200 Trading Strategies (Free) 2024 — Backtests, Rules, Settings And Types
With trading strategies, there are many different ways to trade and as many different types of trading strategies. It’s important to remember that what works well for one person might not yield the same results for you. Conducting thorough data analysis and backtesting, along with considering historical evidence and applying quantitative research and statistics, can help you make leaps and bound in your trading.
Choosing the best trading strategy depends on who you are, how you live, and what you have to work with. On this page, we have compiled a guide with all the trading strategies we have published since our start in 2012 (plus relevant trading strategy articles). The page contains links to many hundreds of trading strategies plus articles about indicators and trading strategy-specific articles.
Many of these are completely free. We are confident you find a viable trading system or at least trading ideas among all these articles. These trading strategies can help you create your own trading plan, test new trading techniques or even improve upon your existing trading strategy.
All our trading strategies are backtested and are published with trading rules in plain English and code in multiple platform code languages. (Contact us and let us know.)
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Swing trading strategies
Swing trading strategies are the first stop on our trading journey. Swing trading involves buying (or shorting) an asset and holding it for a few days, perhaps up to a few weeks. The aim is, of course, to buy low and sell high, or vice versa if you go short. Swing trading is the most popular form of trading there is.
Below are a few examples of swing trading strategies:
- 10 free swing strategies that work (backtested buy and sell signals)
- 3 free mean reversion trading system (backtested buy and sell signals)
- 3 Bullish Candlestick Patterns That Work
- Which Is The Best Indicator For Swing Trading?
- Which Time Frame Is Best In Trading?
Here you can find all our Strategies for Swing trading.
Volatility trading strategies
Volatility trading strategies are like riding a roller coaster – you are looking to profit from volatility and big moves. Traders prey on volatility, but only as long as they have used quantified analysis to find profitable trading strategies.
Typically, bear markets have significantly higher volatility than bull markets, making it possible to make money on BOTH long and short. As a rule of thumb, short works best in a bear market, but long also works well in a bear market, perhaps counterintuitive. If you are a short-term trader, you should welcome a bear market, but also if you are a long-term net buyer of stocks.
Most traders and investors shun volatility, but you can use it to your advantage. However, it requires systematic thinking and testing. Below, we have summarized our most important volatility trading strategies:
- Using the VIX to trade S&P 500 (VIX trading strategies)
- VIX Futures Strategy (Backtest And Example)
- What happens after an “extraordinary” big fall in the S&P 500?
- Bollinger Band Squeeze Strategy Explained — Backtest And Performance
- Should You Buy Or Sell Stocks In A Volatile Market? (Backtest With Historical Data)
Here you can find all our volatility strategies.
S&P 500 trading strategies (ES and SPY)
Next, we explore the strategies surrounding the esteemed S&P 500 index. S&P 500 trading strategies involve trading the stocks or index funds that make up the S&P 500 index, using various techniques such as trend following, mean reversion, and sector rotation. You can trade SPY, the ETF that tracks S&P 500, or you can trade ES, the corresponding futures contract. There is even a Micro futures contract to accommodate traders with small trading accounts.
Trend-following strategies can be implemented using moving averages, with the price above the average indicating an uptrend and below it a downtrend. On the other hand, mean reversion strategies are based on the principle that stock market returns tend to follow a predictable long-term upward trend, and deviations from this trend can indicate overvaluation.
S&P 500 is the world’s most followed stock index. You can trade it either via futures (@ES) or the oldest ETF still trading (SPY). Below, we have compiled the SP 500 trading strategies we have covered since we started this blog:
- The Turnaround Tuesday trading strategy
- Lower highs and lower lows pattern (trading strategy)
- NR7 trading strategy — The Narrow Range 7 (we improved it)
- A simple trend-following system/strategy on the S&P 500 (By Meb Faber and Paul Tudor Jones)
- S&P 500 mean reversion using IBS and RSI (Classical mean reversion strategy S&P 500)
- RSI SPY trading strategy (RSI(2) on SPY)
- The 5-day low and low of the range trading strategy (S&P 500 mean reversion)
- Triple RSI Trading Strategy (90% Win Rate)
- MACD-histogram trading strategy
Here you can find all our S&P 500 trading strategies and SPY trading strategies (more than 50 trading strategies).
Overnight trading strategies
The overnight edge is from the close of the stock exchange until the open the next day (and we can argue until the close of the next day) – outside regular trading hours. often driven by news events or global market developments.
One such strategy is buying at the close of the market and selling at the next day’s open, taking advantage of the momentum from the previous close to the next day’s open. Most of the gains in the S&P 500 have come from the overnight session since 1993.
It’s an edge that works for stocks and partially for gold. Below are a few overnight trading strategies for you that take advantage of this edge:
- Night strategies trading (overnight edges/strategies)
- How do you do overnight trading? (How to make money overnight trading)
- 4 Overnight Trading Strategies In The S&P 500 (Strategies From Close To The Next Open)
- The 5-day low overnight trading strategy (S&P 500 overnight)
- 3 Days Down Overnight Trading Strategy (S&P 500, Nasdaq, Rules, Performance)
Here you can find all our overnight trading strategies and a deeper explanation of how to make money on the overnight edge.
Day trading strategies
Day trading is popular, and that’s probably understandable. It’s scalable, and if you are successful you can make a lot of money in a short period of time.
But unfortunately, most end up losing money. We know, because we day traded full-time for 17 years and we witnessed a lot of traders come and go (but we made money, though).
