Carbonwolf Alpha

Headwinds or Tailwinds ("HoT") Weekly Market Updates 2025
Fund Performance and Recent Trades
Happy Tuesday!
30 SEP 25
Headwinds or Tailwinds Update (HoT Weeklies): 25w40**: Fund Updates + Market Outlook + Question of the Week:
CWA Managed Funds:
Carbonwolf Alpha, Fund Alpha Performance:
2023 = +167%
2024 = +102%
2025 YTD = +54.38%
Major Indices:
2025 YTD Performance:
Managed FUND or Benchmark | YTD Performance |
Carbonwolf Alpha, Fund Alpha Prime | +54.38% |
Amarok II Fund | +14.81% |
The Talisman Fund | +3.06% |
Markets Performance Grid - September 30, 2025
Instrument | Current Value | YTD +/- | WoW Chg. | 52W Status |
DJII | $46,397.89 | 9.45% | 0.23% | Near High |
SPX | $6,688.46 | 13.97% | 0.47% | Near High |
COMP | $22,660.01 | 17.53% | 0.38% | Near High |
GDOW | $5,917.14 |
|
| Mid-Range |
/CL | $62.54 | -14.48% | -1.37% | Mid-Range |
/GC | $3,886.50 | 46.17% | 2.80% | Near High |
/BTC | $114,308.05 | 17.98% | 0.86% | Mid-Range |
/HG | $4.87 | 22.15% | 6.27% | Mid-Range |
Enhanced Market Anomaly Analysis
September 30, 2025
Identified Anomalies (Weekly Movement ≥ ±2.1%)
Gold Futures (/GC): +2.80% Weekly
Current Price: $3,886.50
YTD Performance: +46.17%
52-Week Status: Near High
Data Analysis: Gold futures demonstrated significant weekly strength with a 2.80% gain, pushing the precious metal to within striking distance of its 52-week high of $3,899.20. The weekly movement represents a substantial $105.90 increase from the previous Tuesday's close.
Market Context & Interpretation: The gold rally is fundamentally driven by escalating safe-haven demand as the United States approaches a potential government shutdown deadline. According to recent market reports, gold briefly touched a new record high of $3,871.45 per ounce during the week, with futures opening above $3,800 for the first time. The precious metal is on track for its best monthly performance since August 2011, gaining approximately 11.6% in September 2025. This exceptional performance reflects investor anxiety over political uncertainty, potential delays in key economic data releases (including payrolls data), and broader concerns about fiscal policy stability. The near-record positioning suggests continued institutional and retail investor flight to traditional safe-haven assets amid heightened geopolitical and domestic political tensions.
Copper Futures (/HG): +6.27% Weekly
Current Price: $4.87
YTD Performance: +22.15%
52-Week Status: Mid-Range
Data Analysis: Copper futures exhibited the most dramatic weekly movement among all tracked instruments, surging 6.27% or approximately $0.29 per pound. This represents the largest weekly gain observed in the current analysis and positions copper for its best monthly performance in over a year.
Market Context & Interpretation: The copper rally is primarily attributed to supply-side disruptions and concerns about mine production constraints. Market reports indicate that copper is recording its biggest monthly advance since June 2024, with September 2025 marking approximately 5% gains for the month. The rally has been fueled by supply snarls and production setbacks at key mining operations, creating anxiety about near-term availability despite ongoing concerns about Chinese manufacturing activity. The metal's position in the mid-range of its 52-week trading band ($3.97-$5.89) suggests room for further upside if supply constraints persist. Industrial demand expectations, particularly from infrastructure and renewable energy sectors, continue to provide fundamental support for copper prices. The 22.15% year-to-date performance underscores the underlying strength in the commodity cycle and growing recognition of copper's critical role in the global energy transition.
Market Implications
The identification of these two commodity anomalies highlights a broader theme of supply-side pressures and safe-haven demand dominating market sentiment in late September 2025. Both gold and copper are benefiting from distinct but complementary factors: gold from financial uncertainty and copper from physical supply constraints. The absence of equity index anomalies suggests that traditional financial markets remain relatively stable despite the political uncertainty, with volatility concentrated in commodity markets where fundamental supply-demand dynamics are more pronounced.
