Morgan Stanley Shares Plummets 1.30% on October 1 Ranking 150th in Daily Trading Activity Amid Macro Uncertainty and Sector Rotations

On October 1, 2025, Morgan Stanley (MS) closed at 1.30% lower, with a trading volume of $0.86 billion, ranking 150th in market activity for the day. The decline followed a mix of sector-specific pressures and investor sentiment shifts in the financial services space. Key drivers included macroeconomic uncertainty ahead of upcoming policy decisions and reduced institutional activity in capital markets. Analyst commentary highlighted the stock's sensitivity to broader bank sector rotations, with technical indicators showing short-term bearish momentum.

Recent developments impacting the stock included a revision in third-quarter earnings guidance for the firm's wealth management division, which aligned with sector-wide trends of conservative revenue forecasts. Institutional investors reduced exposure to mid-cap financials during the session, per exchange data, while options activity showed increased bearish positioning in short-dated contracts. The move mirrored broader underperformance in the KBW Bank Index, which closed near its 52-week low.

To build an implementable back-test I need to pin down a few practical details that are not fully specified yet: 1. Universe • Should the ranking be applied to all U.S. listed common stocks (NYSE + NASDAQ + Arca), or to a specific index constituent list (e.g., Russell 3000, S&P 1500, etc.)? • ADRs, preferreds, SPACs, ETFs, and penny stocks (< $1) – include or exclude? 2. Execution price convention • Buy at today’s close and liquidate at tomorrow’s close (close-to-close), • or buy at tomorrow’s open and liquidate at tomorrow’s close (open-to-close)? (Either is fine technically; I just need to know which you prefer.) 3. Portfolio construction • Equal-weight each of the 500 names? • Any position-level cap (e.g., 20 bp of AUM per name) or use equal notional? 4. Transaction costs / slippage • Assume frictionless trading, or should I apply a standard bid-ask + commission model (e.g., 2 bps per side)? 5. Risk control • Any stop-loss / take-profit rules, or simply exit after 1 trading day regardless of price action? Once these points are confirmed I can generate the retrieval plan and run the back-test.