Opening Cross: Riding the Predictive/Social Wave Without Getting Wiped Out

For years, traders have tried to get a jump on market movements by understanding -- and predicting other traders' reactions to -- the events that move the markets. The idea is that whoever can react and trade fastest can ride the wave of the market up or down as slower investors pile in or out. But over time, it has become harder and harder to get on the wave before it breaks, so firms are finding new and novel ways to spot waves before they even become a swell.

For example, to understand waves