The concentration of anomalies in the commodities sector, particularly precious and industrial metals, indicates that investors are positioning for both defensive (gold) and growth-oriented (copper) scenarios simultaneously, reflecting the complex macroeconomic environment as the fourth quarter of 2025 approaches.
Disclaimer
This report is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Market data is subject to rapid changes, and this report reflects a snapshot at a specific point in time.
QALM = Quantitative Algorithmic Leveraged Momentum
Winners and Losers Random ~3 QALM Trades
| #1 | #2 | #3 |
Date Opened | 250930 | 250422 | 250311 |
Market | /ES | MSTR | NVDA |
Trade Direction | Long | Long | Long |
Win / Loss | WIN | OPEN | OPEN |
P/L% | +220% | -35.65% | +134.92% |
Open / Closed | CLOSED | OPEN | OPEN |
Trading Day(s) | +0TD | +164TD | +203TD |
Curr. Win Probability % | ~100% | ~+86% | ~+98% |

Market Observations
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Carbonwolf Alpha: Q3 2025 - W39/40
Observations: Tailwinds
Government Shutdown Paradox Creates Fed Urgency
The looming government shutdown, while threatening to delay critical economic data releases including Friday's September jobs report, paradoxically strengthens the case for aggressive Fed easing. Markets are pricing in nearly 90% probability of a 25bp cut at the October 28-29 meeting, with the potential data blackout removing a key obstacle to dovish policy. The shutdown threat eliminates the risk of stronger-than-expected employment data derailing rate cut expectations, while the 43,000 jobs forecast already signals significant labor market deterioration that would justify continued easing.
Tom Lee, Fundstrat Managing Director: "The government shutdown actually removes a major risk to our year-end rally thesis. Without the jobs data to potentially surprise to the upside, the Fed has a clearer path to cut rates aggressively."
Lee's positioning reflects Fundstrat's view that political dysfunction, while creating short-term volatility, ultimately accelerates Fed accommodation that benefits risk assets through year-end.
Market Breadth Expansion Beyond Mega-Cap Concentration
The rotation away from mega-cap technology stocks is creating significant opportunities across broader market segments, with equal-weighted indices beginning to outperform their cap-weighted counterparts. This breadth expansion suggests the market is transitioning from a narrow AI-driven rally to a more sustainable broad-based advance supported by Fed easing expectations. Small and mid-cap stocks are particularly well-positioned to benefit from lower rates, while international diversification through global indices offers additional alpha generation potential as the dollar weakens on dovish Fed policy.
Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab Chief Investment Strategist: "There's a lot of performance to be found in the market outside of the Magnificent Seven. We're seeing clients increasingly interested in diversification plays."
Sonders' commentary reflects Schwab's institutional positioning away from concentrated mega-cap exposure toward broader market participation as the Fed easing cycle unfolds.
Economic Weakness Justifies Aggressive Fed Response
The emerging consensus around economic deceleration, while concerning for fundamentals, creates the perfect backdrop for sustained Fed accommodation that supports asset prices. JPMorgan's acknowledgment of economic weakening, combined with uncertainty about recession timing, provides the Fed with political cover for aggressive rate cuts without appearing to panic. This "bad news is good news" dynamic supports risk assets as markets price in multiple rate cuts through 2026, with the terminal rate potentially falling below neutral levels.
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan CEO: "I think the economy is weakening. Whether it's on the way to recession or just weakening, I don't know."
Dimon's cautious stance reflects JPMorgan's defensive positioning while acknowledging that economic uncertainty creates Fed policy accommodation that benefits the bank's trading revenues.
Observations: Headwinds
Fed Policy Division Threatens Easing Consensus
The growing schism within the Federal Reserve between Chair Powell's cautious approach and Trump-appointed governors pushing for aggressive cuts creates dangerous policy uncertainty that could destabilize markets. Powell's warning about cutting "too aggressively" directly contradicts Stephen Miran's call for rates to fall to 2%-2.5%, suggesting the Fed may deliver smaller cuts than markets expect. This division threatens the dovish consensus that has supported risk assets, with the potential for hawkish surprises that could trigger significant corrections across equities and credit.
