Theme Detector
Overview
This skill detects and ranks trending market themes by analyzing cross-sector momentum, volume, and breadth signals. It identifies both bullish (upward momentum) and bearish (downward pressure) themes, assesses lifecycle maturity (early/mid/late/exhaustion), and provides a confidence score combining quantitative data with narrative analysis.
3-Dimensional Scoring Model:
- Theme Heat (0-100): Direction-neutral strength of the theme (momentum, volume, uptrend ratio, breadth)
- Lifecycle Maturity: Stage classification (Early / Mid / Late / Exhaustion) based on duration, extremity clustering, valuation, and ETF proliferation
- Confidence (Low / Medium / High): Reliability of the detection, combining quantitative breadth with narrative confirmation
Key Features:
- Cross-sector theme detection using FINVIZ industry data
- Direction-aware scoring (bullish and bearish themes)
- Lifecycle maturity assessment to identify crowded vs. emerging trades
- ETF proliferation scoring (more ETFs = more mature/crowded theme)
- Integration with uptrend-dashboard for 3-point evaluation
- Dual-mode operation: FINVIZ Elite (fast) or public scraping (slower, limited)
- WebSearch-based narrative confirmation for top themes
When to Use This Skill
Explicit Triggers:
- "What market themes are trending right now?"
- "Which sectors are hot/cold?"
- "Detect current market themes"
- "What are the strongest bullish/bearish narratives?"
- "Is AI/clean energy/defense still a strong theme?"
- "Where is sector rotation heading?"
- "Show me thematic investing opportunities"
Implicit Triggers:
- User wants to understand broad market narrative shifts
- User is looking for thematic ETF or sector allocation ideas
- User asks about crowded trades or late-cycle themes
- User wants to know which themes are emerging vs. exhausted
When NOT to Use:
- Individual stock analysis (use us-stock-analysis instead)
- Specific sector deep-dive with chart reading (use sector-analyst instead)
- Portfolio rebalancing (use portfolio-manager instead)
- Dividend/income investing (use value-dividend-screener instead)
Workflow
Step 1: Verify Requirements
Check for required API keys and dependencies:
# Check for FINVIZ Elite API key (optional but recommended)
echo $FINVIZ_API_KEY
# Check for FMP API key (optional, used for valuation metrics)
echo $FMP_API_KEY
Requirements:
- Python 3.7+ with
requests,beautifulsoup4,lxml - FINVIZ Elite API key (recommended for full industry coverage and speed)
- FMP API key (optional, for P/E ratio valuation data)
- Without FINVIZ Elite, the skill uses public FINVIZ scraping (limited to ~20 stocks per industry, slower rate limits)
Installation:
pip install requests beautifulsoup4 lxml
Step 2: Execute Theme Detection Script
Run the main detection script:
python3 skills/theme-detector/scripts/theme_detector.py \
--output-dir reports/
Script Options:
# Full run (public FINVIZ mode, no API key required)
python3 skills/theme-detector/scripts/theme_detector.py \
--output-dir reports/
# With FINVIZ Elite API key
python3 skills/theme-detector/scripts/theme_detector.py \
--finviz-api-key $FINVIZ_API_KEY \
--output-dir reports/
# With FMP API key for enhanced stock data
python3 skills/theme-detector/scripts/theme_detector.py \
--fmp-api-key $FMP_API_KEY \
--output-dir reports/
# Custom limits
python3 skills/theme-detector/scripts/theme_detector.py \
--max-themes 5 \
--max-stocks-per-theme 5 \
--output-dir reports/
# Explicit FINVIZ mode
python3 skills/theme-detector/scripts/theme_detector.py \
--finviz-mode public \
--output-dir reports/
Expected Execution Time:
- FINVIZ Elite mode: ~2-3 minutes (14+ themes)
- Public FINVIZ mode: ~5-8 minutes (rate-limited scraping)
Step 3: Read and Parse Detection Results
The script generates two output files:
theme_detector_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS.json- Structured data for programmatic usetheme_detector_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS.md- Human-readable report
Read the JSON output to understand quantitative results:
# Find the latest report
ls -lt reports/theme_detector_*.json | head -1
# Read the JSON output
cat reports/theme_detector_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS.json
Step 4: Perform Narrative Confirmation via WebSearch
For the top 5 themes (by Theme Heat score), execute WebSearch queries to confirm narrative strength:
Search Pattern:
"[theme name] stocks market [current month] [current year]"
"[theme name] sector momentum [current month] [current year]"
Evaluate narrative signals:
- Strong narrative: Multiple major outlets covering the theme, analyst upgrades, policy catalysts
- Moderate narrative: Some coverage, mixed sentiment, no clear catalyst
- Weak narrative: Little coverage, or predominantly contrarian/skeptical tone
Update Confidence levels based on findings:
- Quantitative High + Narrative Strong = High confidence
- Quantitative High + Narrative Weak = Medium confidence (possible momentum divergence)
- Quantitative Low + Narrative Strong = Medium confidence (narrative may lead price)
- Quantitative Low + Narrative Weak = Low confidence
Step 5: Analyze Results and Provide Recommendations
Cross-reference detection results with knowledge bases:
Reference Documents to Consult:
references/cross_sector_themes.md- Theme definitions and constituent industriesreferences/thematic_etf_catalog.md- ETF exposure options by themereferences/theme_detection_methodology.md- Scoring model detailsreferences/finviz_industry_codes.md- Industry classification reference
