July 31, 2026

One position is doing the heavy lifting right now

Four days in, one name is carrying the book — and the engine that found it is scanning again tonight.

Scoreboard Update

EXPERIMENT UPDATE — Day 20 System: -0.0% | SPY (same window): -0.6% | Alpha: +0.6% Win rate: 0% (0/4) Open positions: EVC (day 18, -4.5%), SNOW (day 5, +8.3%), CORT (day 4, +24.6%), DDOG (day 3, +5.2%), EVC (day 2, -2.9%)

Today's market and our positions

CORT is up 24.5% in four days. That kind of move makes everything else in the book look like it's standing still — and honestly, most of it is. SPY gained 0.68% today and closed around $746.77. On a 20-day basis, our system is sitting at roughly flat while SPY is down about 0.6% over the same window. That's a small alpha edge. Nothing dramatic. But in a market like this, staying above water while one position does the heavy lifting isn't nothing.

What our open trades are doing

CORT is the story of this book right now, and the numbers back that up. Day 4, entry at $91.92, now trading at $114.49. The Relative Strength Engine flagged this one when it was already outrunning the market — and it never stopped. Four days later, that's +23.72% alpha against SPY. The kind of follow-through that validates the signal, not just the entry. We're watching it closely for signs of exhaustion. So far, it hasn't given us one. SNOW is doing its job. Day 5, entry at $270.92, now at $293.04. That's +8.16% with +7.09% alpha against SPY. It's not CORT, but it's a clean, well-behaved position running in the right direction with no drama attached. DDOG is the newest name in the book — day 3, entered at $254.75, now at $268.49. Up 5.39% with nearly 3 points of alpha on SPY. Still early. But the way it's been acting matches exactly what the Relative Strength Engine was looking for when it flagged it. Then there's EVC. Both positions are underwater. The day 18 entry at $11.75 sits at $11.22 — down 4.51% with -3.87% alpha. The day 2 entry at $11.55 is also at $11.22, down 2.86% with -3.58% alpha. EVC is not doing what the engine expected. It's lagging the market on both entries and showing no signs of catching up. That's the honest read.

Today's closed trades, post-mortem

No trades closed today. Nothing to post-mortem. The book holds the same five positions it carried into this morning's open — marks drifted a little in both directions intraday, then settled close to where the session started.

What could change by tomorrow's open

EVC is the clearest risk heading into tomorrow. Two positions in the same name, both negative, both trailing SPY. If the market gets choppy or pulls back, EVC is the last name in this book you'd want absorbing the pressure. CORT, meanwhile, has run hard in four days — and a sharp reversal overnight or at the open is always on the table after a move that size. Worth keeping in the back of your mind. One more number worth keeping there too: the win rate sits at 0% across four closed trades. The open positions look better right now, but closed results are the only ones that actually count.

What we're watching tomorrow

Tomorrow morning the engines run fresh scans. What I'm watching for is whether the Relative Strength Engine surfaces anything in the same neighborhood as CORT — sectors quietly outrunning the tape while everyone's focused on the obvious names. CORT didn't look obvious when it was flagged. That's usually exactly the point.

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$100 invested in American stocks in 1974 grew to more than $30,000.

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Which side will you be on?

See the third dollar here >>

“The Buck Stops Here”

Kelly Maguire

Behind the Markets

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