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UsLargeCapShortTermReversalDollarNeutralLS

Hypotheses

Cross-Sectional Short-Term Reversal, Dollar-Neutral Long/Short Basket of Liquid US Large-Caps (USEQ, Daily Bars, 3-5 Day Holding, Commission-Free)

Hypotheses

A DOLLAR-NEUTRAL, MULTI-INSTRUMENT, cross-sectional short-term REVERSAL stat-arb on a basket of ~16 liquid US large-caps (USEQ). Every N daily bars, rank the universe by trailing 3-5 day return; go LONG the worst-performing quintile and SHORT the best-performing quintile, weighting each side to equal gross so the book is ~market-neutral. This is deliberately NOT the momentum-confluence family (the LTC/BTC/ADA dual-timeframe trend recipe that keeps dying or is already promoted) -- it trades the OPPOSITE sign at a shorter horizon, on a different asset class, market-neutral rather than directional. It exploits the Lehmann/Lo-MacKinlay short-term reversal anomaly: over 3-5 days, cross-sectional winners give back and losers bounce, driven by liquidity-provision compensation and non-information price pressure. The mechanism is fee-DEAD on crypto (0.10-0.20% RT eats the 0.2-0.4% reversal spread) but VIABLE on USEQ, where commissions are zero and cost is only ~0.02-0.05% RT spread+impact on these names. Distinct from the abandoned USEQ classical anomalies (L74: dual-TF trend, calendar seasonality, single-name/sector-ETF reversion, staples cointegration pairs) -- this is a broad cross-sectional decile spread portfolio, the canonical form of the anomaly, whose edge is much stronger and more diversified than a single-pair or sector-ETF reversion, and it is realized ACROSS ~16 names so no single name carries the book.

Hypotheses

Implements the Lehmann/Lo-MacKinlay short-term reversal anomaly in its canonical form: a cross-sectional decile(quintile)-spread portfolio rather than a single-name or single-pair reversion. calculate_signal returns a CONTINUOUS reversal score every session — the NEGATED cross-sectional z-score of the primary name's trailing formation-window return (positive = it underperformed the basket and is expected to bounce) — while the book decision fires on the calendar-anchored rebalance clock. The negation is what makes this reversal, the opposite sign of the momentum family the hypothesis explicitly distinguishes itself from. Dollar-neutrality is enforced structurally (both sides sized from the same per_name notional and the same k), so the book cannot drift into a levered directional bet — the failure mode behind past -100% 'market-neutral' books. leverage=2.0 is genuinely consumed: gross notional multiplies by self.config.leverage. Venue is USEQ because the mechanism is fee-dead on crypto (0.10-0.20% RT vs a 0.2-0.4% reversal spread) and only clears costs where commissions are zero; long+short on 2x Reg-T margin requires the MARGIN equity venue, not a CASH one. All 16 legs are currently-listed mega-caps with full daily history in the catalog, so the multi-leg alignment barrier is satisfied from the start of the window and ~73 rebalances/year give a large trade sample.

Hypotheses

Breakeven/drag-band expectancy with no deployable edge on a decisive 11,753-trade / 36-year sample. profit_factor 1.0156 sits in the [0.85,1.10] drag band and below the L75 USEQ PF<1.2 line — on a zero-commission venue that means the reversal spread itself is absent, not fee-eaten. The dominant cost is IMPACT: impact_cost_pct 64.5% consumes two-thirds of gross PnL and capacity_usd is only $240k, so the nominal net 0.109% per-trade return survives only at toy scale and vanishes at any deployable size (QA's smoke-test concern of 31.4% impact is confirmed and worse on full history). The book is not the diversified market-neutral edge it claims: max_drawdown 71.4% and return concentrated entirely in the stressed vol tercile (calm -100%, normal -89%, stressed +2807%) = a leverage-amplified tail bet. This is the dollar-neutral cross-sectional basket family (L45, 0/84) whose sibling UsSectorEtfCrossSectionalMomentumDollarNeutralLS was just abandoned at PF~1.03; two formation/rebalance parameters cannot lift a PF-1.02 signal already 65% consumed by impact above breakeven. Backtest is not numerically viable (PF<1.05, DD>60%). abandon_class=negative_expectancy.

