This paper proposes PALM (Point-in-time Adaptation for financial Language Models) as an alternative to annual pre-training of financial language models. It achieves adaptation by fitting low-rank adapters on permitted financial text without modifying any pre-trained weights.
Read originalBased on 4.57 million news articles covering approximately 3,000 US stocks from 2023 to 2026, the paper uses a compact classifier distilled from a large model teacher to label news with 17 event categories and 5 attributes, clustering them into 1.68 million stock-day events, of which 364,405 are neutral sentiment events serving as a placebo.
Read originalThe study proposes the Identifiable Variational Dynamic Factor Model (iVDFM) for multivariate time series modeling. The model combines variational inference to provide partial identifiability guarantees within a known fuzzy class range. The model's innovation terms are conditioned on observed auxiliary context and mechanism embeddings, follow a conditional exponential family prior, and are trained by maximizing the ELBO to estimate uncertainty in latent trajectories and predictions. This research has been published in the ProbML 2026 conference proceedings, and the code is open source.
Read originalThe paper proposes a branching signature model that generalizes the classical geometric rough path based on the branching rough path framework, proving its universal approximation theorem, which can approximate high-level signatures through iterative combinations of low-level signature mappings. The model can explicitly extend the original path to a high-dimensional space via the mapping Ψ, implementing it as the classical geometric signature of the extended path, and its effectiveness is verified in two applications: rough volatility calibration and optimal execution.
Read originalThe study proposes a conditional latent diffusion framework that jointly generates 30-step trajectories of the implied volatility surface and underlying returns. It learns surface representations through an arbitrage-aware autoencoder, with the diffusion process capturing the evolution dynamics. The framework is evaluated on the SPX surface dataset and can generate realistic probabilistic multi-step scenarios, with its forecast mean outperforming the persistence benchmark for horizons beyond the shortest maturity.
Read originalThe paper proposes using the half-width of conformal prediction intervals as a scaling measure for fractional Kelly position sizing with a leverage cap, and tests this rule under a pre-registered protocol. During the development phase, an autonomous LLM agent searched approximately 200 configurations on a 2016-2021 sample of 8 U.S. equity ETFs, with subsequent data sealed before the search, and the final configuration, 9 comparison portfolios, and conclusion mapping all registered before unsealing.
Read originalThis paper proposes an arbitrage-aware latent flow matching framework for unconditional generation of implied volatility surfaces. The framework first compresses high-dimensional surfaces into a low-dimensional latent space using a variational autoencoder with differentiable penalty regularization for calendar spreads, call spreads, and butterfly arbitrage. A flow matching model then learns to map a Gaussian prior to the empirical latent distribution, which is finally decoded back to a volatility surface. This method can generate 90.8% of surfaces that satisfy all tested static no-arbitrage conditions, performs best in the extreme Q99 range, and balances distributional similarity, tail preservation, and financial consistency without post-sampling reweighting.
Read originalA new arXiv paper uses Gaussian surrogate models to precisely calculate the finite-sample risk of candidate scoring decision models, analyzing the boundaries of the role of three training elements: teacher soft targets, frozen pre-trained backbones, and temperature calibration. The paper points out that after a student model inherits teacher bias, more student data cannot eliminate that bias; fixed representations only reduce risk below an explicit sample size threshold; under the probit model, exact recalibration maps to temperature scaling, and can only eliminate all excess risk when the direction of the teacher's coefficients is correct.
Read originalThe study addresses market-making challenges in Polymarket's thin order books, using the JaxMARL-HFT framework to train cooperative multi-agent market-making models on 417 real markets. The market-making agents are split into quoters and risk managers, trained using recurrent independent proximal policy optimization (IPPO) combined with RNN policies. Testing showed that the improved single-agent market-making model quoted more frequently and had smaller out-of-sample losses, but none of the models achieved positive average portfolio value in out-of-sample evaluation, with only single-seed training completed.
