Protected Leverage 3x S&P 500 / NASDAQ v1.1 + Fund Surfing v2.2 | 136% AR | 28% DD | 2011-22
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About
A daily, rule-based, 3x-levered equity strategy that alternates between risky leveraged stock bets (SOXL, TECL, UPRO, TQQQ, FAS, etc.) in a Bottom-RSI-driven selection and defensive hedges (TMF, TMV, UUP, UGL, BTAL, DBC/DBA) driven by a bond-based risk signal. It uses Fund Surfing rotations with RSI and drawdown filters to pick 2–4 assets per day and rebalances to 100% exposure among them, aiming for high upside while managing drawdown across rate regimes (backtested 2011–2022 with claimed 136% annualized return and 28% max drawdown). Notes indicate multiple version tweaks to improve drawdown control and rate- environment responses.
- The system runs a daily check to decide whether the market environment is more favorable (risk-on) or risky (risk-off).
- Risk-on is signaled by the bond market signal (60-day cumulative return of BND/BIL in the notes; effectively a bond-health proxy). When the signal is positive, the strategy seeks to own 3x leveraged equity exposure.
- Ownership in risk-on mode is selected from a pool of high-momentum/levered ETFs. Two main asset pools are used:
• Pool A (Bottom 4 by 21-day RSI): Direxion SOXL (semiconductors, 3x), TECL (technology, 3x), UPRO (S&P 500, 3x), TQQQ (QQQ, 3x), FAS (financials, 3x), UMDD (mid-cap 3x), and other related leveraged themes. The bottom 4 assets by RSI (the ones that have been relatively oversold recently) are chosen and weighted equally.
• Pool B (Bottom 2 by 5-day RSI): Similar idea but selecting the bottom 2 assets by very short-term RSI to capture quick bounce candidates, including assets like SPY, QQQ, TECL, TQQQ, UPRO, UMDD, DBC/DBA (commodities), etc.
- In addition, there are “Fund Surf w/ Commodities” and other variants that include non-stock assets (DBC, DBA for commodities, BTAL for anti-beta exposure, SHY for short bonds, UGL for gold, TMF/TMV for long/short Treasuries) to reduce drawdowns and diversify sources of return.
- The decision logic applies several filters (relative strength, max drawdown over a short window, moving-average-like signals, etc.) to pick a small subset (commonly 2–4 assets) and then weights them equally for the day (100% allocated among the chosen assets).
- The process is repeated daily, with assets rotated as the signals change. If risk-off conditions dominate (rising rates or market stress), the system shifts toward hedges and lower-risk assets rather than chasing triple-leverage equity exposure.
- The overall aim is to deliver strong upside in bullish regimes while limiting downside in adverse regimes, using a mix of 3x leveraged equity exposure and a set of hedges and diversifiers. The backtester notes suggest attempts to improve drawdown in certain regimes (e.g., Covid panic, rising/falling rate environments) by tweaking asset selection rules and adding/removing assets.
- Important caveats: RSI-based selection and drawdown/return filters rely on historical relationships that may not hold going forward; leverage amplifies both gains and losses; transaction costs, slippage, and liquidity can materially affect real-world results; conditions that triggered the backtests may not repeat.
- In plain terms: when the market looks calm and favorable to stocks, you get a turbo-charged equity sleeve chosen from several leveraged bets. When it looks rocky or rates move against stocks, the strategy pivots toward hedges and less risky assets to protect capital, using a structured, rules-based rotation rather than a single “always buy the market” approach.
Out-of-sample: ~25.7% annualized return vs ~23% for the S&P, oos Sharpe ~0.77, beta ~0.88. A rules-based risk-on/off system using leveraged equity with hedges to boost upside while aiming to limit drawdowns.
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Invest in this strategy
OOS Start Date
Oct 3, 2022
Trading Setting
Daily
Type
Stocks
Category
3x levered equity, risk-on/off, tactical asset allocation, fund surfing, rsi-based selection, multi-asset cta-like
Tickers in this symphonyThis symphony trades 21 assets in total
Ticker
Type
BND
Vanguard Total Bond Market
Stocks
BTAL
AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund
Stocks
DBA
Invesco DB Agriculture Fund
Stocks
DBC
Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund
Stocks
FAS
Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3x ETF
Stocks
QQQ
Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1
Stocks
SHY
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF
Stocks
SOXL
Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF
Stocks
SPY
State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
Stocks
TECL
Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3x ETF
Stocks