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Symphonies
COST + UNH or Not
Today’s Change
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A symphony is an automated trading strategy — Learn more about symphonies here

About

A cautious strategy that usually holds Costco and UnitedHealth, but moves to Treasury bills when tech or bond markets look stressed. It only takes a temporary leveraged tech trade after a sharp selloff.
NutHow it works
This strategy mostly does one of three things: own Costco and UnitedHealth, sit in short-term Treasury bills (BIL), or briefly buy leveraged tech after a sharp selloff. It uses fast-moving tech funds and bond funds as warning signals. If markets look overheated or unstable, it moves to BIL. If conditions look calm, it holds COST and UNH, giving a bit more weight to the steadier one.
CheckmarkValue prop
Out-of-sample edge: ~47.98% annualized return with a 1.25 Sharpe and 2.04 Calmar—far stronger risk-adjusted upside than SPY. A defensive COST/UNH core with tech-timing aims for bigger gains with disciplined risk versus the S&P 500.
1M
3M
6M
YTD
1Y
3Y
Max
www.composer.trade
Performance
Compared to selected benchmarks
AlphaBetaR2R
SPY
0.280.760.220.47
Performance Metrics
Cumulative ReturnAnnualized ReturnTrailing 1M ReturnTrailing 3M ReturnSharpe Ratio
SPY
830.14%14.32%-1.04%-0.34%0.87
COST + UNH or Not
36,909.87%42.61%10.56%8.67%1.41
Initial Investment
$10,000.00
Final Value
$3,700,987.37
Regulatory Fees
$10,809.41
Total Slippage
$95,769.43
Invest in this strategy
OOS Start Date
Apr 29, 2024
Trading Setting
Daily
Type
Stocks
Category
Defensive, tactical, regime-switching, concentrated, cash-management, mean-reversion, trend-following
Tickers in this symphonyThis symphony trades 11 assets in total
Ticker
Type
BIL
State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF
Stocks
BND
Vanguard Total Bond Market
Stocks
COST
Costco Wholesale Corp
Stocks
IEF
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF
Stocks
QQQ
Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1
Stocks
SPY
State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
Stocks
TECL
Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3x ETF
Stocks
TLT
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF
Stocks
TMF
Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 3X ETF
Stocks
TQQQ
ProShares UltraPro QQQ
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.

"COST + UNH or Not" is currently performing the same as yesterday today. Performance updates in real time during market hours.

"COST + UNH or Not" is currently allocated toBIL. Holdings automatically adjust as market conditions change based on the strategy's rules.

Year-to-date, "COST + UNH or Not" has returned 47.89%. You can adjust the performance chart above to view returns across different time horizons.

The maximum drawdown for "COST + UNH or Not" is 23.50%. 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 "COST + UNH or Not", 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.
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