Nike’s 0.60% Decline on $800M Volume: 136th Liquidity Rank as Strategy Shifts Weigh on North America, Bolster International Resilience

Nike Inc. , , ranking 136th among stocks by liquidity. The decline came amid mixed signals from its recent strategic initiatives, as the company faces ongoing challenges in its core North American market while showing resilience in international segments.

Recent reports highlighted Nike's adjusted product mix strategy, which has led to reduced inventory levels but also tempered short-term sales growth. Analysts noted that the brand's shift toward premium offerings and sustainability-focused collections has altered consumer purchasing patterns, particularly among younger demographics. Meanwhile, supply chain optimizations in Asia-Pacific regions have offset some of the domestic market pressures, though margin expansion remains constrained by rising logistics costs.

Investor sentiment was further influenced by the company's decision to extend its partnership with key sportswear retailers, a move seen as stabilizing but lacking the disruptive potential of previous collaborations. Market participants also observed that Nike's digital channel performance has plateaued, , below industry averages for the sector.

To set up and run this back-test rigorously, I need to pin down a few practical details first: Universe — Which market(s) should the “top-500” list be drawn from – U.S. (NYSE + NASDAQ), a different region, or a global universe? Ranking logic — The ranking is based on the most recent day’s total share volume, correct? Portfolio construction — Weighting: equal-weight across the 500 names each day? Pricing convention — Use close-to-close returns (buy at today’s close, sell at tomorrow’s close), or open-to-close (buy next open, exit next close)? Once I have this information I can generate the data-retrieval plan and run the back-test from 2022-01-03 (first trading day of 2022) through today.