- Day Trading Strategies
- Day Trading Price Action Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- Outside Day (Bar) Trading Strategy (Rules, Settings, Performance, Backtest)
- Intraday Trading Strategies (Backtests And Examples)
- SPY sets low or high in the last hour — a day trading strategy
- Is It Possible to Make Money Day Trading? Can you make money day trading? (My numbers 2002–2012 — real money)
Here you can find all our day trading strategies.
Mean reversion trading strategies
A mean-reverting strategy assumes any trends and moves will reverse and return to the mean. In statistics, this term is called regression to the mean.
Traders aim to capitalize on the principle that stock market returns tend to follow a predictable long-term upward trend, and deviations from this trend can indicate overvaluation. For example, an oversold asset tends to have higher returns in the next few days than when it’s overbought.
An effective mean reversion trading strategy recognizes the stock market’s long-term uptrend and chooses buying opportunities accordingly during favorable market conditions. Just like a boomerang, prices in a mean reversion trading strategy are expected to return to their mean.
Any data or observations that are on the tails of a normal distribution are most likely abnormalities that will sooner or later turn around a revert to the mean. At least, that’s the idea (most of the time).
Since the start of derivatives trading, in the early 80’s, mean reversion trading strategies have worked very well for US stocks. Below we have a few examples of mean reversion strategies:
- What happens when stock markets are oversold?
- What happens when stock markets are overbought?
- 3 free mean reversion trading system (backtested buy and sell signals)
- Lower highs and lower lows pattern
- The Turnaround Tuesday trading strategy
Here you can find all our Mean reversion strategies.
Nasdaq trading strategies (@NQ Futures and QQQ ETF)
Nasdaq 100 is, together with S&P 500, the most-watched equity index in the world. You can trade the index via QQQ (which is an ETF), or with futures (@NQ). There exist three two different @NQ contracts: E-mini and Micro.
- RSI QQQ (RSI mean reversion trading strategy QQQ)
- Monday/Tuesday trade in Nasdaq
- Nasdaq (QQQ) mean reversion
- The Internal Bar Strength (IBS) Indicator for @NQ And QQQ
Here you can find all our Nasdaq futures trading strategies and qqq trading strategies.
Fixed Income Trading Strategies
Trading strategies for fixed income securities, such as bonds and treasuries, concentrate on changes in interest rates, assessing credit quality, and analyzing yield spreads.
Fixed Income can be a great complement to stock trading strategies. Just like stocks, they have a great advantage: they have a tailwind, i.e., they go up over time. Here are a few of our fixed-income trading strategies.
- Bond Trading Strategies — Why And How To Trade Them (Backtests)
- Bond MOVE Index And TLT Trading Strategy (Backtest)
- Calendar effects in long-term Treasuries (TLT seasonal trading strategies)
- Trend following strategies Treasuries
Here you can find all our Fixed Income Strategies.
Candlestick strategies (patterns and formations)
Candlestick patterns are a popular charting technique. They are used in technical analysis to identify potential trading opportunities based on historical price action and market psychology. At least 75 recognized candlestick patterns can be categorized into single, double, or triple candlestick patterns.
These patterns include, for example, the Hammer candlestick pattern, which suggests a strong buying pressure that could indicate the end of a bearish trend and the beginning of a bullish trend. The Inverse Hammer pattern signals that buying pressure is present and the market rejects lower prices, which might lead to an impending bullish trend.
Candlestick formations and patterns are popular, but seldom backtested with strict trading rules. We have compiled all candlestick patterns and coded them with strict rules. We backtested all patterns and compiled our research into a backtested encyclopedia of candlestick patterns. It turns out that many candlestick patterns are very profitable!
Here, you can find all our Candlestick Patterns and strategies, in addition to a much more detailed description of candlestick trading.
Treasuries and bonds trading strategies
Treasuries and bonds trading strategies involve trading government and corporate debt securities. They focus on interest rate movements, credit quality, and yield spreads. Bond trading strategies can provide diversification and potentially uncorrelated returns, serving as a complementary element in a portfolio.
Bonds can be a great complement to stock trading strategies. And just like stocks, they have a great advantage: they have a tailwind, ie. they go up over time.By understanding fixed-income trading strategies, you can add another layer of sophistication to your trading toolkit. Some common fixed income trading strategies include:
- Bond Trading Strategies — Why And How To Trade Them (Backtests)
- Bond MOVE Index And TLT Trading Strategy (Backtest)
- Calendar effects in long-term Treasuries (TLT seasonal trading strategies)
- Trend following strategies Treasuries
Here you can find all our bond trading strategies.
Technical Indicator strategies
Technical indicators strategies use various technical analysis tools to identify potential trading opportunities. Moving average crossover strategies involve analyzing the intersection of two moving averages to identify potential trading opportunities. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator, which compares two EMAs of different lengths, is also employed in trend following strategies to identify when to enter and exit trades based on the crossing of these averages.
While numerous technical indicators are available, each offering a unique view of the market, the key is to find a combination that aligns with your trading style and goals.
There are a zillion trading indicators, but we have covered many. Below are just a few of the ones we have explained and coded into specific trading rules:
- The stochastic indicator — does it work? (Stochastic trading strategies)
- Williams %R explained — does it work? (Williams %R strategies)
- CCI Indicator — What is it? (Trading Strategy And Backtest)
- Does the MACD indicator work? (Including strategies)
- Chande Momentum Oscillator Trading Strategy — Setup, Rules, Backtest
- Ultimate Oscillator Indicator Trading Strategy (Backtest)
Here you can find all our technical indicator and trading indicator strategies.
