Analysis
Every quantitative strategy is built to capture a specific type of market behavior. A momentum strategy thrives in trending markets and struggles when price ranges. A mean-reversion strategy performs well in choppy conditions and gets destroyed in strong trends.
The mistake most traders make — and the reason most single-strategy systems eventually fail — is assuming one approach can handle all market conditions.
Professional quant funds run multiple strategies simultaneously. When momentum is working, momentum strategies contribute. When markets rotate and mean-revert, reversion strategies carry performance. The result is smoother, more consistent returns.
VM Genius runs 6 quantitative strategies simultaneously, each designed to capture a distinct market dynamic. Here's an in-depth comparison of each — and how to understand which are most aligned with your trading approach.
What it captures: Structural price action — reversals, continuations, and institutional patterns based on how price itself behaves
Core mechanics: PA Core detects high-probability reversal and continuation patterns based on structural price action — the foundation of institutional analysis. It identifies PB (pullback) setups where price retraces into a previous structure before continuing, and EXH (exhaustion) setups where a move is running out of momentum at a key level.
Best market condition: Works across trending and ranging markets — but excels at identifying precise inflection points at key structural levels
Signal characteristics:
Who it suits: Traders who prefer fewer, carefully selected setups rather than high-frequency signals. Works well as the "quality filter" — if PA Core fires, the setup has structural validity.
What to watch: PA Core can be early on reversals. It identifies where price should react — but the reaction timing can vary. Combine with execution confirmation on lower timeframes.
What it captures: Volatility compression followed by explosive directional breakouts
Core mechanics: Squeeze Momentum identifies periods of Bollinger Band squeeze — when the bands contract inside the Keltner Channel, indicating low volatility compression. When volatility expands and the squeeze releases, price often makes a sharp directional move. The "Fire" signal marks the specific breakout candle after the squeeze.
Best market condition: Pre-breakout consolidations, range expansions, earnings-season setups
Signal characteristics:
Who it suits: Traders who like momentum entries — buying strength rather than buying weakness. Works well for those who find waiting in consolidation difficult.
What to watch: False squeeze releases do occur, especially in choppy markets where volatility contracts without a genuine breakout follow-through. The regime context (Daily trend) matters significantly for this strategy.
What it captures: Institutional order flow — where large players entered, where they need price to return, and when trend structure shifts
Core mechanics: SMC tracks four components: Order Blocks (institutional entry zones), Fair Value Gaps (price imbalances that institutions tend to fill), Break of Structure (trend continuation confirmation), and Change of Character (early trend reversal warning).
Best market condition: Any trending market; particularly effective after sharp impulse moves when FVGs are created
Signal characteristics:
Who it suits: Traders who want to understand why price moves, not just where. SMC provides the most complete narrative of any strategy in the system.
What to watch: SMC has the most rigorous internal filter — when regime conflict is detected, the Adjusted Win Rate drops to 0%. This is a feature, not a bug. Don't override it.
What it captures: Statistical mean-reversion to the Volume Weighted Average Price — a key institutional benchmark
Core mechanics: VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price) is the benchmark price at which most volume transacted. Institutions use VWAP as a benchmark for execution quality. When price deviates significantly from VWAP, a mean-reversion opportunity often exists as price is statistically likely to return toward the volume-weighted mean.
VM Genius identifies when price has moved to a statistically significant deviation from VWAP and flags optimal reentry points.
Best market condition: Ranging and mean-reverting markets; choppy intraday conditions where trend-following strategies underperform
Signal characteristics:
Who it suits: Risk-conscious traders who prefer higher-probability setups even at the cost of lower reward. Also excellent for traders who focus on intraday or multi-session timeframes.
What to watch: VWAP Reversion can fail badly in strongly trending markets. If the Daily chart shows a strong trend and VWAP is being left behind, reversion setups should be treated with skepticism.
What it captures: Sustained directional momentum aligned with the dominant institutional trend
Core mechanics: TSM uses a dual EMA crossover system (fast and slow exponential moving averages) to define market regime and trend direction. The "Long ↑" signal appears when the fast EMA crosses above the slow EMA, confirming that the market has shifted into a bullish regime aligned with institutional momentum.
Best market condition: Clearly trending markets — the strongest performance environment of any strategy in the system
Signal characteristics:
Who it suits: Trend traders who want confirmation that a move has institutional momentum behind it before entering. The 60% model confidence makes this the highest-conviction signal generator in the system.
What to watch: TSM lags by definition — EMA crossovers are confirmation signals, not predictive. You will miss early trend entries using TSM alone. Combine with SMC for earlier entries in the same trend direction.
What it captures: Dynamic trend regime identification with automatic flip between bullish and bearish states
Core mechanics: SuperTrend uses ATR (Average True Range) to generate a dynamic trailing stop line that flips between bullish (green, below price) and bearish (red, above price) when volatility-adjusted price movement confirms a regime change.
Best market condition: Works across multiple market conditions; best at capturing the beginning of trend regime changes
Signal characteristics:
Who it suits: Traders who want a clear, unambiguous trend filter. SuperTrend tells you: are we in a bull regime or a bear regime right now?
What to watch: In choppy, volatile markets, SuperTrend can "whipsaw" — flipping between bullish and bearish frequently without a sustained move following.
High-momentum trending setup: TSM (60% confidence bullish) + Squeeze Momentum (Fire signal) + PA Core (PB entry) → Institutional trend confirmed + volatility expansion beginning + structural pullback entry
Institutional reversal setup: SMC (CHoCH detected) + VWAP Reversion (significant deviation) + SuperTrend (flip to bearish) → Structure changing + price statistically overextended + regime confirming the shift
Safe trend continuation: TSM (bullish) + SuperTrend (bullish) + PA Core (PB) → Two regime confirmations + a clean pullback entry within the trend
| If you are... | Lead strategy | Supporting strategies |
|---|---|---|
| A trend trader | TSM | SuperTrend, PA Core |
| A breakout trader | Squeeze Momentum | TSM, SMC |
| A reversal trader | SMC | VWAP Reversion, PA Core |
| Risk-conscious, higher win rate | VWAP Reversion | SuperTrend |
| Want narrative + precision | SMC | PA Core, TSM |
Each of VM Genius's 6 quantitative strategies captures a distinct market dynamic. No single strategy works in all conditions. The real edge comes from running all six simultaneously — and only acting when multiple independent models agree, the regime supports the trade, and the risk score confirms the edge is real.
That's the quantitative approach. That's how institutions trade. And now, it's available to you.