The U.S. Dollar and Variance Risk Premia Imbalances
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Quant Buffet native backtest IDEEdit and run Quant Buffet Python for The U.S. Dollar and Variance Risk Premia Imbalances in the browser. Results update live with equity, drawdown, and metrics charts. Allowed: backtest.data, backtest.engine, backtest.metrics, numpy, pandas. Define ASSETS and make_on_day(prices). Shortcut: Ctrl+Enter. API docs →
Quant Buffet syntax cheat sheet (copy / insert)
Paste these fragments into the editor. The sandbox rejects QuantConnect, os, and network libraries.
from __future__ import annotations
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
from backtest.data import load_daily_prices
from backtest.engine import EngineConfig, PortfolioEngine
from backtest.metrics import compute_metricsASSETS = ["SPY", "QQQ", "TLT", "GLD", "BIL"]def make_on_day(prices: pd.DataFrame):
cols = [c for c in ASSETS if c in prices.columns]
sma = prices[cols].rolling(200, min_periods=200).mean()
state = {"last": None}
def on_day(engine: PortfolioEngine, dt: pd.Timestamp) -> None:
if sma.loc[dt].isna().all():
return
key = (dt.year, dt.month)
if state["last"] == key:
return
state["last"] = key
long = [
s for s in cols
if pd.notna(prices.at[dt, s]) and pd.notna(sma.at[dt, s])
and prices.at[dt, s] > sma.at[dt, s]
]
weights = {} if not long else {s: 1.0 / len(long) for s in long}
engine.set_target_weights(dt, weights)
ready = sma.dropna(how="all").index.min() if sma.notna().any().any() else None
return on_day, readyengine.set_target_weights(dt, {"SPY": 0.60, "BIL": 0.40})Live backtest performance
Accent = strategy · dashed grey = buy-and-hold benchmark
Export to your platform
Transform Quant Buffet lab code (ASSETS + make_on_day / PortfolioEngine) into native classes for a third-party IDE — then copy and paste.
# Generated from Quant Buffet → QuantConnect LEAN
# Strategy: The U.S. Dollar and Variance Risk Premia Imbalances
# Detected pattern: Momentum rotation
# Source uses Quant Buffet lab APIs (ASSETS + make_on_day / PortfolioEngine).
# Review fees, data, and risk before live trading — educational export only.
from AlgorithmImports import *
class QuantBuffetExport(QCAlgorithm):
def Initialize(self):
self.SetStartDate(2010, 1, 1)
self.SetCash(100000)
tickers = ["SPY", "TLT", "GLD", "BIL"]
self.symbols = []
for t in tickers:
if "-" in t: # crypto proxy e.g. BTC-USD
self.symbols.append(self.AddCrypto(t.replace("-USD", ""), Resolution.Daily).Symbol)
else:
self.symbols.append(self.AddEquity(t, Resolution.Daily).Symbol)
self.Schedule.On(
self.DateRules.MonthStart(self.symbols[0]),
self.TimeRules.AfterMarketOpen(self.symbols[0], 30),
self.Rebalance,
)
# Logic: Hold top 3 by 126-day return; monthly.
def Rebalance(self):
scores = {}
for symbol in self.symbols:
hist = self.History(symbol, 126 + 5, Resolution.Daily)
if hist.empty: continue
close = hist["close"]
if hasattr(close, "unstack"):
close = close.unstack(level=0).iloc[:, 0]
if len(close) < 126 + 1: continue
scores[symbol] = float(close.iloc[-1] / close.iloc[-126 - 1] - 1)
ranked = sorted(scores.items(), key=lambda kv: kv[1], reverse=True)[:3]
for symbol in self.symbols:
self.SetHoldings(symbol, 0)
if ranked:
w = 1.0 / len(ranked)
for symbol, _ in ranked:
self.SetHoldings(symbol, w)
Exported code uses the platform’s native classes and libraries. Install dependencies in your third-party IDE, then run. Validate before live trading.
Academic paper
The U.S. Dollar and Variance Risk Premia Imbalances
Anders Merrild Posselt
- DKAarhus University
- ?Aarhus University - CREATES
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4260834
Strategy in a nutshell
The strategy focuses on developed market currencies: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, benchmarked against the US dollar.
-Data: Spot and forward rates (2000–2019) in USD per foreign currency unit, sourced from Thomson Reuters.
Variance Risk Premium (VP): Estimated as the difference between option-implied variance (risk-neutral) and realized variance (physical), following Bollerslev et al. (2009) and related literature.
VPI (Variance Premium Imbalance): Defined as US VP minus the average VP across developed countries. For the eurozone, VP is a GDP-weighted average of member countries.
Dollar Factor: Constructed as an equally weighted long basket of developed currencies against USD.
Trading Rule:
If VPI > 0 → Go long USD (short basket).
If VPI < 0 → Go short USD (long basket).
Rebalancing: Monthly.
Economic rationale
The VPI reflects investor demand for variance hedging, i.e., the cost of variance swaps.
Acts as a proxy for SDF (stochastic discount factor) volatility, the less-studied driver of exchange rate dynamics.
An increase in VPI predicts dollar appreciation, while a decrease predicts depreciation.
Findings hold both in-sample and out-of-sample, providing exploitable trading signals.