Caterpillar (CAT) Gains 2.03% on $1.29B Volume Ranks 76th in Market Activity as Heavy Machinery Resilience Outpaces Peers

Caterpillar (CAT) rose 2.03% on October 2, with a trading volume of $1.29 billion, ranking 76th in market activity. The move followed mixed signals from supply chain adjustments and infrastructure spending outlooks, which weighed on broader industrial sectors but saw relative resilience in heavy machinery demand segments.

Recent analyst commentary highlighted diverging views on Caterpillar's exposure to global mining sector volatility, with some reports noting short-term order delays in Australia and South Africa. However, the stock's performance outpaced peers in the machinery space, suggesting market confidence in its diversified energy transition positioning and backlog management strategies.

To run this back-test rigorously I need a bit more detail because the request involves building a new portfolio every day from a large universe: 1. Market universe • Which exchange(s) should the “top-500-by-volume” be drawn from (e.g., all U.S. common stocks on NYSE + Nasdaq, or a different market)? 2. Weighting & execution assumptions • Equal-weight across the 500 names each day? • Buy at that day’s open and sell at the next day’s open (or close-to-close)? • Ignore transaction costs / slippage, or set a basis-point cost? 3. Benchmark or comparison (optional) • Should we compare to an index (e.g., SPY) for context? With those clarifications I can retrieve the daily volume ranks, generate the daily trade lists, and run the portfolio back-test from 2022-01-01 through today.