How an ecologist simulates a market

Why Trophik exists and how it works. The field here replays the US large cap 100 from real market data using Trophik's own renderer, and every figure says which parts are illustrative.

Explore a market, choose a species, then inspect its rules and replay. Start with this public example; the optional chapters below explain how the drawings work.

A public example / Historical simulation

Calanus hyperboreus

Hold the twelve calmest names, review each week, keep a fifth in cash, and rest when the market falls 15 percent.

This record runs from 2020-01-02 to 2026-10-02.

A simulated strategy in historical data. Market value history was revised after the fact.

Open this example →
Rules and record conditions
  • Choose from every name in the biome.
  • Rank them by 63-session volatility.
  • Hold the 12 names with the lowest 63-session volatility.
  • Keep a holding until it falls 4 rank places past 12.
  • Give every holding an equal share of the invested value.
  • At each review, hold no more than 12% of value in one name.
  • Review the holdings every fifth session.
  • At each review, keep at least 15% of value in cash, and aim for 20%.
  • Move to all cash when the benchmark closes 15% below its 252-session high.
  • Buy back in when the benchmark recovers 5% from its low.
  • Stop trading and sell everything when value falls more than 20% below its own peak.

Record window: to . Build: .

Starting capital
$10,000
Trading costs
10 basis points on traded value
Execution delay
1 session
Cash yield
US 3-month Treasury bill

Read the full conditions and event ledger in the published record.

How to read the drawings

    Words used here

    Biome
    The world a species lives in: a set of securities, with its own calendar, bar size, currency and costs. Records are compared only inside one biome.
    Colony
    One security, drawn as a cluster of green cells. Securities are the producers of the field.
    Species
    Your investing idea, compiled into rules and run through history. Each organism stands for $250 of its capital.
    Genome
    The exact rules a species follows. The rules check writes each one back to you as a plain sentence before anything runs.
    Rival
    A real fund or manager, drawn from its disclosed record. The index fund is the benchmark.
    Beta
    How strongly a security moves when its whole biome moves. Above 1 means it swings more.
    Death threshold
    How far a species may fall from its peak. Crossing it makes the species extinct. The record is kept.
    In stasis
    A species waiting in cash for its trigger, drawn contracted inside a cyst wall.
    Named period
    A famous shock, such as March 2020, that you can replay session by session.

    What is open today

    US large cap 100 / DailyExplore on this website
    Crypto 50 / HourlyA website field and public example are not available for this ecosystem.
    Crypto 50, 15-minute / Quarter-hourlyThis interval is not available yet.
    Crypto 50, 4-hour / Four-hourlyThis interval is not available yet.
    Crypto 50, 6-hour / Six-hourlyThis interval is not available yet.
    US stocks / Half-hourlyA website field and public example are not available for this ecosystem.
    G10 forex / HourlyA website field and public example are not available for this ecosystem.

    How this walkthrough was made

    Prices and market values come from Financial Modeling Prep.

    Figures 2 and 3 are drawn for this walkthrough with the renderer’s own body plans and colony colors. Figure 3 illustrates intended clocks and costs; availability is labeled separately.

    Trophik describes the past. It is a paper simulation, it places no orders, and nothing here is investment advice.

    Public examples are available without an account. Creating personal strategies requires an account.