Quants Chasing Momentum Get New Quarter, Same Results

A pedestrian carrying an umbrella is reflected in a puddle in front of the New York Stock Exchange.Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
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Trend-following momentum stocks are starting the second quarter the same way they ended the first -- with little momentum.

The iShares Edge MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF, ticker MTUM, fell 3.2 percent Monday, more than the 2.2 percent decline in the S&P 500 Index. It’s the exchange-traded fund’s seventh drop of more than 2 percent in a single day this year. In 2017, a loss of that magnitude never happened.