Strategy guides

What each strategy is, why people use it, where it lets them down, and how one of our bots runs it on a public virtual account.

Stocks & ETFs

Buy and hold the S&P 500: the yardstick for every strategy

Buy a fund of the 500 largest US companies once and never touch it. It is the simplest strategy there is, and most clever ones fail to beat it.

The 60/40 portfolio: stocks and bonds

Sixty percent in stocks, forty in government bonds, brought back to that split a few times a year. The classic calm portfolio.

The permanent portfolio: stocks, bonds, gold and cash

Harry Browne's idea: four equal parts, each meant for a different state of the economy. Built to survive anything rather than to win.

Risk parity: sizing positions by how much they swing

Give each asset a share that is smaller the more its price jumps, so that no single asset drives the whole account.

Volatility targeting: less stock when the market shakes

Hold fewer shares when the market is jumpy and more when it is calm, to keep the swings of the account roughly constant.

The 200-day moving average strategy on the S&P 500

Hold stocks while the index is above its average price of the last 200 days, and step aside when it falls below.

Nasdaq 100 and the 100-day moving average

The same trend rule for technology stocks, with a faster average: in the Nasdaq 100 above the line, out of it below.

TQQQ with a 200-day moving average filter

A triple-leveraged Nasdaq fund, held only while the Nasdaq itself is in an uptrend. High reward, very high risk.

Gold trend following with the 200-day average

Hold gold only while it is rising: above its 200-day average in gold, below it in short-term bonds.

Commodity trend following: five funds

Gold, silver, oil, a broad commodity basket and agriculture: hold only the ones in an uptrend.

The golden cross: 50-day and 200-day moving averages

Stocks are held while the 50-day average is above the 200-day one. The opposite crossing, the death cross, is the signal to leave.

Tactical asset allocation: the three strongest of ten

Ten funds covering stocks, bonds, real estate, gold and commodities. Each month hold the three that have been strongest.

Dual momentum: US stocks, world stocks or bonds

Gary Antonacci's rule: hold the stronger of two stock markets, but only if it beats cash. Otherwise hold bonds.

Stocks, bonds or gold: holding the best of three

Once a month the whole account moves into whichever of the three has been strongest lately.

Sector rotation: the three strongest US sectors

The US market splits into eleven sectors. Hold the three that have risen most over the last six months.

Country rotation with ETFs: the three strongest markets

Fifteen country funds. Each month hold the three strongest, and only those in an uptrend.

Factor rotation: growth, value, small caps or low volatility

Stock styles take turns. Once a month the account moves into the style that has been strongest.

Momentum stocks: the ten strongest of the year

Buy the stocks that rose most over the past year and replace them every month. The classic 12-1 momentum.

Low-volatility stocks: the twenty calmest

Hold the large companies whose prices move least. Boring stocks have historically done better than their risk suggests.

The RSI(2) strategy: buying sharp dips in an uptrend

Larry Connors's short-term rule: buy the index after a quick, sharp drop in a rising market and sell on the bounce.

Crypto

Donchian channel breakout in crypto: buying 55-day highs

The old turtle-trader rule applied to coins: buy a coin when it makes a new 55-day high and sell when it drops to a 20-day low.

Crypto trend following with moving averages

Hold a coin only while it trades above its own average price: 50 days for the fast version, 100 days for the slow one.

A coin basket with a market filter: in crypto only while the market rises

Hold a basket of large coins in equal parts while the crypto market as a whole is rising, and sit in cash when it is not.

Volatility targeting in crypto: smaller positions in wild markets

The same coin basket, but its size shrinks when prices are jumping and grows when they calm down.

Low-volatility coins: the five calmest of the fifteen largest

From the largest coins pick the ones whose price moves least, and hold them only while the market is rising.

Crypto momentum: holding the strongest coins of the quarter

Buy the coins that rose most over the last 90 days and replace them every month.

Bollinger Bands in crypto: buying altcoins below the lower band

Buy an altcoin that has dropped sharply below its usual price range while its long trend is still up, and sell on the bounce.

An equal-weight altcoin index: the ten largest altcoins

Hold the ten largest altcoins in equal parts and do nothing else. A yardstick that shows what altcoins do on their own.