Bond Movement vs Stock Movement (Framework)
Today’s Change (Mar 17, 2026)
—
A symphony is an automated trading strategy — Learn more about symphonies here
About
A regime-based, multi-asset rotation strategy that shifts between stocks and bonds (and occasionally leveraged tech) using momentum and trend signals. It tests oversold/overbought conditions, 60-day performance comparisons, and price trend against moving averages to choose among ETFs like TECL, SPY, QQQ, TLT, IEF, and more, with an explicit 3% rebalancing tolerance.
Plain-language description of how it operates:
- The framework asks: should we be in stocks (risk-on) or bonds (risk-off) right now? Then it chooses which specific ETFs to own based on momentum and trend cues.
- If tech momentum is very weak (RSI on a levered tech proxy is under 31), it shifts into a defensive 40/60 split between a leveraged tech bull ETF (TECL) and a bond ETF (BSV) in that order of allocation.
- If tech momentum is not extremely weak, it compares how stocks performed vs. bonds over the last ~60 days. If stocks beat bonds, the regime leans toward stocks; if not, toward bonds.
- Within a stock-friendly regime, the model looks for bullish stock conditions (e.g., SPY above its 200-day trend line and SPY beating bonds over 60 days) and then buys a mix of broad market stock ETFs (e.g., SPY, QQQ, DIA). It may also tilt toward tech-specific exposure (XLK) when certain oversold conditions apply, such as QQQ being very oversold.
- Within a bond-friendly regime, the model favors long-duration Treasuries or other bond ETFs (IEF, TLT) if they show strength or positive trend against stocks.
- There are explicit “Very Bearish” and “Bullish Very Short-Term” sub-cases that involve short or inverse bond ETFs (like TBF) and defensive stock ETFs (BSV, SPHD, XLP) to profit from or hedge bear markets.
- The overall approach is rule-based, not heuristic, and uses a corridor width (0.03) to decide when to rebalance. The backtest samples many decades, including periods of stress (2008-2009, 2020, etc.).
- In short: the strategy systematically rotates between risk-on and risk-off assets using momentum and trend checks, with a set of concrete ETF picks for each regime, including a leveraged tech tilt and several defensive hedges.
Out-of-sample Calmar 1.77 and max drawdown 10.2% vs SPY’s 18.8% show superior risk-adjusted performance and downside protection, with regime-driven, diversified stock/bond tilts aiming for steadier, meaningful gains vs the S&P 500.
Loading backtest data...
Invest in this strategy
OOS Start Date
Dec 10, 2022
Trading Setting
Threshold 3%
Type
Stocks
Category
Multi-asset rotation, momentum, leverage, regime switching
Tickers in this symphonyThis symphony trades 12 assets in total
Ticker
Type
BSV
Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF
Stocks
DIA
State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust
Stocks
IEF
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF
Stocks
QQQ
Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1
Stocks
SPHD
Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF
Stocks
SPY
State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
Stocks
TBF
ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury ETF
Stocks
TECL
Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3x ETF
Stocks
TLT
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF
Stocks
TQQQ
ProShares UltraPro QQQ
Stocks