Russell 2000 trading strategies (IWM)
Next, we delve into the world of small-cap stocks with Russell 2000 trading strategies. These strategies involve trading the stocks or funds that make up the Russell 2000 index, using momentum, trend following, and sector rotation techniques.
The Russell 2000 Rebalancing Trading Strategy takes advantage of the annual rebalancing of the Russell 2000 index, which has historically been a strong period for stocks in the index. Divergence trading strategy involves monitoring the performance differences between the Russell 2000 and other large-cap indices, using the premise that major divergences can signal impending changes in market trends.
Russell 2000 behaves differently compared to S&P 500 and can thus complement many other stock trading strategies. We have compiled a few Russell 2000 trading strategies:
- The Russell 2000 rebalancing strategy
- IWM (Russell 2000) Trading Strategy — What Is It?
- E-Mini Russell 2000 Trading Strategy (Backtest And Futures Example)
- Russell 2000 Death Cross Trading Strategy (Backtest And Returns)
Click here for more: IWM Trading Strategies and Russell 2000 strategies.
Seasonality Trading Strategies in Stocks
Seasonal strategies in stock trading try to capitalize on shifts in sentiment depending on the season or calendar. For example, the Santa Claus Rally and Turn of The Month Effect are such strategies.
Another example is the seasonal strategy called the January Effect, which involves purchasing stocks at the end of December and retaining them through January. Similarly, “Sell in May and Go Away” suggests divesting your holdings in May followed by reinvesting in November to bypass what is traditionally a summer slump for stocks.
Market trends might have their rhythms, much like natural seasons do. Seasonality trading strategies seek to exploit these repeating cycles within the stock market.
We like seasonal patterns. There are many of them in the stock market. In this section, we have covered all we know: around 50 patterns. If you are willing to take the time, you can find many tradable seasonal trading strategies:
- The options expiration week effect (options week anomaly and seasonality)
- The turn-of-the-month trading strategy (end of month effect)
- First trading day of the month trading strategy (first day of the month effect)
- The End Of The Year Rally In Stocks (Santa Claus Rally/Effect Strategy)
- The Holiday Effect In Stock Markets (Holiday Effect On The Stock Market)
- 4-Year Presidential Election Cycles Stock Market — What Are They? (Rules, Backtest, Returns)
- Last trading day of the month trading strategy (last day of the month seasonality)
Here, you can find all our seasonal trading strategies.
Stock and sector rotation strategies (momentum)
Stock and sector rotation strategies are popular strategies, even though they frequently tend to break down.
A sector strategy might work like this: Investors practicing sector rotation switch between assets based on certain criteria, for example, based on momentum or mean reversion.
Here is an example: gold might have outperformed stocks over the last three months, and thus, you go long and hold for one and then rinse and repeat. Such strategies are relatively easy to backtest, but our experience is that many rotation and sector strategies “break down” after a while.
Our experience is that short-term intervals tend to be less effective than employing longer periods when pursuing rotation strategies because it can exacerbate whipsaws, not to mention transaction costs and slippage.
Rotation strategies are popular, but many tend to be curve-fitted and don’t last long. Below, we have a few sector rotation strategies that have been profitable for quite a few years:
- Weekly Trading Strategy (Backtest With Weekly Charts — Returns And Performance)
- Weekly Rotating System Between S&P 500 And Utilities
- S&P 500 and gold miners rotation strategy/system
- S&P 500 and gold rotation strategy (SPY and GLD rotation)
- Lumber/Gold Ratio Trading Strategy For Stocks And Bonds (Rules, Backtest, Performance)
Here, you can find all our Sector rotation trading strategies.
Momentum trading strategies
Momentum is one of several anomalies that have persisted for decades. In short, a momentum strategy involves exploiting recent momentum by buying strong stocks and selling weak stocks. Empirically, this has worked on time frames from 3 to 12 months. Shorter and longer time frames have not been very consistent. This means that a stock that has risen for the last 3 months, is more likely to continue rising over the next 3 months.
We have backtested a few momentum trading strategies:
- S&P 500 Momentum Strategy — As Simple As It Gets (Backtested)
- Dual Momentum Trading Strategy (Gary Antonacci) — Rules, Setup, Backtest
- All-Time High Trading Strategy For Stocks (How Often All-Time High?)
- TLT vs SPY — Bond Rotation Strategy — (Monthly Momentum Strategy In S&P 500 and Bonds)
- A Monthly Momentum Strategy In ETFs (Sector/ETF Rotation Strategy In EEM, SPY, And TLT)
Here, you can find all our Momentum trading strategies.
Trend following trading strategies (indicator)
A trend trading strategy acts on the general direction of market movement. This approach might employ moving averages to determine trends, where a price above the average suggests an upward trend, and one beneath it signals a bearish trend. The 200-day moving average is frequently used as a trend filter; presumably, the famous investor Paul Tudor Jones uses it.
Other trend strategies and indicators examples are the Golden Cross (the opposite is a Death Cross), the Supertrend Indicator, and the Fabian Timing model.
There are many ways to determine a trend, but you should backtest to see how your hypothesis has performed in the past.
Trend following is synonymous with huge gains and gut-wrenching drawdowns. Below, we have a few backtested trend-following indicator trading strategies:
- The 200-day moving average trading strategy: How MA systems work (backtest and indicator)
- ADX indicator backtest (Strategies — does it work)?
