W's $250M Volume Lands It 453rd in U.S. Rankings as Industrial Sectors Face Mixed Momentum

On September 25, 2025, W recorded a trading volume of $250 million, ranking 453rd among U.S. equities. The stock closed lower alongside a decline in its broader sector counterpart GWW, which fell 0.13% for the session.

Recent market activity suggests shifting investor sentiment toward industrial exposure. Analysts noted mixed momentum in capital goods sectors, with underperformance linked to macroeconomic uncertainties ahead of key policy decisions. While short-term volatility remains elevated, long-term technical indicators for W show resilience above critical support levels established in Q3 2025.

Strategic positioning appears to favor liquidity-focused strategies, with institutional flows showing preference for high-volume names in early September. However, the stock's mid-cap classification continues to expose it to cross-sector capital rotation patterns observed in recent weeks.

To run this back-test robustly I need to pin down a few practical details: 1. Market universe • Should we use all U.S. common stocks (≈ 3,000 tickers) or a narrower universe (e.g., S&P 1500, NASDAQ-listed, etc.)? 2. Rebalancing rule • Rank stocks each trading day by that day’s dollar volume (price × shares traded) and, on the next day’s open, buy the top 500. • Close all positions at that same day’s close (1-day holding period). • Is that sequence acceptable, or do you prefer a different buy/sell timing? 3. Weighting • Equal-weight each of the 500 names, or weight by dollar volume? 4. Trading frictions • Any assumptions for commissions, bid-ask spread, or slippage, or treat it as frictionless? Once I have these four items confirmed I can generate the data-retrieval plan and run the back-test.