Data drives the financial markets of today. In any given second, there are millions of signals being transmitted across exchanges, far too many for any human to do anything meaningful with alone.
To get around this problem, institutions have long relied on premium data feeds and complex algorithmic systems to gain insight (and an edge) in the markets. Meanwhile, retail traders are left with outdated information and are forced to battle the charts using only basic tools and software. It’s been far from an even fight.
If anyone understands this problem, it’s Zak Westphal, CEO and Co-Founder of StocksToTrade, and fintech visionary.. His mission has been to help bridge that gap and give everyday traders the same caliber of data and analysis that Wall Street has utilized for decades.
Today, more than 30,000 users rely on StocksToTrade for their data feeds, AI-based scanning engines, and educational resources to help them conquer the markets and turn a profit as a trader. But Westphal is quick to emphasize one thing: none of these sophisticated tools matters without human judgment.
Data Feeds: The Starting Point
All trading begins with information. For years, institutions have been paying for direct, low-latency information feeds that give them the advantage of being first to identify new setups. Retail traders often have to contend with lagging data and incomplete information, and then make a decision based on a snapshot rather than the entire picture.
StocksToTrade was built for this very reason. By bringing all of these real-time feeds together in one platform, Westphal’s team has taken institutional-grade tools and made them available to the public. Instead of bouncing between brokers, news sites, and charting tools, users can see the same information professionals act on (without the lag).
To Zak Westphal, having access to good data should not be a privilege for day traders, it is the bare minimum needed to give yourself a shot at success. “If the information that you have arrived late or scattered, you’re already one step behind and have the odds stacked against you,” says Zak.
AI: The Accelerator
AI has become the engine that enables modern trading to operate at scale. Markets move too quickly and generate too much information for any individual to monitor at any given time. Algorithms handle that onslaught of data and identify patterns that are often lost in the noise.
In StocksToTrade, the Oracle Scanner and IRIS Analytics do precisely that. They sift through thousands of tickers, headlines, and sentiment fluctuations in seconds to identify unusual activity or interesting technical setups that could be worth exploring. A sudden increase in volume, a news headline that is beginning to gain momentum, or a price pattern that is forming in multiple stocks can be immediately flagged for a trader to review.
For Zak Westphal, the value of AI lies in its speed and focus. Instead of a trader being overwhelmed by an infinite number of charts and feeds, AI narrows down the opportunities that most likely matter. It doesn’t eliminate analysis; it speeds it up by giving traders a place to start, allowing them to act faster than ever before.
For Westphal, this is where traders win or lose. AI can facilitate the process, but it is judgment that ultimately determines the result. The combination of machine speed with human judgment is what gives retail traders a real chance to compete.
Human Judgment: The Decider
Any good data scientist worth their salt will tell you that data by itself is worthless. The real challenge is making sense of the information and gaining insights. For trading data, this means knowing what to pay attention to, understanding why the market has moved in a particular direction, or why a tool suggests that a stock may be poised for a move in one direction or another.
So while AI can highlight trading signals, it can’t explain what they mean for an individual trader. A rapid price jump might be a breakout or nothing but noise. A change in sentiment might indicate an opportunity or a situation you do not want to become entangled in. That’s all based on human interpretation.
Zak Westphal is clear about this point, without context, data is virtually useless. Traders still need to evaluate the responses they receive from tools critically. Why is the market moving in such a way? What risks does the setup pose? Does this fit my strategy and tolerance?
This is why trader education is so vital to Zak. He wants users to succeed not only because it builds credibility for his platform, but because it creates staying power. Traders who learn to think critically about signals are more likely to continue trading, improve their performance, and return to the product in the future. In his words, a trader with an education is safer in the market, as well as more loyal in the future.
The Future of Data-Driven Trading
Looking to the future, Zak Westphal envisions fintech moving ever closer to accessibility. Mobile-first platforms, simple designs, and AI-facilitated insights are already changing how retail traders interact with the market. However, he believes that companies that will last will be those that can combine speed with clarity and education.
As regulators pay closer attention to retail trading, credibility will matter as much as innovation. For Westphal, that means building platforms that traders can trust to both inform and teach.
As regulation tightens and retail trading grows, trust will be just as important as innovation. For Westphal, that means building systems that traders can rely on. Tools that don’t just flash signals, but actually help people understand what they’re seeing.
At the heart of his view is a straightforward idea: data feeds supply the information, AI helps make sense of it, but it’s human judgment (sharpened by education) that turns it into wise decision-making. With more than 30,000 traders already using this approach on StocksToTrade, he’s betting the future of trading will be shaped not by machines on their own, but by people who know how to work with them.