Why Wall Street Vision's Insider Buying Day Trading Strategy Holds Up During Market Downturns
The Current Market Climate
Markets are tense. Between new tariff concerns, inflation pressures, and increased volatility, investors are understandably cautious. There's a growing fear of capital loss — and for good reason. We've seen how quickly things can unravel during periods like the COVID crash or the 2022 bear market.
In times like this, people start looking for strategies that don't just follow the market — but can perform independently of it.
What a Good Strategy Should Do
Any solid trading strategy should aim to:
Maximize Profit
Generate consistent returns regardless of market conditions
Minimize Risk
Protect capital through controlled exposure and risk management
Low Market Correlation
Perform independently of broader market movements
That last point is often overlooked. But if a strategy is highly correlated to the S&P 500, it tends to fall when the market falls — even if the idea behind it is sound. The benefit of lower correlation is that drawdowns, when they do happen, are typically shorter and shallower. More importantly, it gives you a shot at actual gains when most others are sitting on losses.
That's one of the reasons our insider buying strategy has continued to do well, even in uncertain environments. It's designed to operate with minimal dependence on overall market direction — and it does that in three main ways.
Focusing on Quality Over Quantity
There's a common belief that more trading equals more money — kind of like putting in more hours at a job. But trading doesn't work that way. In fact, more trades often lead to more mistakes, more stress, and more risk.
We take the opposite approach.
Trading Frequency
- Average: 4 trades per month
- Quiet months: 1 trade (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct)
- Busy months: Up to 10 trades
- Focus on high-quality setups only
Risk Management
- Day trades only - no overnight risk
- Flat positions at market close
- No after-hours news exposure
- Protected from macro events
Selective by Design
We trade on roughly 8% of all trading days. That means we naturally sit out ~92% of days — statistically skipping most market crash days.
Intraday Exposure Only
Day trade positions are never held overnight. Price‑moving news is statistically more likely to occur outside regular hours, and on days with obviously severe news we simply don’t trade.
It's a slower pace — and honestly, a bit boring. But that's intentional. Our strategy is not designed for people who want to sit in front of their screen five hours a day. It's for those who value efficiency, structure, and keeping risk tightly controlled.
Targeting a Subset of Stocks That Institutions Can't Touch
Our second edge comes from filtering based on daily trading volume. Specifically, we focus on stocks with less than $300 million in daily volume — but still above $30 million, so there's enough liquidity to enter and exit without issue.
This is an overlooked part of the market.
Higher-Volume Stocks (>$300M)
- • Move with overall market trends
- • Affected by headlines & sector news
- • Insider signals lost in algorithmic noise
- • Require massive capital to move price
Our Sweet Spot ($30M-$300M)
- • Respond directly to insider activity
- • Smaller inflows create meaningful moves
- • Less correlated with major indexes
- • Additional insulation during downturns
Optimal Daily Volume
Data shows that the sweet spot is around $80M per day in trading volume for maximum effectiveness.
That said, trading these stocks only works if you're working with smaller amounts of capital — generally under $10 million. Large hedge funds and institutions can't trade these stocks without moving the market, which is why you rarely hear about this edge. And in many cases, the industry would rather keep you invested in large funds so they can continue collecting fees — regardless of performance.
We're not trying to move the market. We just want to catch the wave when it forms — which is why staying within that $30M–$300M daily volume window is such an important part of our system.
Correlation Between Quantity of Insider Buying and Market Panic
There's another layer of protection built into our strategy — one that most traders overlook entirely.
Market Panic Indicator
We don't just look at individual insider trades. We also track the total number of insider buys across the entire market each day.
When there are more than 10 insider buys in a single day with $30M+ volume, the market tends to be in panic mode. And the volatility of insider trades the next day spikes — often by 3x.
Historical Data
- Only ~30 occurrences in 5 years
- Most during 2020 COVID crash
- Avoided nearly entire crash
- Re-entered closer to bottom
Protection Strategy
When we see these conditions, we don't trade. This simple rule helped us avoid major damage during fast crashes and allowed us to re-enter when conditions stabilized.
*Not perfect for small pullbacks, but excellent for avoiding major crashes.
Final Thoughts
Market downturns are challenging, but they also expose which strategies are actually built to last.
At Wall Street Vision, our approach doesn't rely on constant trading, overnight exposure, or chasing high-volume stocks that move with the S&P. Instead, it's structured to work in the background — making the most of niche opportunities that are often invisible to larger firms and casual traders alike.
There will always be drawdowns — that's part of any trading system. But by staying selective, monitoring risk, and avoiding high-correlation setups, we're able to stay stable and even grow during periods when most others are retreating.
Ready to Learn More About Our Low-Correlation Strategy?
Discover how Wall Street Vision's insider buying strategy can help protect and grow your capital during uncertain market conditions.