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Adaptive All Weather 1.3a Pop Bots l BrianE Mod l Oct 10th 2016
Today’s Change

A symphony is an automated trading strategy — Learn more about symphonies here

About

An aggressive, all-weather, rules-driven strategy that rotates daily among levered stock bets, defensive sectors, bonds (1x and 3x), commodities, and USD/volatility hedges to chase trends and protect on crashes.
NutHow it works
- The portfolio is split into sleeves (stocks, bonds, commodities, and currency/volatility hedges). Each sleeve has a set of candidate assets (mostly ETFs, including levered and inverse types) and a rules-based gate to enter/exit. - The system runs signals daily using simple momentum and price tests: relative strength (how well an asset has performed vs a reference), moving-average comparisons (is price above/below a longer-term trend), and cumulative return checks (how well an asset has done recently). - Depending on signals, it chooses a selection of assets (often a small number) and assigns weights so the overall mix tilts toward either risk-on (bullish, levered equity plays) or risk-off (defensive sectors, bonds, cash, USD hedges, or commodities). - Levered ETFs (e.g., SPXL, TQQQ, SOXL, UPRO, TECL, SPUU, QLD) are used to magnify moves when the model believes there is a strong trend. Inverse or hedging instruments (e.g., SDS, SQQQ, TV via TMF/TMV/TYD, UVXY, USDU) are used to dampen risk or hedge volatility during downturns. - The model explicitly rotates among macro themes like “Risk ON – Bullish Market Conditions,” “Risk OFF – Rising Rates,” and “Bear Trap/Crash Protection” clusters, choosing assets with the best recent signals (e.g., top/bottom RSI, best cumulative return). - All allocations are done daily; cash-like positions use short-term Treasuries or equivalents (BIL, SHY, SUB) to keep liquidity when not fully invested. - The strategy also builds in defensive fund surf (a pool of sector ETFs and anti-beta funds) to shield during stress and to rebalance into defensives when risk metrics spike. - In short, it’s a dynamic, all-weather framework that tries to ride trends with leverage when favorable, and to shift into hedges and defensives when risk grows. Costs, tax effects, and the risk of large drawdowns are important caveats given the heavy use of levered vehicles.
CheckmarkValue prop
Compelling value: Out-of-sample annualized return ~37.6% vs SPY ~23.3%, with a Calmar ratio ~1.31 signaling superior risk-adjusted performance; dynamic leverage plus hedges target trends while seeking downside protection.

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Invest in this strategy
OOS Start Date
Nov 3, 2022
Trading Setting
Daily
Type
Stocks
Category
Multi-asset, tactical allocation, leveraged etfs, trend following, risk management
Tickers in this symphonyThis symphony trades 43 assets in total
Ticker
Type
BIL
State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF
Stocks
BND
Vanguard Total Bond Market
Stocks
BSV
Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF
Stocks
BTAL
AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund
Stocks
COMT
iShares U.S. ETF Trust iShares GSCI Commodity Dynamic Roll Strategy ETF
Stocks
DBC
Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund
Stocks
FAS
Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3x ETF
Stocks
GLD
SPDR Gold Trust, SPDR Gold Shares
Stocks
GLTR
abrdn Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF
Stocks
GUSH
Direxion Daily S&P Oil & Gas Exp. & Prod. Bull 2X ETF
Stocks

FAQ

A Composer symphony is an automated trading strategy that executes trades based on parameters of your choice. Some symphonies are similar to holding one ETF in normal conditions and rotating to a different ETF when market conditions shift, for example a 5% drop in the S&P 500, while others use complex rules with dozens of triggers. However, complex doesn’t always mean better. A simple, well-structured symphony can be just as effective as an intricate one. Learn more about how symphonies work here.

The symphony is currently performing the same as yesterday today. Performance updates in real time during market hours.

The symphony is currently allocated toUSDU, USO, UUP, DBC, OILK, COMT, BTAL, GLD, PDBC, TMV, BIL, SQQQandXLP. Holdings automatically adjust as market conditions change based on the strategy's rules.

Year-to-date, the symphony has returned 37.13%. You can adjust the performance chart above to view returns across different time horizons.

The maximum drawdown for the symphony is 28.67%. The maximum drawdown measures the largest peak-to-trough decline. It's an important metric to evaluate risk and the strategy's behavior during market stress.

To invest in the symphony, simply click the Invest button on this page. You'll need to open an account with Composer if you don't have one yet, then you can start investing. Composer will automatically execute the trades for you based on the strategy's rules. Composer also supports trading individual stocks, ETFs, and options.