B2Gold's 0.6% Rally Amid 490th-Ranked Trading Volume and 40.78% Drop in Dollar Volume

On October 2, 2025, B2Gold (BTG) closed with a 0.60% increase, trading with a daily volume of $0.23 billion, marking a 40.78% decline compared to the prior day's activity. The company's stock ranked 490th in trading volume among listed equities, reflecting subdued market participation ahead of a potential earnings catalyst. Analyst commentary highlighted the sector's sensitivity to gold price movements, though no immediate operational updates were cited in accessible reporting channels.

Recent market positioning for the miner has shown mixed signals. Short-term technical indicators remain neutral amid consolidating price action, while sector-wide capital flows have shifted toward junior producers with higher leverage to commodity cycles. Institutional ownership patterns suggest limited near-term catalysts, with no material changes in production guidance or financing activity reported in the last 30-day window. The lack of news flow has left valuation metrics largely unchanged relative to peers.

To run this back-test rigorously, I need to pin down several practical details that determine how the trading signals are generated and how performance is measured. Please let me know (or confirm the suggested defaults) for the items below, and I will proceed to build and execute the test:

1. Universe from which to pick the “top-500” stocks • Default proposal: all common stocks listed on NYSE + NASDAQ + AMEX that have been active since 2022-01-01. 2. Ranking metric • Default proposal: rank by the day’s share volume (not dollar volume). 3. Trade timing convention • Default proposal: – At each day’s close we identify the top-500 names. – An equal-weight portfolio is opened at next day’s open and liquidated at that day’s close (≈1-day holding period). 4. Transaction costs / slippage • Default proposal: ignore costs for the first run; we can add them later if you wish. 5. Price data frequency • Default proposal: use daily OHLC data (open/close prices).

If these assumptions are acceptable, please confirm. If you’d like any of them changed (e.g., use dollar volume, include costs, use a different universe, etc.), let me know and I’ll adjust before running the back-test.