Jerome Powell, Fed Chair: "If the Fed were to cut rates 'too aggressively,' we could leave the inflation job unfinished and need to reverse course later."
Powell's measured tone contrasts sharply with market expectations, suggesting the Fed may disappoint on the dovish side, particularly given his concern about maintaining credibility on inflation.
AI Revenue Generation Questions Threaten Tech Valuations
The fundamental disconnect between massive AI infrastructure spending and actual revenue generation is creating a dangerous bubble in technology valuations that threatens broader market stability. With companies spending billions on AI deployment without clear monetization pathways, the sector faces a potential reckoning similar to the dot-com era. This revenue gap is particularly concerning given tech's outsized influence on major indices, where any significant correction could trigger broader market weakness and undermine the Fed's wealth effect strategy.
Dan Niles, Niles Investment Management Founder: "The main question around AI is if the deployers are generating any revenue. The hope around AI spend may be overdone."
Niles' skepticism reflects growing institutional concern about AI valuations, with his firm likely positioning defensively against potential tech sector corrections.
Bond Market Signals Economic Stress Despite Fed Accommodation
The persistent strength in precious metals and defensive positioning in credit markets suggests institutional investors are preparing for more severe economic deterioration than current Fed policy implies. Jeffrey Gundlach's $4,000 gold target reflects deep concerns about fiscal sustainability and currency debasement that Fed rate cuts cannot address. This flight to real assets indicates sophisticated money is positioning for stagflationary outcomes that would force the Fed to choose between fighting inflation and supporting growth, potentially triggering policy errors that destabilize markets.
Jeffrey Gundlach, DoubleLine CEO: "The Fed's rate cuts in 2025 are 'too little, too late' to offset structural weaknesses in the U.S. economy."
Gundlach's positioning in precious metals and international bonds reflects DoubleLine's expectation that Fed policy accommodation will prove insufficient to address underlying economic imbalances.
Alpha Insight: The "Shutdown Shield" Phenomenon
The market's counterintuitive positive reaction to government shutdown risks reveals a sophisticated understanding of Fed policy dynamics that creates unique trading opportunities. By eliminating the possibility of stronger-than-expected economic data, the shutdown effectively removes the primary obstacle to aggressive Fed easing, creating what we term the "Shutdown Shield" - a protective barrier around dovish expectations. This dynamic suggests markets have evolved beyond traditional government dysfunction concerns to focus purely on Fed policy implications, creating opportunities for contrarian positioning in sectors that typically suffer during political uncertainty but benefit from accelerated monetary accommodation.
Market Sentiment
Indicator | Current Level | Previous Week | Notes |
AAII Bull/Bear | 38%/32% | 41%/29% | Bullish sentiment declining amid shutdown fears |
Fear/Greed | 47 | 52 | Neutral territory as uncertainty rises |
VIX | 18.2 | 16.1 | Elevated volatility ahead of jobs data |
Put/Call Ratio | 0.89 | 0.85 | Modest defensive positioning increase |
Macro Data
Indicator | Current | Previous | Change |
10Y Treasury | 4.18% | 4.12% | +6 bps |
2Y Treasury | 3.95% | 3.89% | +6 bps |
DXY | 101.2 | 100.8 | +0.4% |
Fed Funds (Effective) | 4.12% | 4.12% | Unchanged |
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Question of the Week:
Question of the Week:
Does the "Shutdown Shield" phenomenon signal that markets now view government dysfunction as a bullish catalyst?
Disciplined Alpha,
MFA
**All of the above Funds are CLOSED to the public. These proprietary Hedge Fund Updates are for informational purposes only. Complex Derivatives, Futures, Algorithmic Trading can involve significant risks. Our past performance does not guarantee your future results. Always do your own due diligence, research and suitability before investing or trading.
**The above CLOSED proprietary Hedge Fund Updates are for informational purposes only. Our past performance does not guarantee your future results. Always do your own due diligence, research and suitability before investing or trading.
If you have any questions or concerns about these Terms, please contact us at gobig@carbonwolfenergy.com