research-graveyard

Propped-up-by-flows sleeve — fade rejected. [Null]

Near-expiry far-OTM options — the short-vol premium is a trap; naked short-vol rejected. [Null]

Defense & military sector — a moderate common factor; systematic stock-picking null. [Null]

The rest of the hedge-fund landscape (Millennium/Citadel/pod shops) via the only price window — liquid-alt replicators. Diagnostic null: watered-down beta (+3.5%/yr, not 10-15%); the useful residue (DBMF/BTAL crisis hedges) = the family's trend + Bleed; the real edge is private. [Null]

Biotech idiosyncrasy (the anti-Basel) — high dispersion but not price-predictable; a systematic stock-picking null. [Null]

SPACs / de-SPAC decay — the complex is genuinely bad, but the short is run over by the right tail then buried by borrow; the sound trust carry needs data beyond daily bars. A risk map. [Null]

Latin America regional sleeve. [Null]

US banks are ~one regulated factor (economy + short duration) — no price-alpha to pick; a coherent macro/known-beta sleeve, not a keeper. The anti-Bio. [Null]

The AI complex as one crowded factor — a risk diagnostic. [Null]

Michael Burry, re-examined — the style is mostly equity beta, buying the hated nulls out, fading froth is a -98% widow-maker, and his concentration is a ruin machine. You can't systematize the man. [Null]

Deliberately uncorrelated names — a floor, not an edge. [Null]

Foreign creditors of the US — does holding Treasuries help a country's market? FRED data (Japan/China). Honest null: Treasury buying is weakly, coincidentally linked to the home market (swamped by global beta), and for China the market leads the flow — causality runs backward. [Null]

Falling-knife shorts — the long bounce is the edge. [Null]

Democratic-era darlings (Biden/Obama/Clinton) — the thesis runs backwards: party-aligned baskets lose under their own party (clean energy −21%/yr under Biden), because macro dominates and darlings revert. [Null]

Europe/Middle East/Africa — US beta wearing a flag (11 ETFs → 1.8 bets), FX drag, no rotation edge. [Null]