How Quant Signals Works

Automated stock selection and portfolio management, demystified

The Trading Pipeline

Market Data

Every morning, we download the latest stock prices, volumes, and economic data to build our analysis.

Risk Analysis

We assess the market's health using volatility (VIX), economic indicators, and trend strength to set risk levels.

Stock Selection

We rank S&P 500 stocks by quality, momentum, and value metrics to identify the strongest candidates.

Portfolio Management

We assemble 15 different portfolios with varying risk levels and rebalance daily to stay aligned with our signals.

Tracking & Reporting

You see daily updates on positions, trades, and performance — so you always know what's happening.

Two Trading Systems

Daily Stock Trading

What it does: Selects the best-performing stocks from the S&P 500 and manages 15 different portfolio strategies simultaneously.

How it works: Each morning, we rank all 500 stocks by quality, momentum, and value. Then we assign them to 15 separate portfolios, each with different risk levels. Think of it like having 15 different strategies playing at the same time.

The portfolios: Each one starts with $100,000 in paper money and trades daily. You see the results for all 15 in your Paper Trading Dashboard.

Paper trading: No real money is traded in the system yet — these are simulations. When you're ready, you can connect your Alpaca account to paper trade or go live.

View Paper Trading

TSP Switching

What it does: Optimizes your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) by recommending when to switch between Lifecycle funds and the G Fund.

How it works: We use machine learning models trained on decades of TSP fund performance to predict when the G Fund will outperform Lifecycle funds. When the prediction says "switch," you get an alert.

Why it matters: TSP allows only 2 fund switches per month. In backtesting, timing those switches optimally has historically added 1-3% to annual returns compared to a static Lifecycle allocation.

Your action: You decide when to switch. The system signals when historical patterns suggest favorable timing.

View TSP Dashboard

What Are Variants?

Instead of running just one strategy, Quant Signals runs 15 different strategies at the same time across three account types. Each one has a slightly different approach to risk, holding period, or sector focus. This is called "diversifying your approaches."

It's like having 15 portfolio managers, each with their own style. Some are aggressive (take big risks for bigger gains), some are conservative (prioritize stability), and some are balanced in between. You can see how each one performs daily and choose which fit your goals.

Taxable Accounts

6 variants optimized for regular brokerage accounts where you pay taxes on gains:

N1 - Growth Focused
N2 - Growth with Protection
N3 - ML Growth
N4 - ML Risk-Adjusted
N5 - Balanced Risk-Adjusted
N6 - ML Balanced

Taxable-in-IRA

3 variants that run taxable strategies inside an IRA wrapper:

N1i - Growth Focused (IRA)
N6i - ML Balanced (IRA)
N1ir - Growth Reoptimized (IRA)

IRA-Optimized

6 variants tailored for tax-sheltered retirement accounts:

I1 - Conservative Risk-Adjusted
I2 - Conservative Balanced
I4 - Moderate Growth
I5 - Growth Aggressive
I6 - Balanced Risk-Adjusted
I9 - CAGR Optimized

Note: Each variant runs independently with $100K in paper money. They're not a recommendation about which one to choose — they're all available for you to evaluate and monitor.

Risk Management

We use a 4-tier system to assess and manage risk. Think of it as checking the health of four different things every single day.

1

Portfolio Health

We monitor your holdings: Are you too concentrated in one sector? Is the portfolio becoming too volatile? This tier watches the fundamentals of your positions.

2

Market Conditions

Is the market trending up or down? How volatile is it (VIX)? Are more stocks going up or down? This tier tracks the overall market's health.

3

Economic Risks

Interest rates, credit spreads, unemployment — these are macro signals that can affect stocks broadly. This tier watches the big-picture economy.

4

Trading Costs

Every time we trade, there's a cost (commissions, spreads, slippage). This tier ensures we're not trading so much that costs eat into returns.

How it helps you: All 4 tiers combine into a single "Risk Score" you see in your dashboards. When the score is high, the system signals to reduce position sizes. When it's low, the signals lean toward larger positions. The goal is to signal caution during elevated risk and opportunity during calmer conditions.

Market Regimes

We classify the market into 5 states. Each tells you something about what to expect:

Bull Run

Market trending strongly up, VIX low. High confidence in stocks — this is when the system is most aggressive.

Bull

Uptrend but less aggressive. Market is positive but showing some caution — moderate risk posture.

Neutral

No clear direction. Market is choppy — the system stays selective and careful with capital.

Bear

Downtrend. Market declining — the system reduces exposure and focuses on defensive stocks.

Recovery

Bottom-finding phase. Market stabilizing after a decline — we begin rotating back into growth.

How to use it: Check the current regime on your Market Cycle & Risk dashboard. It helps explain why we might be trading aggressively (Bull Run) or defensively (Bear).