AI Bot Based on Claude Outperforms S&P 500 by Mimicking Creator’s Style

AI bot based on Claude outperforms S&P 500 by mimicking creator's style.

Software engineer Jake Nesler developed a trading AI agent using Claude from Anthropic. The bot mimics the creator’s trading style, analyzes risks, and independently determines position sizes, according to Bloomberg.

During a month of testing, the agent achieved a 7% return, compared to 4.5% for the S&P 500 over the same period. In the first week, the algorithm avoided buying Nvidia shares at their peak, saving the owner from a $10,000 loss. However, the strategy’s volatility was high, with drawdowns reaching 22%.

Nesler trained the model for two weeks using the Alpaca platform. Initially, Claude was overly conservative, selecting only blue-chip stocks. The developer had to manually adjust settings to encourage the AI to make riskier trades.

The popularity of AI agents among retail traders continues to grow. Tools like OpenClaw allow users to manage bots via Telegram or WhatsApp. Major platforms such as OKX, Bybit, and Kraken have already implemented interfaces to simplify working with automated systems.

Not So Straightforward

Experts warn of the risks. According to Jay Malavia, co-founder of the Kairos terminal, profitable algorithms rarely become publicly available, and fake performance screenshots are often circulated on social media, typically to promote malicious software.

Nesler himself is not yet ready to entrust the bot with real assets. In prediction market experiments, his agent quickly lost the entire deposit. He compared the state of AI trading to slot machines, where outcomes are largely determined by luck.

In April, Anthropic introduced an experimental product, Claude Design, an AI-based design generation tool.