Weighted Alpha

A weighted measure of how much a stock has risen or fallen over a certain period, usually a year. Generally, more emphasis is placed on recent activity by assigning higher weights to it than those assigned to earlier movements. This helps to give a return figure that has a greater focus on the most current period and is a more relevant measure for short-term analysis. This technique is popular with technical analysts.

If the stock was up over the period, it will have a positively weighted alpha. An unchanged stock price has a small weighted alpha. A stock whose price has fallen over the period will have a negatively weighted alpha. Technical analysts use this measure to identify companies that have shown a strong trend over the past year and, more specifically, to focus their attention on companies whose momentum is building.