Market Making#067

Catalyst-Window Spread Widening

Around scheduled events that can move a market suddenly (a poll release, a Fed inflation print, the final minutes of a game, an oracle resolution window), you automatically widen your quoted spread and shrink your size, then tighten back up once the moment passes. The edge is staying in the spread-capture business most of the time while sidestepping the predictable information shocks that would burn you.

What you need to run it

Calendar of per-market catalyst timestamps
Volatility/spread schedule keyed to catalyst proximity
Automated spread/size scaling in quoting engine
Event-feed ingestion for ad-hoc catalysts

Where this applies

Markets on Polymarket where catalyst-window spread widening is the natural play:

Will the July 2026 CPI print come in above 3.2% year-over-year?
Will the Cowboys beat the Eagles in their next matchup?
Will the next national Trump approval poll show him above 45%?

Capabilities this demands

PatienceFeed ingestionCustom code / APIRisk management

At a glance

CategoryMarket Making

Requirements4

CapabilitiesPatience, Feed ingestion, Custom code / API, Risk management

VenuePolymarket (CLOB, Polygon)

Build it

Related market making strategies

This is documentation, not advice. Poly Research & Robotics publishes how these strategies work because the method should be checkable — not as a recommendation to trade them. See the full strategy database (147 strategies) or the data resources directory.