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The high sensitivity of pairs trading returns

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  • Nicolas Huck

Abstract

Pairs trading is a simple and popular relative value trading strategy. This article deals with the most common implementation of the method based on a distance criterion. It demonstrates the high sensitivity of the return to changes in the length of the formation period and shows that a reasonable modification of this parameter may lead to generate positive excess returns which are robust to data snooping. This empirical result underlines the difficulty in understanding pairs trading returns, dynamics and sources of profitability through time.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolas Huck, 2013. "The high sensitivity of pairs trading returns," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(14), pages 1301-1304, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:20:y:2013:i:14:p:1301-1304
    DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2013.802121
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Broussard, John Paul & Vaihekoski, Mika, 2012. "Profitability of pairs trading strategy in an illiquid market with multiple share classes," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 1188-1201.
    2. Evan Gatev & William N. Goetzmann & K. Geert Rouwenhorst, 2006. "Pairs Trading: Performance of a Relative-Value Arbitrage Rule," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 797-827.
    3. Hansen, Peter Reinhard, 2005. "A Test for Superior Predictive Ability," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 23, pages 365-380, October.
    4. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    5. Huck, Nicolas, 2010. "Pairs trading and outranking: The multi-step-ahead forecasting case," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 207(3), pages 1702-1716, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ahmet Göncü & Erdinc Akyildirim, 2016. "A stochastic model for commodity pairs trading," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(12), pages 1843-1857, December.
    2. Marianna Brunetti & Roberta de Luca, 2022. "Sensitivity of profitability in cointegration-based pairs trading," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0090, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    3. Miroslav Fil, 2020. "Gold Standard Pairs Trading Rules: Are They Valid?," Papers 2010.01157, arXiv.org.
    4. Laila Taskeen Qazi & Atta Ur Rahman & Saleem Gul, 2015. "Which Pairs of Stocks should we Trade? Selection of Pairs for Statistical Arbitrage and Pairs Trading in Karachi Stock Exchange," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 215-244.
    5. Zhe Huang & Franck Martin, 2017. "Optimal pairs trading strategies in a cointegration framework," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes 1 & University of Caen) 2017-08, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes 1, University of Caen and CNRS.
    6. Krauss, Christopher, 2015. "Statistical arbitrage pairs trading strategies: Review and outlook," FAU Discussion Papers in Economics 09/2015, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Economics.
    7. GholamReza Keshavarz Haddad & Hassan Talebi, 2023. "The profitability of pair trading strategy in stock markets: Evidence from Toronto stock exchange," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 193-207, January.
    8. Marianna Brunetti & Roberta De Luca, 2020. "Pre-selection in Cointegration-based Pairs Trading," CEIS Research Paper 500, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 10 Mar 2021.
    9. Andreas Mikkelsen, 2018. "Pairs trading: the case of Norwegian seafood companies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 303-318, January.
    10. Marianna Brunetti & Roberta De Luca, 2022. "Sensitivity of Profitability in Cointegration-Based Pairs Trading," CEIS Research Paper 540, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 11 Apr 2022.
    11. Vladim'ir Hol'y & Petra Tomanov'a, 2018. "Estimation of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process Using Ultra-High-Frequency Data with Application to Intraday Pairs Trading Strategy," Papers 1811.09312, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2022.

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