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ORBITRAONE™

AlphaStack Carry Optimizer

The same exposure, at the lowest cost of carry.

A view on a market can be expressed in several instruments, and they rarely cost the same to hold. The Carry Optimizer compares funding, basis, borrowing, premium and collateral yield over the period you intend to hold, then shows which structure is cheapest inside your risk policy.

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  • Funding vs basis
  • Borrow and collateral
  • Defined-risk structures
  • Policy-bound selection

Comparison

Change the period. Watch the cheapest structure change.

Illustration: Four ways to hold the same exposure — a perpetual, a dated future, spot with borrowing and a defined-risk options structure — are compared by their expected all-in cost over the chosen holding period. Changing the period or the risk policy recomputes funding, basis, borrowing and premium, and the cheapest structure that satisfies the policy is highlighted. All values are illustrative.

One exposure, four ways to hold it

Holding period
Risk policy

All four structures are considered, and the lowest expected all-in cost is selected.

  • Perpetual· Funding

    Expected all-in cost: 0.96%

  • Dated future· Basis and roll

    Expected all-in cost: 0.72%

  • Spot with borrow· Borrowing and collateral

    Expected all-in cost: 0.63%

    Lowest expected all-in cost within the policy

  • Options structure· Premium

    Expected all-in cost: 1.28%

Expected all-in cost · Illustrative scenario with fixed assumptions — not a quote

Four structures around one exposure, compared by expected all-in cost for the chosen holding period and risk policy. Short holds and long holds rarely favor the same instrument. All values are illustrative.

Inputs

What the comparison actually prices.

01

Funding

The periodic payment between long and short holders of a perpetual, projected across the holding period.

02

Basis and roll

The premium or discount of a dated future to spot, plus the cost of rolling when the contract expires before your horizon.

03

Borrowing

The cost of borrowed capital or borrowed asset needed to hold a spot position, net of eligible collateral yield.

04

Premium

The time value paid for a defined-risk options structure, which buys a capped maximum loss.

05

Fees

Entry and exit costs for each structure, including the expected spread and settlement fees.

06

Horizon

How long you intend to hold. It changes the ranking more often than the level of any single rate.

Authority

Recommend by default. Execute only with explicit permission.

The optimizer produces a recommendation with its assumptions attached: the rates used, the horizon, the fees and the policy that constrained the choice. Nothing executes because a number looked attractive.

Where an account grants explicit authority, Cortex can execute the selected structure inside its policy limits — capital, loss, leverage, markets, session and approved data sources — and every action carries a receipt. One command revokes that authority.

  • Assumptions are shown with every recommendation.
  • Policy decides eligibility before cost decides selection.
  • Execution requires explicit, revocable authority.
  • Rolls, expiries and margin effects are simulated by Aegis first.
Illustration: The governed agent loop: observe the market and portfolio, reason with a model ensemble, propose a trade intent, simulate it in Aegis, authorize it through the policy engine and execute it on ApexMatch. Eight policy gates surround the loop — capital, loss, leverage, markets, time, human confirmation, data sources and a one-command kill.
Cortex
  1. 01ObserveMarket and portfolio
  2. 02ReasonModel ensemble
  3. 03ProposeTrade intent
  4. 04SimulateAegis risk
  5. 05AuthorizePolicy engine
  6. 06ExecuteApexMatch
  • CapitalMaximum allocation
  • LossDaily and lifetime stop
  • LeverageInstrument ceiling
  • MarketsAllow / deny lists
  • TimeSession and expiry
  • ActionHuman confirmation
  • DataApproved sources
  • KillOne-command revoke

Risks

What can go against the plan.

Carry is an estimate about the future, and the inputs move. These are the risks that change a good structure into an expensive one.

01

Funding reversal

Funding can flip sign or spike, and the perpetual that was cheapest can become the most expensive to hold.

02

Basis moves

A future’s premium can widen or collapse before expiry, and rolling into the next contract can cost more than expected.

03

Borrow availability

Borrow rates change and availability can disappear, forcing an unplanned exit or a more expensive structure.

04

Options decay and liquidity

Time value decays, and a defined-risk structure can be hard to exit at a fair price in thin conditions.

Lower expected cost is not a forecast of profit.

The optimizer compares the cost of holding, not the outcome of the trade. Rates change, structures behave differently under stress and a cheaper structure can still lose money. Read the trading and leverage risk disclosure and the risk disclosure.

Cost before, evidence after.

See the complete cost of holding on any market page, and how improvement is measured in the index.

Explore marketsNet Outcome Index