Read originalThis arXiv paper tests the degree to which 4 AI trading agents adhere to their own strategies and risk rules, based on 2627 closed trades from February 12 to August 27, 2026. 18% of the trades were live orders on Hyperliquid, while the rest were simulated at real-time prices, with a uniform round-trip fee of 0.09%.
Read originalAuDQ, an auditable data quality layer for high-risk tabular data pipelines, proposes an ontology-driven, warehouse-native design vision that treats data quality rules as first-class artifacts, supporting version control, governance text traceability, and immutable execution trajectory replay. Its agentic rule discovery core includes both fully autonomous and guided rule acquisition modes, along with human-machine collaborative review interfaces, and has completed preliminary validation experiments on real-world datasets from the finance and retail industries.
Read originalThis study introduces LOBGrad, a conditional DDPM framework for probabilistic order book forecasting. The framework combines an autoregressive RNN encoder with a diffusion-based generator, and establishes an excess-risk oracle inequality for the single-step DDPM noise prediction objective under exponential mixing and regularity assumptions.
Read originalResearchers propose a game graph equilibrium framework that defines network structure as a solidified record of strategic interactions, proving that two types of games correspond to four network topologies, and K-class interactions correspond to K^K classes of topologies. This framework enables mechanism inference on low-dimensional game-theoretic manifolds through constrained block modeling, can reconstruct generative dynamics from observed networks, and performs well in real-world networks such as international trade.
Read originalThis arXiv paper proposes a conditional weight of evidence method to measure the marginal impact of a single credit feature on the log odds of default, given the rest of an applicant's credit information. The same feature value can yield different evaluations for applicants with different credit backgrounds.
Read originalThe paper proposes RegimeRank, an interpretable industry ranking model that frames industry rotation decisions as a task of ranking industry actions by future risk-adjusted active returns, using the forward-looking industry benchmark Sharpe ratio as the measurement metric. The model represents fundamental and technical signals through expert-defined time-series features, uses cross-attention to condition on learned macro factors, then models cross-industry dependencies through self-attention, while using expected gradient attribution to identify the contribution of individual signal-transformation pairs.
Read originalThe study proposes an Alpha-stable Lévy diffusion predictor called SHADE, which achieves distribution-level shrinkage through a residual stable kernel by reading outputs at non-zero depths, addressing the problem of overly narrow predictive distributions and overconfidence when Gaussian diffusion models forecast heavy-tailed time series.
Read originalA new arXiv paper studies the predictive performance of foundation models for return prediction when historical observations are inconsistent with recent return distributions. Authored by Levent Bulut, the 10-page paper includes 5 figures and belongs to the statistical finance (q-fin.ST) field.
Read originalThe paper proposes a Neural Filter Estimator (NFE), trained on simulated paths of mean-reverting processes, that outputs the posterior distribution of the implied state for each spread in the cross-section in a single forward pass, incorporating estimation uncertainty into trading decisions. On simulated paths with known ground truth, the method achieves accuracy comparable to other practical estimators, with its advantage lying in correctly characterizing its own uncertainty.
Read originalThis study introduces topological data analysis (TDA) and persistent homology (PH) into forecasting models in the field of prediction markets, exploring whether the underlying structure of market belief states has predictive value. The research findings show that single-parameter PH can improve the predictive power and calibration accuracy of linear forecasting models, and that two-parameter multi-persistent homology can produce similar gains for nonlinear models. The paper is 41 pages long with 19 figures, and belongs to the field of Trading and Market Microstructure (q-fin.TR).
Read originalThis paper proposes AddMart, a few-shot implied volatility surface reconstruction framework that embeds no-arbitrage structure into the architecture to achieve global static no-arbitrage, enabling continuous and valid surface generation from a small number of option quotes. Experiments on 10 real-world option datasets show that the framework delivers competitive reconstruction accuracy with no significant static arbitrage violations, and can be directly applied to VaR, CVaR and crash probability estimation.
