Posts by Paul Rowady

The Quant 100 Rankings, Part I

Based on its "Quant 100 List," Alphacution presents select rankings from an analysis of 70 basic US equity and equity option factors based on Q1 2026 data. Moreover, for the first time ever, Alphacution is providing a link to the source data for this analysis to enterprise subscribers with download rights...

By Paul Rowady | June 25, 2026 | Premium Subscribers

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The Quant 100 List

Based on Alphacution's proprietary assembly of the 13F dataset, the following represents an alphabetical list of the top "100" players in quantitative trading as of the end of Q1 2026. For those who are new to Alphacution or for those who may benefit from a reminder, this list – along with a cast of stakeholders, like exchanges, solution providers, banks, and others – is where we draw inspiration for our ongoing research roadmap…

By Paul Rowady | June 25, 2026 | Open

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Robinhood’s Monsters

In the footnotes of history, it needs to be known that Robinhood is responsible for one of the most profound and disruptive achievements in modern history that has given rise to unprecedented levels of personal wealth and influence. Robinhood's "frictionless" brokerage model has animated retail traders to the point of increasing influence over the US equity market and its role as the global economic sentiment engine. Capital markets stakeholders serve as accomplices to this achievement with their introductions of new...

By Paul Rowady | June 17, 2026 | Premium Subscribers

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SpaceX and US Equity Market Topology

Concentration of holdings around a short list of stocks has become a common critique of the level of risk in the US equity market. Beginning with the unprecedented IPO of SpaceX (SPCX), a wave of gargantuan AI-related IPOs is likely to exacerbate concentration in US equities further. But, how much further? In this Feed post, Alphacution presents a view of this concentration from the perspective of the "holders" - institutional asset managers - to answer the question: What concentration of...

By Paul Rowady | June 15, 2026 | Open

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Jane Street, Optiver: Leveling Up In Options

Along with record-breaking metrics in US equity options during Q1 2026, the top five proprietary option market makers' role in those metrics reached new highs as well. These include, alphabetically, Citadel Securities, IMC Financial Markets, Jane Street Group, Optiver Holding BV, and Susquehanna Securities. Moreover, the #2 rank in this influential group changed for the first time since the GFC. Alphacution brings the receipts; all of which providing subtle clues for the evolution of market topology...

By Paul Rowady | June 8, 2026 | Premium Subscribers

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Execution Quality / Rule 605 Chartstorm

Accessing liquidity in a highly fragmented market structure is both a challenge and an opportunity. Given the critical importance of accessing liquidity in modern listed markets, Alphacution took time to assemble and analyze SEC Rule 605 / execution quality data from at least 40 US equity market centers over the past several years representing wholesale market makers and other electronic liquidity providers (ELPs), exchanges, alternative trading systems (ATSs), large broker-dealers, and others. The result of that effort - focusing on...

By Paul Rowady | May 25, 2026 | Premium Subscribers

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MEMX Is Different

"Price improvement" and other execution quality metrics are typically used to justify payments for order flow (PFOF) in the US when many other jurisdictions have banned it. However, it turns out, all market centers - including public exchanges - provide price improvement to one degree or another. In a twist of contextual development, in this Feed post, Alphacution shows how the execution quality metrics for Members Exchange (MEMX) are uniquely supportive of the strategic objectives of wholesale market makers. Of...

By Paul Rowady | May 22, 2026 | Premium Subscribers

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Jane Street Is Different (formerly Make Jane Street Famous – MJSF)

The news is out: Jane Street Group delivered a Wall Street record $39.6 billion in trading revenue for 2025, exceeding JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citadel Securities, and others. It's a very big number. So big, in fact, that it pisses many people off and effectively places a target on their back. That's because Jane Street is doing something unique. How unique? Beyond its recently published case study, "How Jane Street Generates Alpha," Alphacution adds to the analysis here with a comparison...

By Paul Rowady | April 26, 2026 | Premium Subscribers

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Liquidity Provider Rankings by Price Improvement

Under most circumstances, talk of price improvement is no different than gaslighting. That's because in the context of retail order flows, "price improvement" ultimately benefits wholesale market makers and not retail investors. It's only in the context of institutional order flows that price improvement benefits both the investor and the market maker. In this Feed post, Alphacution updates modeling on a selection of 22 leading market centers - including wholesalers (like Citadel Securities and Jane Street Capital), exchanges (like NASDAQ...

By Paul Rowady | April 21, 2026 | Premium Subscribers

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Lining Up For XTX Execution Services

Of all the sources of liquidity in US equities, XTX Execution Services (XTXE) - an affiliate of global proprietary trading firm, XTX Markets - is unique. In turn, demand for XTXE's statistically-generous fills has grown significantly. To what end?

By Paul Rowady | April 20, 2026 | Premium Subscribers

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