Strategy lab / 151 Trading Strategies

Strategy lab

Every strategy from 151 Trading Strategies and all 101 Formulaic Alphas as formulas you can edit and backtest on ten years of daily stocks, ETFs, futures, forex and crypto data. Free, in your browser.

Options58

Stocks21

Exchange-traded funds8

Fixed income15

Indexes5

Volatility7

Foreign exchange6

Commodities6

Futures7

Structured assets6

Convertibles2

Tax arbitrage3

Miscellaneous assets4

Distressed assets7

Real estate8

Cash5

Cryptocurrencies2

Global macro4

Infrastructure1

6.2IndexesReference

Cash-and-carry arbitrage

If index futures trade away from the spot index plus the cost of carry, buy the cheap side and sell the rich side until they converge.

In the paper

F^{*} (t, T) = [S (t) - D (t, T)] e^{r (T - t)}

Why there is no chart

Index futures prices, dividends and intraday execution.

The lab runs on daily prices for stocks, ETFs, indexes, futures, currencies, crypto and Treasury yields. This strategy from 151 Trading Strategies depends on data outside that set, so it is explained and formalised here rather than backtested.

Hypothetical backtests on daily closes with no slippage unless you add costs. Survivorship bias applies: the stock list is today’s large caps. For learning, not investment advice. Data: Yahoo Finance via yfinance.

Source: 151 Trading Strategies
Section: 6.2 · Indexes
Asset class: Indexes
In the lab: Explained, not backtested

Cash-and-carry arbitrage (6.2)

If index futures trade away from the spot index plus the cost of carry, buy the cheap side and sell the rich side until they converge.

Key equation

F^{*} (t, T) = [S (t) - D (t, T)] e^{r (T - t)}

Data it needs

Index futures prices, dividends and intraday execution.

More in Indexes

Source: Kakushadze, Z. and Serur, J. A. (2018). 151 Trading Strategies. Palgrave Macmillan. SSRN 3247865. Summaries are our own.