Read originalThis 9-page paper accepted by ICAIF '26 proposes a diagnostic protocol to examine the true source of incremental information from LLM embeddings of r/WallStreetBets posts for volatility prediction. The study covers panel data of 202,145 mentioned stock-days from 2015 to 2022, using a retrospective rolling out-of-sample test.
Read originalThis arXiv paper evaluates the reliability and investment consequences of TimeGAN-generated scenarios in Rachev ratio portfolio allocation. Using 12 ETFs, it compares historical, substitution, and hybrid strategies under delayed execution and transaction costs. The study finds that generated scenarios underestimate volatility and tail losses and distort dependencies between assets; extending training only reduces reconstruction loss without improving cross-asset correlation accuracy. Substitution strategies increase turnover and are sensitive to the lower bound of the objective function denominator, and adjusting this lower bound does not consistently improve realized downside risk.
Read originalResearchers used proprietary panel data of commercial mortgages from 1998 to 2021 and adopted deep neural networks (DNN) to distinguish liquidity-constrained default from strategic default. The study found that, under delinquency conditions, property net operating income (NOI) has a more significant impact on default rates than loan-to-value ratio (LTV), and the threshold for dividing the two types of defaults remained stable during the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020-2021 COVID-19 commercial real estate shock.
Read originalPublished at ICAIF 2026, this study finds that accurate option prices do not necessarily mean accurate recovery of the underlying risk-neutral density. By comparing synthetic simulation benchmarks with out-of-sample NIFTY option benchmarks, the research reveals that the two-component lognormal mixture model demonstrates overall pricing performance on synthetic benchmarks.
Read originalThis arXiv paper proposes proximal equilibrium operators (PEOs), constructed via finite-dimensional deep equilibrium layers, that can solve a family of convex optimization problems on separable Hilbert spaces. The paper proves that when input loss functions lie in a suitable infinite-dimensional set, PEOs can uniformly approximate corresponding solutions to arbitrary precision, with rank and width growing only logarithmically with the inverse of approximation error, and depth growing linearly. The related theory and trainability have been validated across three application domains: nonlinear PDEs, stochastic optimal control, and financial portfolio optimization and hedging.
Read originalThis arXiv paper reproduces Calvano et al.'s 2020 simulated Bertrand duopoly Q-learning pricing experiment and challenges the conventional punishment-mechanism explanation for why independently trained tabular Q-learning agents converge to supracompetitive prices.
Read originalA study of European firms from 2016 to 2022, combining panel regression, machine learning, and explainable AI methods, finds a nonlinear relationship between board gender diversity and emissions performance: emissions performance begins to improve significantly when female director representation reaches a minimum threshold of approximately 22%, and further increases in female representation beyond an optimal level of approximately 35% do not yield additional emissions performance gains.
Read originalResearch shows that large language model pricing agents can deviate from the repeated Bertrand competition benchmark where prices converge to marginal costs in homogeneous goods markets, with their performance depending on deployment decisions. Whether LLM pricing agents can maintain prices above marginal costs in self-play is directly related to deployment choices: whether they set prices period-by-period based directly on raw market history including competitor prices, or periodically output probability distributions based on summaries of their own profit history.
Read originalThe research team built behavioral models for three types of trading agents—rational arbitrageurs, manipulators, and retail momentum followers—based on reinforcement learning, and conducted a pilot study on hourly cryptocurrency data (AAVE, ETC, SUI). The results show that the behavioral characteristics of different agents have differentiated impacts on market pressure, liquidity, volatility, and risk-adjusted returns. The research conclusions support formulating differentiated regulatory rules for different behavioral types, rather than uniformly restricting volatility or turnover rates.
