Saia Shares Plunge on Record Volume Surge Despite Ranking 482nd in U.S. Trading Activity

Saia (SAIA) closed 2.57% lower on Sept. 26, 2025, with a trading volume of $210 million, marking a 169.03% surge from the previous day. The stock ranked 482nd in trading activity among U.S. equities on the day.

Recent developments suggest market sentiment toward Saia remains sensitive to operational updates and broader market dynamics. Analysts noted that the sharp increase in trading volume could indicate heightened investor interest, though the price decline suggests short-term profit-taking or uncertainty ahead of potential catalysts.

To run this back-test robustly I need to pin down a few implementation details:

1. Stock universe • Do you want to scan all U.S. listed common stocks (NYSE / NASDAQ / AMEX), or a different universe (e.g., only S&P 500 constituents, only NASDAQ stocks, etc.)? • Should we exclude penny stocks (e.g., price < $1) or any other filters?

2. “Top 500 by daily trading volume” • Rank by share-count volume or by dollar volume (price × shares)? • Rebalance every trading day after the ranking is computed?

3. Trade execution convention • Enter positions at the close of the ranking day and exit at the next day’s close (close-to-close return), or use open prices? • Positions equally weighted?

4. Any risk controls you’d like applied (e.g., stop-loss, max drawdown, etc.)?

Once these points are confirmed I can generate the data-retrieval plan and run the back-test.