PayPal Surges 2.65% on $1.27B Volume Spike, Ranked 69th in U.S. Trading

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) surged 2.65% on Sept. 17, with a trading volume of $1.27 billion, marking a 103.86% increase from the previous day and securing the stock the 69th highest volume rank on the day. The move came amid renewed investor focus on digital payment sector momentum, though no material earnings or strategic updates were disclosed by the company.

Analysts noted the surge aligned with broader market rotation into tech-related assets, though PayPal’s recent guidance and product roadmap have shown limited deviation from prior expectations. The stock’s performance appeared decoupled from macroeconomic signals, with traders instead prioritizing short-term technical patterns and sector breadth metrics. Institutional buying pressure was observed in after-hours trading, though retail participation remained muted.

To accurately back-test the strategy, the following parameters require clarification: 1. **Universe Definition** – Should the top 500 stocks by daily trading volume be selected from all U.S. common stocks (NYSE + NASDAQ + AMEX), or from a narrower index like the Russell 3000 or S&P 500? 2. **Entry/Exit Pricing** – Are positions entered at the close on day *t* and exited at the close on day *t + 1* (next-day close-to-close returns), or at the next day’s open? 3. **Weighting & Costs** – Will the 500 stocks be equally weighted? Should transaction costs or slippage assumptions be incorporated? 4. **Benchmarking** – Is comparison against a benchmark (e.g., SPY) required for performance evaluation? Once these details are confirmed, the data-retrieval framework can be finalized for execution.