Quant Investors Left Reeling as a Booming S&P 500 Trade Misfires

  • A once-reliable intraday trend-following strategy is slumping
  • But demand still strong for a trade seen riding next downturn
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Before things went south, Bastian Bolesta made easy money from a quant strategy that worked for years thanks to the rise of automated stock traders on Wall Street.

If S&P 500 futures rise, his trading program goes long. If the index drops, it duly puts on a short. Then the money manager just waits for the 4 p.m. bell and closes the position. And repeat.