Implementation

Cross-sectional short-term REVERSAL stat-arb across 16 liquid US large-caps on USEQ daily session bars (AAPL MSFT JNJ JPM XOM PG KO PFE WMT CVX MRK PEP CSCO INTC VZ T). Every 5-calendar-day bucket (~3-4 sessions, anchored to the bar's own timestamp so the schedule is restart-invariant) the basket is ranked by its trailing 4-session return: the 3 WORST performers are bought and the 3 BEST are shorted, equal dollar per name and identical notional per side, so the book is dollar-neutral by construction. Gross = equity x 0.60 x leverage 2.0 = 1.2x equity (0.6x long + 0.6x short) under USEQ Reg-T margin. Rebalancing runs as NETTING delta orders in whole shares, so names that stay in the same bucket keep their position and deltas below $500 are skipped, holding turnover down against USEQ's ~0.02-0.05% round-trip spread+impact.

Verification Results

Treat backtest short-side PnL as slightly optimistic; not a blocker for these highly liquid names.

Verification Results

Short legs (3 names per rebalance) incur no borrow cost in the backtest (USEQ borrow is not modeled). On these mega-caps borrow is cheap and the book is dollar-neutral (long+short balanced), so the omission is small, but it modestly overstates realized net edge.

Verification Results

No change required; noted for transparency.

Verification Results

min_bars_required overrides the base framework method (static analysis base_shadow warning). It is deliberate and documented (the real warm-up is the aligned price buffer), and returns a sane 25, so it is functionally correct.

Verification Results

Marginal economics on the smoke test: avg_trade_return_pct 0.1107% sits just above the ~0.05% USEQ spread+impact floor, profit_factor 1.046 is in the drag band, Sharpe 0.428 (CI [-0.37,1.20] straddling zero), and impact_cost_pct 31.4% already consumes a third of gross at only ~$1M capacity. The cross-sectional dollar-neutral USEQ basket family has been abandoned recently at breakeven expectancy (UsSectorEtfCrossSectionalMomentumDollarNeutralLS, PF ~1.03). This is a broader 16-name reversal (opposite sign, canonical anomaly form) so it is a fairer test, but the analyst should confirm the reversal spread net of impact actually clears costs on full history before optimizing. Advisory only.

Backtest Review

Large, reliable sample (11,753 trades, 36-year span) and a genuinely distinct mechanism vs the recently-dead momentum-confluence family

Backtest Review

Sharpe CI low 0.54 does not straddle zero on the MTM equity curve

Backtest Review

Net per-trade return 0.109% nominally clears the USEQ prefer-threshold

Backtest Review

profit_factor 1.0156 sits in the [0.85,1.10] drag band and below the L75 USEQ PF<1.2 line (anomaly absent, not fee-eaten) on a zero-commission venue

Backtest Review

impact_cost_pct 64.5% consumes two-thirds of gross PnL; capacity_usd only $240k means the edge is real only at toy scale

Backtest Review

max_drawdown 71.4% on a supposedly dollar-neutral book; return entirely concentrated in the stressed vol regime (calm -100%, normal -89%, stressed +2807%) = leverage-amplified tail bet, not a diversified reversal edge

Backtest Review

Dollar-neutral cross-sectional basket family (L45 multi_instrument 0/84); sibling UsSectorEtfCrossSectionalMomentumDollarNeutralLS abandoned days ago at PF~1.03

Outcome Summary

UsLargeCapShortTermReversalDollarNeu-8b0d4eb936

Outcome Summary

The strategy bet USEQ's zero commissions would let the small 3-5 day cross-sectional reversal spread survive. On a decisive 36-year sample it produced a positive Sharpe but a profit factor of 1.0156, with market impact swallowing 64.5% of gross PnL, ~$240k capacity, and a 71.4% drawdown concentrated in the stressed vol tercile — a leverage-amplified tail bet, not a neutral edge. The analyst abandoned it before optimization, noting a sibling in the same 0/84 dollar-neutral basket family had just been abandoned at PF~1.03.

Outcome Summary

A reversal basket only pays if the raw spread clears impact at deployable size; PF ~1.02 with two-thirds of gross eaten by impact and $240k capacity can't be tuned into an edge.

Outcome Summary

Abandoned at backtest-review as negative-expectancy — PF in the drag band below the USEQ 1.2 line, returns concentrated entirely in the stressed vol regime (calm -100%, normal -89%, stressed +2807%).

Outcome Summary

A dollar-neutral cross-sectional short-term reversal stat-arb on 16 liquid US large-caps (USEQ, daily bars), long the worst / short the best 3-5 day performers to harvest the reversal anomaly on a zero-commission venue.

Outcome Summary

36-year, 11,753-trade backtest: 137.7% total return (CAGR 2.37%), Sharpe 0.64, but PF 1.0156, 71.4% max drawdown, net 0.109% per trade, impact costs 64.5% of gross, capacity only ~$240k.
Strategy report

Backtest and paper results are hypothetical. Trading involves risk of loss.