SSO FTLT with Feaver Bear Block
Today’s Change (Oct 22, 2026)
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A symphony is an automated trading strategy — Learn more about symphonies here
About
An aggressive market-timing strategy that usually owns leveraged U.S. stocks in good times, but shifts into volatility hedges, bonds, gold, or bearish tech funds when markets look overheated or weak.
This strategy mostly wants to own **SSO**, a fund that aims to deliver about **2x the daily move of the S&P 500**. But it first checks whether the market looks **too hot**, **healthy**, or **dangerous**.
It uses **RSI**, which is basically a **temperature gauge** for recent price moves. A very high RSI means prices have run up fast and may be overheated; a very low RSI means they’ve fallen fast and may be due for a bounce.
**Step 1: If stocks look overheated**
- If the broad U.S. stock market (**SPY**) or big tech (**QQQ**) looks extremely overheated, it moves into safety: a mix of **VIXY** and **BSV**.
- **VIXY** tends to rise when market fear suddenly spikes.
- **BSV** is short-term bonds, used as a calmer parking spot.
**Step 2: If the market is somewhat overheated, but not extreme**
- It becomes defensive instead of fully bullish.
- Sometimes it uses **VIXY** plus a defensive stock mix.
- That defensive mix uses:
- **EUM**: a fund that benefits when emerging-market stocks fall.
- **BTAL**: a defensive stock strategy fund that has tended to hold up better when riskier stocks struggle.
- If conditions don’t call for that, it chooses whichever is acting stronger between:
- **TLT**: long-term U.S. Treasury bonds
- **IAU**: gold
So in plain English: when stocks look too stretched, the strategy backs away from aggressive stock exposure and hides in fear trades, bonds, gold, or defensive funds.
**Step 3: If the market is not overheated**
It then asks a bigger question: **Are we in a bull market or not?**
- If **SPY** is above its **200-day average** (a common long-term trend line), the strategy goes into **SSO**.
- Why **SSO**? Because it’s the strategy’s main “risk-on” position: a leveraged way to benefit from a healthy U.S. stock uptrend.
**Step 4: If we are not in a healthy uptrend**
It looks for either:
1. a sharp rebound opportunity, or
2. a reason to bet against tech stocks.
- If **QQQ** has fallen very hard recently, it buys **QLD**, which aims for about **2x the daily move of the Nasdaq-100**. That’s a rebound bet on large tech/growth stocks.
- If the broader market (**SPY**) has fallen very hard, it may go back into **SSO** for a rebound in the overall market.
If it does **not** see a bounce setup, it can turn bearish:
- **PSQ** profits when the Nasdaq-100 falls.
- **SQQQ** is a much more aggressive version that aims for about **3x the opposite daily move** of the Nasdaq-100.
So when the market trend is weak, this strategy flips between **buy-the-dip** and **bet-against-tech** depending on how severe and stretched the move is.
**What the strategy is really trying to do**
- **In strong markets:** press the gas with **SSO**
- **In overheated markets:** step aside into fear/safety assets
- **In weak markets:** either catch a rebound or short tech stocks
**What parts of the market it touches**
- **U.S. large stocks:** SPY, SSO
- **Big tech/growth stocks:** QQQ, QLD, PSQ, SQQQ
- **Volatility/fear:** VIXY
- **Bonds:** BSV, TLT, plus AGG/BND as signals
- **Gold:** IAU
- **Defensive/anti-risk stocks:** BTAL
- **Emerging markets (bearish position):** EUM
**Big picture**
This is an **aggressive market-timing strategy**. It is not a simple “buy and hold” plan. It tries to gain more than just holding **SSO**, while also cutting losses during bad periods. But it does that by using **leveraged** and **inverse** funds, which can move very fast in either direction.
Seeks bigger upside than the S&P by dynamically switching between leveraged equities and hedges. Out-of-sample: ~28.9% annualized vs 17.3% for the S&P, Calmar ~1.15, offering strong risk-adjusted upside despite higher drawdowns.
1M
3M
6M
YTD
1Y
3Y
Max
Performance
Compared to selected benchmarks
| Alpha | Beta | R2 | R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | 1.07 | 0.3 | 0.55 |
Performance Metrics
| Cumulative Return | Annualized Return | Trailing 1M Return | Trailing 3M Return | Sharpe Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 754.15% | 15.33% | -0.05% | 3.57% | 0.94 | |
| 1,028,427.9% | 84.86% | -0.6% | 5.45% | 2.03 |
Initial Investment
$10,000.00
Final Value
$102,852,789.56Regulatory Fees
$108,175.19
Total Slippage
$1,024,446.71
Invest in this strategy
OOS Start Date
Dec 28, 2024
Trading Setting
Threshold 5%
Type
Stocks
Category
Tactical asset allocation, regime switching, leveraged equity, long/short, trend following, overbought/oversold, defensive hedging
Tickers in this symphonyThis symphony trades 16 assets in total
Ticker
Type
AGG
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
Stocks
BND
Vanguard Total Bond Market
Stocks
BSV
Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF
Stocks
BTAL
AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund
Stocks
EUM
ProShares Trust Short MSCI Emerging Markets
Stocks
IAU
iShares Gold Trust
Stocks
PSQ
ProShares Short QQQ
Stocks
QLD
ProShares Ultra QQQ
Stocks
QQQ
Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1
Stocks
SH
ProShares Short S&P500
Stocks