Skip to Content
The Not Boring: Rising Rates with Vol Switch
Today’s Change

A symphony is an automated trading strategy — Learn more about symphonies here

About

A tactical, rising-rates-aware mix that goes on offense when tech and Treasuries are calm, and tilts to gold and the U.S. dollar when they wobble. Uses 3x leveraged ETFs and sizes positions by recent stability.
NutHow it works
It watches for sharp, recent drops in two bellwethers: - QQQ (big U.S. tech; here used only as a warning light): if it falls ~6% or more in 10 days, the strategy goes defensive. - TMF (3x long U.S. Treasuries): if it falls sharply in 10 days, it also goes more defensive. When calm: about 85% goes into a mix of three funds—TQQQ (3x big tech), FAS (3x financials), TMF (3x long Treasuries). It gives more money to the ones that have been steadier over the last ~2 months and less to the jumpy ones. When shaky: it shifts toward a defensive basket that includes gold (GLD) and the U.S. dollar (UUP). The same “give more to steadier, less to jumpy” rule applies. A small cash buffer (~15%) is held when markets are calm, but not during major tech selloffs. These are leveraged funds and can move very fast, up or down.
CheckmarkValue prop
Out-of-sample, this volatility-switching strategy beats the S&P: 18.10% annualized return vs 14.01%; max drawdown 19.61% vs 22.09%; Calmar ~0.92, Sharpe ~0.88, beta ~0.71. Strong risk-adjusted growth with downside control.

Loading backtest data...

Invest in this strategy
OOS Start Date
Feb 13, 2022
Trading Setting
Threshold 5%
Type
Stocks
Category
Tactical asset allocation, risk parity, volatility targeting, leveraged etfs, macro/rates, defensive overlay
Tickers in this symphonyThis symphony trades 6 assets in total
Ticker
Type
FAS
Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3x ETF
Stocks
GLD
SPDR Gold Trust, SPDR Gold Shares
Stocks
QQQ
Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1
Stocks
TMF
Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 3X ETF
Stocks
TQQQ
ProShares UltraPro QQQ
Stocks
UUP
Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund
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.

The symphony is currently performing the same as yesterday today. Performance updates in real time during market hours.

The symphony is currently allocated toFAS, GLD, TMF, UUPandTQQQ. Holdings automatically adjust as market conditions change based on the strategy's rules.

Year-to-date, the symphony has returned 15.17%. You can adjust the performance chart above to view returns across different time horizons.

The maximum drawdown for the symphony is 20.43%. 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 the symphony, 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.