- What is a Death Cross in Trading? Does it work?
- What Is A Golden Cross In Trading? Does It Work? (Backtest)
- The Supertrend Indicator — What is it? (Backtest And Performance)
- Donchian Channels — What is it and do they work? (Backtest commodities and S&P 500)
- Turtle Trading Strategies: Rules, Statistics, and Backtests — Does It Still Work?
Here you can find all our Trend following strategies.
Larry Connors Trading Strategies
Larry Connors Trading Strategies are a set of trading techniques and trading rules developed by trader and author Larry Connors.
They focus on short-term trading and are mainly based on mean reversion strategies. Larry Connors is famous for being the brain behind the 2-day RSI strategy, which is a mean reversion strategy providing short-term buy and sell signals based on the Relative Strength Index (RSI).
Larry Connors is a famous strategy researcher. We have no idea if he’s a trader, but he has published several books on stocks and ETFs. Some of it is useful. Here are some Larry Connors trading strategies:
- Larry Connors’ Double Seven strategy (Double 7 trading strategy)
- Larry Connors’ multiple days up and multiple days down strategy
- Larry Connors’ %b strategy (Bollinger Bands)
- Larry Connors’ R3 strategy
- Larry Connors’ 3-day high/low strategy
Here you can find all our Larry Connors Trading Strategies.
Trend reversal trading strategies
Trend reversal trading strategies aim to identify and profit from changes in market trends – what we call reversals.
These strategies involve looking for indications of a loss of momentum, sometimes combined with volume analysis. However, it’s up to you what criteria you use. The main point is that it should provide profits in the long run if it has a positive expectancy.
Over the last four decades, the stock market has been mean revertive; thus, short-term trend reveals have worked well. There are no guarantees it will continue doing so in the future, though!
Who doesn’t dream of selling the top and buying the bottom? For those traders, trend reversals are the main topic in any conversation. However, it’s easier said than done.
Nevertheless, below are a few trend reversal trading strategies:
- Reversal Day Strategy Backtest
- Averaging Down Trading Strategy
- Bear Trap Trading Strategy
- 123 Pattern Reversal Strategy
Here you can find all our Trend reversal trading strategies.
Sentiment Indicator Trading Strategies
Sentiment Indicator Trading Strategies use market sentiment data, such as investor surveys and put/call ratios, to identify potential trading opportunities.
When sentiment readings are extremely high or low, traders may act contrarian, such as buying when there is fear or selling when there is greed. For example, a put-call ratio greater than 0.7 or exceeding 1 signals that traders are buying more puts than calls, implying a bearish market sentiment, and it might signal a selling climax. One famous Wall Street saying says you should buy where blood is in the streets is a typical sentiment strategy.
When the last optimists turn pessimists, we have a bottom. At least, that’s what the saying says. Below are a few sentiment trading strategies that try to capture and fade optimism and pessimism.
- TRIN — Arms Index Trading Strategy — What is it? (Backtest)
- What Is The Put Call Ratio? Does It Work? (Backtest And Strategy)
- NAAIM Exposure Index (Backtest Trading Strategy)
- AAII And Market Sentiment Indicators — How To Trade It (Examples And Backtests)
- Investors Intelligence Sentiment Index (Contrarian Sentiment Indicator)
Here you can find all our Sentiment indicator trading strategies.
Moving average strategies
Moving average strategies use moving averages to identify trends, support and resistance levels, and potential trading opportunities. You can also use moving average crossover strategies, which involve analyzing two moving averages that cross each other to identify potential trading opportunities.
Moving averages are also used to create indicators, such as the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator, which compares two EMAs of different lengths.
However, moving averages are mostly used as trend filters, such as the 200-day moving average. When the price is above the 200-day moving average, we have a bull market, and when it’s below, we are in a bear market. This simple indicator has worked well historically.
Moving averages are popular among retail traders despite many of their inherent flaws. The biggest disadvantage is that they lead to many whipsaws and a low win rate. We know from empirical evidence that a low win rate makes many traders abandon a trading strategy. That said, Paul Tudor Jones presumably uses the 200-day moving average as a trend filter for much of his trading.
Below are a few moving average trading strategies — all with one or more backtests. The landing page below the examples contains more than 25 moving average articles:
- Simple moving average (backtest strategy)
- Exponential moving average (backtest strategy)
- 200 Day Moving Average Trading Strategy — (With Backtest And Indicator)
- 20 EMA Trading Strategy — Does It Work? (Rules, Setup, Backtest, Performance)
- 9 EMA Trading Strategy — Does It Work? (Rules, Setup, Performance, Backtest)
- 50 EMA Trading Strategy — Does It Work? (Setup, Rules, Backtest)
- 13/48 Trading Strategy (Risks, Rules And Performance)
Here you can find all our Moving average strategies.
Macro Economy Trading Strategies
Trading strategies that focus on the macro economy consider broad economic variables, including interest rates, inflation, and GDP expansion. Investment funds such as hedge funds and mutual funds frequently use global macro strategies when considering economic and political outlooks of different nations or by adhering to their macroeconomic fundamentals.
There is a reciprocal link between interest rates and the stock market. Typically, when interest rates increase, stock prices tend to decline, whereas they often rise when rates fall.
