I love this story! Reminds me of the book Blink.

It seems to me that when an intelligent person is highly interested in a subject and as a result of hard work has accumulated a wealth of knowledge about that subject something happens in his brain that starts making links between his brain cells which can activate and reorganise instantly when confronted with new data.

I assume this happens particularly with analytical and critical thinkers, because they are brave enough and happy to explore the vastness of the unknown and that builds all sorts of tentative links in the brain that are ready to be activated when the right trigger arises. The strong interest in the subject further brings alertness to the mind.

I am not excluding the existence of some mystical element in the whole mix. I guess meditation and mindfulness also help in addition to the rest. And some people are just more intuitive by nature.

I do agree this is a very important element in the mix of qualities that make a successful investor. Though thinking out of the box and resisting the influence of the market sentiment (the animal spirits) is even more important.