Read originalResearchers propose OrderFlowDiT, a conditional diffusion Transformer trained with an unbalanced optimal transport (UOT) auxiliary loss, to predict the conditional distribution of limit order submissions over the next five minutes. Across 1,950 validation conditions covering 30 U.S. stocks, adding UOT reduces the full-field transport cost by 45.8% and the transport energy score by 26.1% compared with training using only mean squared error, with improvements in both metrics for every stock.
Read originalThis arXiv paper proposes a NoLBERT encoder pre-trained only on texts from 1976 to 1995, comparing it with LDA, MiniLM, and FinBERT on 1.26 million news articles from 2012 to 2024 to predict returns of the 1000 largest U.S. stocks.
Read originalThis paper proposes a multivariate state-dependent Hawkes process (SDHP) to model cross-product liquidity dynamics between quarter-hourly and hourly contracts in the Dutch EPEX SPOT continuous intraday market. The model is calibrated using Level 3 order book data from the first month of each quarter in 2024, dividing trading sessions into normal and stress states. The study finds that approximately 95% of orders are driven by their own order flow, with cross-excitation primarily flowing from quarter-hourly contracts to hourly contracts, and this dominance significantly weakens in stress states.
Read originalThe Bank for International Settlements (BIS) released Working Paper No. 1386, which proposes an LLM-based reasoning pipeline to identify firms' actions in response to geoeconomic pressure from earnings call transcripts and summarize the underlying logic. Compared with traditional NLP methods, it can extract implicit conditional relationships in the text rather than merely counting keywords.
Read originalMoontower has released this issue, mentioning the Metagame event held at Lighthaven in Berkeley from November 6 to 8. Moontower readers can enjoy a $50 discount on regular tickets. This issue also shares AI-related thoughts, TIPS investment analysis, crude oil market learning resources, and pre-sale information for "How I Invest Volume 2", which will be shipped on October 20.
Read originalQuantocracy released its latest roundup of quantitative research links on October 14, 2026, featuring multiple research pieces and content related to the quantitative field. These include an out-of-sample evaluation study of Hidden Markov Model (HMM) market state identification, an analysis of the impact of complexity on strategy performance, and research on cross-sectional momentum ranking methods. The related research covers backtest results across different sample periods and discussions of strategy logic.
Read originalQuantpedia released a study comparing four four-state Gaussian HMMs that only differ in training start year (1970, 1980, 1990, 2000), evaluating market state recognition performance on the same 2010-2023 test set.
Read originalGoogle DeepMind is advancing the widespread deployment of Gemini 4 Argon while expanding the coverage of trusted cyber defenders in the Fairwind Program. The model solved all 12 scenarios in end-to-end simulated cyberattack tests, a significant improvement from 5 in the previous generation. Its refusal rate for violating requests nearly doubled compared to the previous generation, and violations accounted for only 2% of attempts in coding benchmark tests.
Read originalWhen evaluating AI heat risk models used in company valuations, investors should focus on whether they fully cover the entire transmission chain from heat hazards to asset exposure, operational sensitivity, financial impact, and ultimately valuation. Existing heat risk estimates from different institutions show significant discrepancies and often omit key impact dimensions such as employee productivity. Investors can reference the case of Électricité de France (EDF) and require companies to disclose quantifiable operational thresholds, financial sensitivities, and adaptation costs to determine whether heat-related losses are already reflected in company value.
Read originalAuthor Kris Longmore shares content from his 72-minute interview on The Algorithmic Advantage podcast, looking back on an early experience at a Sydney traders' meetup where he was unable to answer a proprietary trader's question about his own trading edge. He later joined that proprietary firm as a researcher and partner, and summarized relevant insights after leaving to trade independently.
Read originalQuantocracy compiled recent quantitative content on October 12, 2026, covering an introduction to Quant Observer, a quantitative tools directory platform; a historical effectiveness analysis of excess returns from insider buying; a backtest of volatility clustering effects in S&P 500 constituents from 2006 to 2025; a guide to building a multi-asset, multi-timeframe trading pipeline; and AI answers on the replicability of empirical finance research.
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