We believe it’s close to impossible to predict macro and the economy, and they are better used as indicators for the stock market. Below we have backtested some interesting macroeconomy trading strategies:
- How Does The S&P 500 Perform When Interest Rates Are Rising? (Setup, Rules Backtest, Performance)
- Is Copper A Leading Indicator For Stocks? (Copper vs. Stocks Strategy Backtest)
- NFP (Non-Farm Payrolls) Trading Strategy (How To Trade It — Backtest)
- What Happens to Stocks When Inflation Is High? (How Does Inflation Affect Stocks)
- ISM Manufacturing Index PMI — Trading, Investing Strategies (Backtest and Performance)
Here you can find all our Macro Economy Trading Strategies.
Bear market trading strategies
Trading strategies for a bear market are designed to capitalize on declining markets through short selling, deploying inverse ETFs, and choosing stocks with defensive characteristics. Alternatively, you can go long on short-term pullbacks. Perhaps surprising for many, over the last three decades, long have worked well by buying oversold markets in a bear market – given you exit a sudden spike and don’t hold for a long time.
There is no reason to fear a bear market. As a matter of fact, if you’re a short-term trader or a long-term investor you should be happy for a bear market. Why? Long has worked just as well in bear markets as in bull markets. And in a bear market, short strategies suddenly start working.
But what if you’re a long-term investor? If you are a future net buyer of stocks, you’d prefer to buy cheap — not expensive. Capisce?
- The anatomy of a bear market: 2000 -2003 (Nasdaq and the S&P 500)
- How To Make Money In A Bear Market (2 Simple Steps)
- End Of Bear Market Trading Strategy (Python Code)
Here you can find all our Bear market trading strategies.
Gold trading strategies
Make no mistake: gold is a very hard asset class to trade. If you find a good trading strategy, you better put it into incubation before you risk your capital. Most gold trading strategies end up in the graveyard. Why? We can only guess, but we assume the main reason is that gold tends to be heavily influenced by macro and politics.
However, gold has a long-term tailwind of rising prices, just like stocks and bonds. Thus, not all hope is lost:
- Gold weekend trading strategy (GLD swing trading)
- Gold New High Trading Strategy — (Rules, Backtest, Performance, and Setup)
- Gold Overnight Trading Strategy (Night Trading)
- Trend-following system/strategy in gold (12-month moving average)
- Gold silver chart ratio strategy (backtest)
Here you can find all our Gold trading strategies.
Market-neutral trading strategies
Market-neutral strategies strive to deliver steady profits regardless of whether the market goes up or down. Methods like pairs trading, arbitrage, and combining long and short positions aim to achieve this.
On the other hand, systematic global macro funds employ algorithms and fundamental analysis to construct portfolios and carry out trades.
Jim Simons and his Medallion Fund most likely use many market-neutral trading strategies. If so, perhaps it’s worth looking into this type of strategy.
- Long Short Equity Strategy (Backtest And Example)
- A pair trade in SPY and TLT (pairs trading strategies)
- How does pairs trading work? (Pairs trading strategies)
- Market-Neutral Trading Strategies (Rules, Backtest, Returns)
- Merger Arbitrage Trading Strategy (Performance, Backtest, Results)
Here you can find all our Market-neutral trading strategies.
Breakout trading strategies
Oh, the sweet breakout! But watch out, it depends on which asset you are trading. Stock indexes tend to revert to the mean, and so do bonds.
Breakout trading strategies focus on assumed important pricing thresholds and initiating trades following the direction of a breakout. This event is defined by an asset’s price surpassing a resistance level or descending below a support level – often requiring increased volume.
A breakout can take many forms and shapes. For example, it doesn’t need to be a breakout of resistance or support; it can also be a breakout from volatility bands, such as Bollinger Bands. These strategies can lead traders to initiate purchases as prices thrust through the upper band or commence sales when they plummet beneath the lower band, reflecting shifts in market volatility. The essence is that you must backtest the strategy with specific trading rules before you commence trading.
You might have better luck on other asset classes, but breakout trading strategies are not easy to make money on:
- 52-Week High Trading Strategy
- Opening range breakout — what is ORB trading strategy — does it work (Day trading, daily, and weekly)
- London Breakout Trading Strategy
Here you can find all our Breakout trading strategies.
Volatility indicator strategies
Strategies leveraging volatility indicators harness instruments like the Average True Range (ATR) and Bollinger Bands to measure market turbulence and possible ways for developing trading strategies. The ATR provides a glimpse into an asset’s price fluctuations by reviewing its price range over a given lookback period. Bollinger Bands track how close prices are moving towards the higher or lower thresholds, suggesting potential entry and exit points.
When volatility picks up, volatility indicators such as the VIX indicator can be useful. In the links below, we explain a few volatility indicator strategies:
- Are the Bollinger Bands profitable? (Including strategies)
- Average True Range trading strategy (ATR indicator — how to use it)
- Keltner Bands strategies (Keltner Channels strategies)
- What is the VIX and how does it work? (VIX trading strategies)
- WilliamsVixFix explained — does it work? (Including trading strategies)
Here you can find all our volatility trading strategies with an article that looks more at the importance of volatility.
Oscillating indicator strategies
Strategies utilizing oscillator indicators make use of tools such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic Oscillator to detect when markets have reached overbought or oversold states.
The RSI assesses recent gains against losses to determine whether market conditions are excessively bullish or bearish based on mean reversion, meaning a fall signals better than average gains over the coming days.
On the other hand, by comparing a stock’s final trading price with its range over a specified timeframe, the Stochastic Oscillator points out potential entries when a stock moves below an established lower bound (typically 20, but you can backtest and try different values based on the number of days in the lookback period) and potential exit points when it rises above an upper boundary.
