LAC Tumbles 2.56% on 66% Volume Drop, Falls to 228th in Active Trading as EV Demand Optimism Fails to Spark Investor Confidence

On October 2, 2025, Lithium (LAC) closed at a 2.56% decline, with a trading volume of $520 million, a 66.34% drop from the previous day, ranking 228th among the day's most actively traded stocks. The move follows a period of subdued market activity, with analysts noting a shift in investor sentiment toward defensive sectors amid macroeconomic uncertainties.

Recent developments in lithium supply chains have sparked mixed reactions. A proposed expansion of mining operations in South America has raised concerns over environmental regulations, while a separate report highlighted improved demand forecasts from the EV battery sector. However, the latter has yet to translate into sustained investor confidence, as short-term volatility remains tied to production cost fluctuations and geopolitical trade dynamics.

To run this back-test rigorously I need to lock down several practical details that were not specified in your request. Once these are clear I can generate the trading signals and feed them into the back-testing engine. Universe • Which market(s) should the “top-500 by daily trading volume” be drawn from? – U.S. listed common stocks (NYSE + NASDAQ + AMEX) – default most users choose – A specific index (e.g., S&P 1500, Russell 3000) – Global equities. Price used for entry/exit • Use the closing price, so each day we buy at today’s close and liquidate at tomorrow’s close (default), or would you prefer open-to-open or other convention? Rebalancing / transaction cost assumptions • Equal-weight each of the 500 names (default) • Zero commissions/slippage (default) or specify a per-trade cost. Risk controls (optional) • Stop-loss, take-profit, max-drawdown, etc. – if none, I’ll leave these blank. Once I have these inputs I’ll: • Generate the daily top-500 volume lists for every trading day from 2022-01-03 through today. • Create one-day holding signals for each security. • Feed the aggregated portfolio returns into the back-test engine and return cumulative and risk metrics. Please confirm or adjust the four items above so I can proceed.