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Corporate Jet Acquisition Target Signal

Updated eventData needs: mediumlong only
paper
2020
Source
Jayaraman, S., & Frye, M. (2020). "Are private jets a forerunner signal of M&A?" (SSRN); Yermack, D. (2014). "Tailspotting." RFS 27(3) 809-848.
Read the paper →

In plain terms

When an acquirer's corporate jet visits the target's HQ region, the target's stock tends to outperform over 2-4 weeks.

How it works

Acquirers visit target boards by corporate jet 30d before announcement (and during due diligence). Single-jet acquirer→target HQ-region visits are a different geometric signal from #255 corp_jet_cluster_ma_leak (multi-jet co-presence).

Live results

0 times picked on its own · 480 times inside a blend (460 beat the stock) · updated 2026-06-06
This strategy is a frequent ingredient in blends that combine a few strategies on one stock. It has contributed to 480 such blended picks (460 of which beat simply holding the stock). Picking it on its own is only one of the ways it shows up.
How its picks scored vs. buy & hold
Each pick is graded on a recent year it was never tuned on, against simply owning the same stock
Where its edge concentrates
Share of picks in each company-size group that beat buy & hold
How often it trades
Active vs. patient. Bars on the left mean it waits for rare setups; bars on the right mean it trades often
Return vs. buy & hold
How much each pick beat or trailed simply owning the stock over the test year (extreme microcap moves trimmed)
Loading substrate evidence…

Data dependencies

  • Daily prices

    Adjusted-close OHLCV for every US-listed ticker; primary price feed.

  • Corporate jet flights

    Corporate-jet flight history derived from OpenSky/ADSB sources and mapped to tickers.

  • Firm hq locations

    A data feed this strategy reads, refreshed on its normal schedule.

Expected edge

Reported return
100-400 bps
Tested over
T+1 to T+20d

100-400 bps over 10-20d (M&A premium leak).

Example tickers where this is likely to fire

Illustrative only, the signal fires based on the live data, not a fixed list.

Related families

Explore Corporate Jet Acquisition Target Signal on alphactor.ai

See which tickers this family is currently firing on, with live signals and rankings.

For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Learn more