Oscillator indicator strategies work like a pendulum for market momentum.
The stock market has been prone to mean reversion since futures trading picked up in the early 1980s. Jim Simons, the man behind the Medallion Fund, presumably said that mean reversion is “low-hanging fruit”. Below you will find the most obvious and used oscillating indicator strategies:
- Which oscillating indicator is the best for trading strategies?
- MACD and RSI Trading Strategy (Rules, Setup, Backtest — 80% Win Rate)
- RSI & ADX Trading Strategies (Backtest, Rules, And Examples)
- Williams %R explained — does it work? (Williams %R strategies)
- MACD Trading Strategy — Indicator Explained (Backtest and Settings)
- RSI Trading Strategies (Backtest, Setup, Rules and Performance) — How The RSI Indicator Works
- The internal bar strength (IBS) indicator
Here you can find all our Oscillating Indicators Trading Strategies.
Price action trading strategies
Trading strategies based on price action use past price movements and chart patterns to analyze potential trading opportunities while not using technical indicators. Candlesticks are typical examples of price action, not to mention the pin bar pattern, which indicates a reversal.
Another strategy example of price action is the inside bar pattern – a trading setup consisting of two bars where the inner bar is contained within the high and low of the previous bar. An inside bar typically happens when markets are consolidating or just before they start “exploding”.
Price action refers to the price of a security, and it’s the foundation of most (if not all) technical analysis (head and shoulders, double bottoms, etc.). Because we like to quantify and backtest, we don’t have a huge list of this type of strategies.
That said, many discretionary traders spend all their time and effort on price action trading strategies.
- OHL Trading Strategy — What Is It? (High, Low, Backtest, Performance)
- Day Trading Price Action Strategy
Here you can find all our Price action trading strategies.
Random indicator trading strategies
Some trading indicators are hard to put in a specific folder. We have gone through more or less all the trading indicators there are, and below you find plenty:
- Which indicator is best for swing trading?
- Divergence Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- Heikin Ashi Trading Strategy (Backtest And Performance)
- Rate of Change Indicator Strategy — What Is It? (ROC strategy and backtest)
- The Chaikin Oscillator — does it work? (Chaikin Trading Strategies)
Here you can find all our technical indicator and trading indicator strategies.
DAX 40, Euro Stoxx50, and Bund trading strategies
DAX-40 and the German Bund are the Kingpins of European trading. The best part is that DAX in the very short-term behaves a bit different than @ES/SPY. This makes them somewhat attractive for short-term traders.
- Why trade the DAX? (How to trade it)
- Seasonal Trading Strategy For DAX 40 And German Stocks (Rules, Setup, Backtest, Performance)
- Why trade the Euro Stoxx 50? (How to trade it)
- The Santa Claus Rally in DAX 40 and Euro Stoxx 50 (End of year rally)
- Trading the futures expiration week in DAX 40 and Euro Stoxx 50
Here you can find all our Eurex Strategies, DAX Strategies, and Stoxx50 strategies.
Short-selling trading strategies
Is it possible to make money short-selling? It is, but it’s very hard. Please have a look at our short strategy bundle, which contains 3 short strategies for three different ETFs. Short is not the opposite of long. Short is a completely different beast. In the stock market, you are fighting the long-term rising trend by going short, and the same applies to both bonds and gold. That said, when a volatile bear market comes, short works.
- Is high short interest good or bad? How is short interest used in trading?
- Short Squeeze Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Example)
- Hard-To-Borrow Stocks Trading Strategy
Here you can find all our Short selling trading strategies.
NIFTY 50 strategies
India has one of the largest stock exchanges in the world with thousands of listed companies. Below we have a few NIFTY 50 trading strategies:
- End of month effect in NIFTY 50 (turn of the month)
- The Santa Claus rally in NIFTY (The end of year rally)
Penny Stock Trading Strategies (OTC)
Penny stocks are the dreams of striking it rich. Unfortunately, you are more likely to end up in the poor house. Penny stocks have, as a group, negative returns! We believe you face better risk and reward by trading “regular” stocks and ETFs.
- Why are pump and dump strategies bad (Why avoid penny stocks)
- Why scalping is a waste of time (do this instead)
- Why are penny stocks bad? (why avoid them)
- Over-The-Counter Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest And Performance)
Here you can find all our Penny Stock Trading Strategies.
Meb Faber Portfolios And Strategies
Meb Faber is a very active money manager in social media. He’s the co-founder of Cambria, and has also published a lot of papers which are very easy to read even for amateurs. Below we present the most known Meb Faber Portfolio and strategies:
- Meb Faber Ivy Portfolio — Does It Work? (Backtest)
- Meb Faber Tactical Asset Allocation Trading Strategy (ETFs, Rules, Backtest, Returns)
- Is Meb Faber’s momentum/trend-following strategy in gold, stocks, and bonds still working?
- The Get Rich Portfolio Strategy — Returns, ETFs, And Risk (Meb Faber)
- The Stay Rich Portfolio — Strategy, Returns, ETFs, Risk (Meb Faber)
Here you can find all our Meb Faber Portfolios And Strategies.