Analysis Framework:
For Hot Bullish Themes (Heat >= 70, Direction = Bullish):
- Identify lifecycle stage (Early = opportunity, Late/Exhaustion = caution)
- List top-performing industries within the theme
- Recommend proxy ETFs for exposure
- Flag if ETF proliferation is high (crowded trade warning)
For Hot Bearish Themes (Heat >= 70, Direction = Bearish):
- Identify industries under pressure
- Assess if bearish momentum is accelerating or decelerating
- Recommend hedging strategies or sectors to avoid
- Note potential mean-reversion opportunities if lifecycle is Late/Exhaustion
For Emerging Themes (Heat 40-69, Lifecycle = Early):
- These may represent early rotation signals
- Recommend monitoring with watchlist
- Identify catalyst events that could accelerate the theme
For Exhausted Themes (Heat >= 60, Lifecycle = Exhaustion):
- Warn about crowded trade risk
- High ETF count confirms excessive retail participation
- Consider contrarian positioning or reducing exposure
Step 6: Generate Final Report
Present the final report to the user using the report template structure:
# Theme Detection Report
**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Mode:** FINVIZ Elite / Public
**Themes Analyzed:** N
**Data Quality:** [note any limitations]
## Theme Dashboard
[Top themes table with Heat, Direction, Lifecycle, Confidence]
## Bullish Themes Detail
[Detailed analysis of bullish themes sorted by Heat]
## Bearish Themes Detail
[Detailed analysis of bearish themes sorted by Heat]
## All Themes Summary
[Complete theme ranking table]
## Industry Rankings
[Top performing and worst performing industries]
## Sector Uptrend Ratios
[Sector-level aggregation if uptrend data available]
## Methodology Notes
[Brief explanation of scoring model]
Save the report to reports/ directory.
Resources
Scripts Directory (scripts/)
Main Scripts:
-
theme_detector.py- Main orchestrator script- Coordinates industry data collection, theme classification, and scoring
- Generates JSON + Markdown output
- Usage:
python3 theme_detector.py [options]
-
theme_classifier.py- Maps industries to cross-sector themes- Reads theme definitions from
cross_sector_themes.md - Calculates theme-level aggregated scores
- Determines direction (bullish/bearish) from constituent industries
- Reads theme definitions from
-
finviz_industry_scanner.py- FINVIZ industry data collection- Elite mode: CSV export with full stock data per industry
- Public mode: Web scraping with rate limiting
- Extracts: performance, volume, change%, avg volume, market cap
-
lifecycle_analyzer.py- Lifecycle maturity assessment- Duration scoring, extremity clustering, valuation analysis
- ETF proliferation scoring from thematic_etf_catalog.md
- Stage classification: Early / Mid / Late / Exhaustion
-
report_generator.py- Report output generation- Markdown report from template
- JSON structured output
- Theme dashboard formatting
References Directory (references/)
Knowledge Bases:
cross_sector_themes.md- Theme definitions with industries, ETFs, stocks, and matching criteriathematic_etf_catalog.md- Comprehensive thematic ETF catalog with counts per themefinviz_industry_codes.md- Complete FINVIZ industry-to-filter-code mappingtheme_detection_methodology.md- Technical documentation of the 3D scoring model
Assets Directory (assets/)
report_template.md- Markdown template for report generation with placeholder format
Important Notes
FINVIZ Mode Differences
| Feature | Elite Mode | Public Mode | |---------|-----------|-------------| | Industry coverage | All ~145 industries | All ~145 industries | | Stocks per industry | Full universe | ~20 stocks (page 1) | | Rate limiting | 0.5s between requests | 2.0s between requests | | Data freshness | Real-time | 15-min delayed | | API key required | Yes ($39.99/mo) | No | | Execution time | ~2-3 minutes | ~5-8 minutes |
Direction Detection Logic
Theme direction (bullish vs. bearish) is determined by:
- Weighted industry performance: Average change% across constituent industries, weighted by market cap
- Uptrend ratio: Percentage of stocks in each industry that are in technical uptrends (if uptrend data available)
- Volume confirmation: Whether volume supports the price direction (accumulation vs. distribution)
A theme is classified as:
- Bullish: Weighted performance > 0 AND (uptrend ratio > 50% OR volume accumulation confirmed)
- Bearish: Weighted performance < 0 AND (uptrend ratio < 50% OR volume distribution confirmed)
- Neutral: Mixed signals or insufficient data
Known Limitations
- Survivorship bias: Only analyzes currently listed stocks and ETFs
- Lag: FINVIZ data may lag intraday moves by 15 minutes (public mode)
- Theme boundaries: Some stocks fit multiple themes; classification uses primary industry
- ETF proliferation: Catalog is static and may not capture very new ETFs
- Narrative scoring: WebSearch-based and inherently subjective
- Public mode limitation: ~20 stocks per industry may miss small-cap signals
Disclaimer
This analysis is for educational and informational purposes only.
- Not investment advice
- Past thematic trends do not guarantee future performance
- Theme detection identifies momentum, not fundamental value
- Conduct your own research before making investment decisions
Version: 1.0 Last Updated: 2026-02-16 API Requirements: FINVIZ Elite (recommended) or public mode (free); FMP API optional Execution Time: ~2-8 minutes depending on mode Output Formats: JSON + Markdown Themes Covered: 14+ cross-sector themes