Blue Chip or Not (9/1/2017)
Today’s Change (Oct 22, 2026)
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A symphony is an automated trading strategy — Learn more about symphonies here
About
A defensive stock strategy that usually holds 25 large established U.S. companies, but quickly moves to Treasury bills when markets look too hot or too risky. It occasionally makes a short-term aggressive bet on a tech rebound after a sharp selloff.
This strategy checks the market every day and asks: “Is the market calm enough to own stocks?”
It mostly buys a basket of 25 large, established U.S. companies. But if the market looks overheated, falling hard, or unusually shaky, it moves into BIL, a very short-term Treasury-bill fund that behaves like a cash parking spot.
Its main warning signals come from fast-moving tech funds like QQQ/TQQQ and from Treasury-bond funds. In one special case, after a sharp tech selloff, it may briefly buy TECL, a very aggressive technology fund, to try to catch a rebound.
Out-of-sample edge: ~46% annualized return vs ~19% for the S&P; Sharpe ~1.25; Calmar ~1.97. Mostly blue-chip stocks with cash during risk, delivering stronger risk-adjusted growth and clearer downside protection than the S&P.
1M
3M
6M
YTD
1Y
3Y
Max
Performance
Compared to selected benchmarks
| Alpha | Beta | R2 | R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.38 | 0.87 | 0.26 | 0.51 |
Performance Metrics
| Cumulative Return | Annualized Return | Trailing 1M Return | Trailing 3M Return | Sharpe Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 323.61% | 15.56% | -0.05% | 3.57% | 0.9 | |
| 11,716.71% | 61.28% | 4.63% | 18.32% | 1.69 |
Initial Investment
$10,000.00
Final Value
$1,181,670.52Regulatory Fees
$3,328.04
Total Slippage
$28,237.70
Invest in this strategy
OOS Start Date
Apr 29, 2024
Trading Setting
Daily
Type
Stocks
Category
Tactical asset allocation, market timing, blue-chip stocks, risk management, trend following, mean reversion, defensive cash
Tickers in this symphonyThis symphony trades 34 assets in total
Ticker
Type
AA
Alcoa Corporation
Stocks
ABBV
ABBVIE INC.
Stocks
AXP
American Express Company
Stocks
BAC
Bank of America Corporation
Stocks
BIL
State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF
Stocks
BND
Vanguard Total Bond Market
Stocks
C
Citigroup Inc.
Stocks
CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
Stocks
CI
The Cigna Group
Stocks
CVX
Chevron Corporation
Stocks