Investment Portfolios And Asset Allocation
Most investors are better off investing more or less passively for the long term. We have covered the most known investment strategies, portfolios, and asset allocations. Below are the most obvious ones. Please press the link below for 20 more investment strategies:
- Ray Dalio’s All Weather Portfolio investment strategy (what is it, returns, performance, backtests)
- The 60/40 Strategy Portfolio (Backtests, Alternatives, And Substitutes)
- Larry Swedroe Portfolio (30/70, Small-cap value) — Backtest
- Warren Buffett ETF Portfolio (90/10) — Performance And Returns
- Bogleheads 3 And 4 Fund Portfolio — Backtest And Performance
- David Swensen Portfolio (Yale Endowment Fund/Model)
Here you can find all our Investment Portfolios And Asset Allocation.
Market timing strategies
Most are unsuccessful market timers due to a number of reasons, one of them being not having a plan. Thus, most investors should not time the market. In this article, we look at some strategies that have historically proved to be successful market timing strategies:
- Market Timing: What Is It And How To Be Successful
- Coppock Curve Strategy — What Is It And How Does It Perform? (Backtest)
- Fabian Timing Model — What Is It? (Performance, Strategy Rules, and Backtest)
- Yale Hirsch’s The Best 6 Months Timing Model (Rules, Backtest, Performance)
- The PENTAD Timing Model Strategy By Nelson Freeburg (Rules, Backtest, Performance)
Here you can find all our Market timing strategies.
Investment strategies
Instead of trading, you might be better off investing — more like buy and hold. You work, save, invest, and “forget about it”. You can spread your capital into broad and diverse ETFs or mutual funds. We have over 30 articles covering investment strategies:
- Peter Lynch Investment Strategy And Portfolio
- 8 Best Vanguard Funds For Retirement (Costs, Returns, Performance)
- 9 Best Vanguard ETFs For Ultimate Diversification (Costs, Returns, Performance)
- 10 Best Vanguard ETFs To Buy And Hold (Costs, Returns, Performance)
- Stock Vs. Bond Investment Strategy: Which Asset To Choose (Returns, Performance, Risk)
Here you can find all our Investment Strategies.
Technical analysis trading strategies and classical chart pattern
Most technical indicators are not working, but some are good. Technical analysis is typically based on price action, and thus hard to quantify. We have gone through and explained more or less all technical indicators there are, and backtested where we managed to make specific trading rules:
- Head and shoulders trading strategy (backtest and example)
- Cup And Handle Pattern (backtest and example)
- Double Bottom Chart Pattern Strategy (How To Trade It — Backtest)
- Double Top Chart Pattern Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
Here you can find all our Technical analysis trading strategies.
Sector trading strategies
The S&P 500 Index is categorized into 11 sectors. Below we have a backtested trading strategy for each sector.
- These Are The Worst Sectors To Invest In (How You Can Benefit From It)
- Real Estate Sector Trading Strategy (Backtests And Examples)
- Energy Sector Trading Strategy (Rules, Backtest, Example)
- Financial Services Sector Trading Strategy (Backtest And Example)
- Technology Sector Trading Strategy (Backtest And Example)
Here you can find all our Sector trading strategies.
Consumer staples trading strategies (XLP)
The stocks that can be labeled consumer staples have proven to offer diversification because they move differently than many of the other stock ETFs, thus providing a hedge.
The ETF with the ticker code XLP is a good trading vehicle. Below are a few examples of strategies:
- XLP trading systems (Is XLP good for trading?)
- Rubber Band Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
Here you can find all our Consumer Staples Trading Strategies.
Utilities trading strategies (XLU)
The utility sector is a different beast. It’s a highly regulated sector and moves a lot less than the overall market. It’s also more influenced by the interest rates.
Here you can find all our Utilities trading strategies.
Factor investing strategies
Factor investing involves targeting specific documented drivers of return across asset classes. Some common factors include value (value has performed better than growth), Quality, Momentum (stocks are those that have been outperforming the market in recent months), Size (small caps have performed better than large caps), and volatility (low volatility stocks have outperformed volatile stocks).
- Piotroski F-Score Strategy — Backtest And Performance
- The Magic Formula Strategy (Greenblatt) Backtest
- Low Volatility Stocks Strategy — Performance, Volatility, And Returns
- S&P 500 Equal-Weight Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest And Example)
- Quality Factor Trading Strategy: What Is It And How Does It Perform?
Buy and hold strategies
A buy and hold strategy involves holding an asset (most likely stocks, bonds, or gold) believe over the long term. These assets have proven to rise over time, and thus maximizing returns by staying invested. A buy and hold investor does not try to time the market.
- The Best Performing Stock Markets In The World Since 1900
- Buy and Hold Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- How does war affect the stock market historically?
- Do stocks outperform Treasury Bills? (Not what you expected)
- Dollar Cost Averaging vs. Lump Sum Strategy Backtest — Sequence Of Return Risk (Luck, Skill, Or Magic?)
- How likely are you to go broke as retired or FIRE? (Sequence risk, diversification, and withdrawal rate)
Here you can find all our Buy and hold strategies.
World markets trading strategies (International)
Even though stock markets might correlate in the short term, over time they move differently. We looked at a few world market trading strategies:
- China Trading Strategy (Backtest — FXI Strategy)
- India Trading Strategy (NIFTY Backtest And Example)
- Trading Brazil (Day Trading, Swing Trading)
- Australian Trading Strategies (Strategy, Backtest, Performance)
- Italian Stock Market Trading Strategy (Setup, Rules, Backtest, Performance)
Here you can find all our World markets trading strategies.
