Astrazeneca Shares Plunge as Trading Volume Crumbles to 425th Rank

. 16, , . The stock ranked 425th in trading activity among listed companies on the day.

Recent developments highlight regulatory and market dynamics affecting the pharmaceutical giant. A pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration decision on a key oncology candidate could influence investor sentiment. Additionally, ongoing related to a diabetes drug's side effects remains unresolved, creating near-term uncertainty. Analysts note that the company's strategic focus on respiratory and oncology therapies continues to anchor long-term growth expectations, though short-term volatility persists amid mixed clinical trial results and pricing pressures in key markets.

To run this back-test rigorously I need to pin down a few practical details: 1. Stock universe — Do you want to consider all U.S. common stocks (NYSE + NASDAQ + AMEX) or a different universe (e.g., only S&P 500 constituents, only U.S.-listed ADRs, a specific country, etc.)? 2. Execution price — Buy at today’s close and exit at tomorrow’s close, or buy at tomorrow’s open and exit at tomorrow’s close? 3. Transaction costs & slippage — Should I include an assumed commission / spread cost, or ignore trading frictions? 4. Rebalancing mechanics — Re-rank the universe at every trading day close (effectively turning the whole book over daily), correct? 5. Cash treatment — Any uninvested cash (if fewer than 500 names meet the criteria on a given day) earns zero return – is that acceptable? 6. Benchmark / risk controls — No stop-loss, take-profit or other overlay, correct? Once I have these items confirmed I can generate the data-retrieval plan, gather the necessary daily volume data, build the day-by-day top-500 portfolio and run the back-test from 2022-01-01 to today.