trading game.

Using TradeSmith’s Cutting-Edge AI System

With Predictive Alpha, you can review price projection data for thousands of stocks, funds, and ETFs in our database – all determined by our AI-powered algorithms.

The Predictive Alpha system determines which direction the asset is expected to move in the short term and provides a price forecast right down to the penny. And you can access this powerful market data with just a few clicks: There are two easy ways to access Predictive Alpha data on your TradeSmith Finance platform.

To start, users can simply type any ticker symbol into the search bar of the TradeSmith Finance home page. For example, let’s use Micron Technology (MU).

Once you select MU from the search bar, you’ll arrive at the Asset Details page for the ticker. TradeSmith Platinum and Predictive Alpha Prime subscribers have full access to our AI-powered analytic tools and can select the Predictive Alpha tab shown below:

This will instantly provide you with our system’s current projection for MU, offering a forecast of where the stock price is likely to move over the next 21 trading days.

As you can see below, our ensemble AI model projects that MU will reach its Projected Target Price of $952.22 by Nov. 16. That’s an 8.4% increase, expected to arrive in just 21 trading days:

At the time of this writing, MU’s “Prime Projection Date” was Nov. 16 – the day within our 21-day price projection window that has the highest directional accuracy for the stock. This is the most statistically reliable forecast in price according to our AI algorithm.

This isn’t new territory for regular readers, but our new “ensemble” model now includes even more valuable data to help you better evaluate the profit potential.

To the right of the price projection graph shown above, and in addition to the expected move and projected date, you’ll find…

The historical target accuracy for the stock – which tells you that past projections for MU have a 81% probability of the price reaching the Prime Projection Target by the projected date…

The historical directional accuracy for the stock – showing that actual projected price moves by MU in the past have been in the right direction 58.7% of the time…

And the historical blended accuracy rating for the stock – which is based on the record of past price projections considering both the direction move and target accuracy. This is combined into a single score: For MU, Predictive Alpha has been on the money 85.8% of the time in the past.

But that’s not all! Scroll down the page, and you can view the Prime Projection Track Record for your searched stock presented in two easy-to-read graphs.

The first is the Prime Outlook Accuracy table shown below, which tells you how historically accurate our price projections have played out over the last 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month periods:

For instance, the current Predictive Alpha price projection for MU is 8.4%, which falls into the > +6.9% to +9.6% projected range. There have been 46 projections made in this range over the past 12 months, with an 85% target accuracy rate!

You can also view this detailed historical performance data based on directional and blended accuracy by simply clicking on the appropriate tabs.

Next, scroll down further to view the Prime Historical Target Accuracy scatter plot and table:

This provides you with a trade-by-trade recap of all past Predictive Alpha price projections for MU.

Here you can see how each projection has played out historically. This includes the target price hit rate, directional accuracy, the projected move versus the actual price move, plus the maximum rise and drop in the stock price.

Armed with this more-detailed-than-ever Predictive Alpha historical data, you have all the information you need to make a better-informed trading decision when researching a new position.

Now, it’s important to remember that Predictive Alpha price projections are all short-term in nature, with each Prime Projection forecast date arriving in 21 days or less.

As a result, the data is great for researching entries and short-term stock trades… but it’s just as effective when it comes to researching leveraged plays like options, which can deliver magnified returns in a short period of time.

Trading Options with Predictive Alpha

To use Predictive Alpha for your options trading research, simply click on the “Options” button at the top of the Predictive Alpha tab we pulled up before. TradeSmith Platinum members and Predictive Alpha Options subscribers will be able to view the data on this tab.

On this page, in addition to the stock’s future Prime Projection Date and Target, you will also see its current Trend Zone, the results from the Correlated indicator, the stock’s Volatility score, and the recommended options Strategies for the stock:

For MU, the trend is bullish, which is correlated with the Prime Projection. In other words, both the trend and Prime Projection are pointing in the same direction – and that alignment is signaled by the blue Correlated check mark.

Next, the Volatility score tells you if options on this stock are cheap or expensive, based on the historical data. A low score means options are inexpensive and are more suitable for strategies where you would buy call options. A high score means options are expensive, which favors selling options for income – whether puts or covered calls.

For MU, the Predictive Alpha data suggests selling put options or bull credit spreads. Simply click on the Find Options > link to see potential live option trade setups. At the time of this writing, there aren’t any suggestions available.

Now, not every stock that has a Predictive Alpha reading will have options suggestions on that page all the time. But you can check back every day to see if some come up.

Finding Even More Predictive Alpha Data

Another great way to harness the power of Predictive Alpha can be found right on the home page of your TradeSmith Finance platform.

If it’s included in your subscription level, just scroll down to the Predictive Alpha window to find a quick-and-easy dashboard for your AI projection data:

Here, you can also find Predictive Alpha Stock or Options data by using the search-by-ticker box at upper left.

Also, you can click on the Top Bullish and Top Bearish tabs, which provides you with a daily watchlist highlighting stocks that stand out, according to our powerful Predictive Alpha AI filters. Shown below are the top bullish picks as of today:

While these are not official recommendations, the Top Bullish stocks meet strict criteria for Health, Value, Free Cash Flow, and upside potential. Plus, the stocks on this list have a bullish combination of expected upside price potential and historical accuracy.

The Top Bearish entries, on the other hand, include stocks that are expected to underperform, with a combination of expected downside price potential and historical accuracy.

These lists update every day, providing you with new stock trading ideas daily.

Mike Burnick’s Bottom Line: These AI-driven insights can help you find high-probability trades daily. And with all the Predictive Alpha resources and data at your fingertips, you can harness the power of artificial intelligence to aim for profitable trades – no matter which way the stock market moves next.

Good investing,

Mike Burnick
Senior Analyst, TradeSmith