Enhanced Momentum with Momentum Transformers
Enhanced Momentum with Momentum Transformers
This paper extends the Momentum Transformer architecture, originally developed for futures and equity indices, to individual equities. The model combines an attention mechanism with a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network, allowing it to capture long-term dependencies and adapt to changing market conditions. The authors backtest the strategy on a portfolio of stocks, accounting for transaction costs, and compare it to traditional time-series momentum and mean-reversion benchmarks. The results show average returns of 4.14% and a Sharpe ratio of 1.12, which are comparable to the original paper's findings but with higher volatility due to the inherent risk of equities. The model demonstrates robustness during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting its ability to handle market turbulence. This work contributes to the application of transformer-based models in quantitative finance, particularly for equity momentum strategies.
Highlights
- 1Extends the Momentum Transformer architecture from futures/indices to equities, demonstrating its applicability to stock markets.
- 2Hybrid attention-LSTM design captures long-term dependencies and adapts to evolving market conditions, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 3Achieves average returns of 4.14% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.12, comparable to original paper but with higher volatility due to equity characteristics.
- 4Incorporates transaction costs into the model, enhancing practical applicability for real-world trading.
Methods
- MMomentum Transformer: hybrid architecture combining attention mechanism with LSTM for time-series momentum trading.
- MBenchmarking against traditional time-series momentum and mean-reversion strategies.
- MBacktesting on equity data with transaction cost adjustments.
Results
- RAverage returns of 4.14% across equity portfolios, similar to original futures/indices results.
- RAverage Sharpe ratio of 1.12, lower than original due to higher volatility of stocks.
- RModel adapts well to volatile periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
- ROutperforms benchmark momentum and mean-reversion strategies in net returns after transaction costs.
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