the whole table
| strategy | in sample | out of sample | equity, out of sample | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| return | max dd | sharpe | return | max dd | sharpe | ||
| rsi(14) mean reversion | 6.2% | -62.0% | 0.27 | -29.6% | -48.1% | -0.62 | |
| 50/200 moving average | -45.9% | -64.6% | -0.07 | -25.8% | -35.0% | -0.30 | |
| 20 day breakout | -46.0% | -69.0% | -0.02 | -30.7% | -65.1% | -0.38 | |
| 12 month momentum | -66.3% | -78.9% | -0.34 | 4.6% | -25.7% | 0.29 | |
| buy and hold | -18.9% | -66.9% | 0.31 | -36.2% | -68.8% | -0.21 | |
the in sample winner was buy and hold at -18.9%. picking it on that evidence then cost 36.2% in the window that followed. that is the finding, and it is why this page prints all five.
the bot verify on chain
the table above measures returns on one asset. the bot is measured differently, so it gets its own block rather than a row: it runs one rule on a funded account, and what it is judged on is whether the account clears, and how long that takes. putting a pass rate in a returns column would be comparing two different things.
| pace | passes | stopped out | average | 9 in 10 take |
|---|---|---|---|---|
slow | 45% | 55% | 50 days | 10 to 105 days |
medium | 35% | 65% | 25 days | 5 to 70 days |
fast | 30% | 70% | 15 days | 5 to 35 days |
the pace is the risk per trade and the only thing that changes: the strategy under all three is the same one. a faster pace passes sooner and less often, and the stopped out column sits beside the pass rate because we are the counterparty and the bot supplier at once.
reading it
litecoin fell 36.2% through the out of sample window, and exactly one rule came out ahead: 12 month momentum, at 4.6%. the honest reading is not that these five are bad, it is that a backtest chosen on past performance tells you little about the next window.
the one rule that came out ahead, 12 month momentum, was in the market 28% of the window. it earned its 4.6% by being out of it for the rest, which is a timing claim that one window cannot settle.
method
questions
12 month momentum came out best at 4.6%, against buy and hold at -36.2%. 1 of the five made money out of sample.
yes, 5 basis points a side on every change of position. funding is not modelled.
because showing only the winner is how backtests lie. fifty strategies across a hundred assets is five thousand results, and the best of those is mostly luck.
if this looks like work
picking a rule, testing it honestly, sizing it, then holding through a 68.8% drawdown is most of a job. ours runs one rule at one pace on a funded account, and we print how often it passes beside how often it stops out.
more