IFF Fund: Short it baby! 0.0.0.3.1
Today’s Change (Mar 17, 2026)
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About
A rule-based, short-biased fund that uses leveraged inverse/volatility ETFs (and sector/tech bears) guided by momentum and volatility checks, with a cash buffer and no regular rebalance. It aims to profit from declines or rising fear in markets, not from rallies, and adds volatility-based safeguards to curb overtrading.
What the strategy does, in plain language:
- It is designed to profit when certain market signals suggest stocks or tech sectors may fall or when market fear rises. It mainly takes bearish or inverse/multiplier bets rather than outright buying stocks.
- Key bets are placed in highly leveraged ETF pairs: volatility bets (UVXY), tech/QQQ-related bears (SQQQ), semiconductor bears (SOXS), and tech bears (TECS). There are also bull peers (TQQQ, TECL) considered in some rule paths, but the overall tilt aims to short or hedge markets, not to ride upmarket rallies.
- The system uses momentum and volatility indicators to decide when to shift into these bets. It looks at indicators calculated on other popular indices (for example, SPY or QQQ) to gauge whether the market is overbought, showing strong momentum, or increasingly volatile. If momentum/volatility looks extreme (for example, RSI-like readings above a high threshold and rising volatility), the rules push exposure toward UVXY or bear/short ETFs. If the signals don’t meet the thresholds, the system may hold cash or switch into other hedges (like sector-focused bear or bull 3x ETFs).
- It includes a risk check called standard deviation, added to the rules to avoid acting on fleeting blips. This helps ensure signals are supported by recent price dispersion rather than a single upswing or downswing.
- There is no automatic daily rebalancing; exposure changes only when a rule fires, and there’s a small tolerance (corridor width) around targets to prevent churning.
- The cash buffer (BIL) is used as a safe holding when unclear signals appear, helping to limit risk and capital drawdown while waiting for clearer conditions.
- In short, the fund seeks to ride down-move opportunities in broad markets and tech/semiconductors using leveraged inverse/volatility vehicles, while trying to avoid overtrading and manage risk with standard-deviation checks and a cash reserve.
OOS, a bear-rule-based strategy, delivers ~52% annualized return vs ~24% for the S&P, with Calmar ~0.85 and a cash buffer to curb risk. It profits from declines and volatility, not rallies, offering upside with disciplined risk.
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Invest in this strategy
OOS Start Date
Aug 3, 2024
Trading Setting
Threshold 10%
Type
Stocks
Category
Bearish/short, leveraged etfs, systematic rules-based, volatility/momentum signals, sector focus (tech/semiconductors)
Tickers in this symphonyThis symphony trades 16 assets in total
Ticker
Type
BIL
State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF
Stocks
IYW
iShares U.S. Technology ETF
Stocks
QQQ
Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1
Stocks
SOXL
Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF
Stocks
SOXS
Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X ETF
Stocks
SOXX
iShares Semiconductor ETF
Stocks
SPY
State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
Stocks
SQQQ
ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ
Stocks
TECL
Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3x ETF
Stocks
TECS
Direxion Daily Technology Bear 3x ETF
Stocks