AI, ChatGPT, Bing, and Bard trading strategies
Can you make money by using AI strategies? Not yet, we are skeptical. We have tried, but AI is still lacking. Below we have a few related articles:
- How To backtest A Trading Strategy Using ChatGPT
- How I Made A Bollinger Band Strategy Using ChatGPT (Backtest)
- ChatGPT Trading Strategies
- Robotics and AI Trading Strategies
Forex trading strategies (FX)
Forex is an immensely popular trading asset, and we guess it’s because of the leverage and easy access to open an account. You can even open an account with less than 1,000 USD!
However, forex trading is a zero-sum game where you speculate between the relative values of two currencies. This makes it hard to make money. Stocks and gold have a long-term tailwind from inflation and productivity gains, which you don’t have in forex. Adding further complexity is that forex and currencies are exposed to random geopolitical events – liable to black swans. This makes forex a very difficult asset to trade profitably. Unfortunately, most forex traders get washed out. Forex is very difficult to trade.
- 12 Reasons Why You Should Avoid FOREX
- Is EUR/JPY A Leading Indicator For Stocks?
- London Breakout Strategy
- GBPJPY Trading Strategy
- EURJPY Trading Strategy
- EURUSD Trading Strategy
Here you can find all our Forex trading strategies.
CFD Trading Strategies
CFD trading is very popular among retail traders. One of the reasons is probably easy access and margin requirements. Do you have 100 USD, you are good to go. But unfortunately, most CFD traders get washed out. CFD is very difficult to trade.
Quantitative trading strategies
A quantitative trading strategy is a trading strategy that uses mathematical and statistical analysis to identify and exploit patterns in the market. It’s rule-based, and the trading rules are backtested using dedicated trading software.
Having backtested and had one or many trading strategies in “incubation”, you can trade the strategies automatically, meaning the trading platform does all the work for you.
Automation is power. It gives you leverage to trade many strategies and you can diversify over different assets, time frames, and market directions.
Here you can find all our Quantitative Trading Strategies.
Pivot points trading strategies
Pivot points are calculated using the high, low, and closing prices of the previous trading session, and are mostly used to identify potential support and resistance levels. Does pivot points trading strategies work?
- 6 Pivot Point Trading Strategies — A Backtest | How To Trade With Pivot Points?
- Camarilla Pivot Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
Exit trading strategies (when to sell)
When you sell might be just as important as when you buy, but frequently overlooked. For mean reversion strategies, we like to use the QS exit, an exit signal we have been using in live trading for over 10 years. In the article below, we also show you the potential boost of a trading strategy when the sell/exit variable is changed:
- When To Sell A Stock Or Position (The Backtested QS Exit)
- Sell the Rip Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
Here you can find all our Exit Trading Strategies.
Volume trading strategies
Is volume an important factor in trading? Most likely not, but it might be a valuable input among other variables. Here we have a few volume trading strategies:
- Volume Trading Strategy — Does It Work? (Setup, Rules, Backtest, Returns)
- On-Balance Volume — What Is It? (Backtest And Trading Strategy)
- Money Flow Index Strategy (MFI) — What Is It? (Backtest)
- Value Area Trading Strategy — Does It Work? (Backtest)
Here you can find all our Volume trading strategies.
Oil trading strategies (Crude Oil)
We would like to have plenty of oil trading strategies, but the truth is that oil (and commodities) are very hard to trade. But if you manage to have a few of them, they might offer great diversification to your trading arsenal.
E-mini futures trading strategies
An E-mini trading strategy is a trading strategy that is used to trade E-mini futures contracts.
E-mini futures contracts are electronically traded futures contracts that are a fraction of the value of corresponding standard futures contracts. They started trading at the end of the 1990s.
They are available on a wide range of indexes, commodities, and currencies. There are even some Micro E-Mini contracts, for example for Nasdaq 100 (NQ) and S&P 500 (ES).
- E-mini Trading Strategy (Backtest And Example)
- E-mini S&P 500 Futures Trading Strategy (Backtest, Rules, Example)
- Nasdaq 100 E-mini Trading Strategy (Rules, Backtest, Futures Example)
- E-mini S&P MidCap 400 Trading Strategy (Backtest And Futures Example)
- E-Mini Russell 2000 Trading Strategy (Backtest And Futures Example)
Bitcoin and crypto trading strategies
Buying and selling digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, has become “mainstream”. We suspect there are many more inefficiencies in the crypto market than in the regular markets, like stocks for example. That said, the crypto market is maturing.
Below we present a few crypto trading strategies that are still working decently:
- 20 Cryptocurrency Trading Strategies
- End of month effect in Bitcoin — does it exist? (Turn of the month)
- Trend following and momentum strategies on bitcoin (crypto) — capturing the trend (free bitcoin trading strategies)
- Does RSI work on crypto or Bitcoin trading? Is RSI good for crypto?
- Does market timing work on Bitcoin? (Is it a good idea?)
Here you can find all our Crypto Strategies.
Sentiment trading strategies
Sentiment trading strategies are trading strategies that use market sentiment data to make trading decisions. Market sentiment is the overall attitude of investors towards a particular asset or market. It can be bullish, bearish, or neutral.
Traders can use sentiment data to identify trends and reversals. For example, if the market sentiment towards a particular stock is bullish, it is likely that the price of the stock will go down. On the other hand, if the market sentiment is bearish, it is likely that the price of the stock will go up.
Does it sound counterintuitive? The logic is that excessive optimism leads to exuberance and too high prices. Opposite, excessive pessimism leads to depressed prices and it might turn around when a few turn optimistic. However, it depends on the time frame. As always, backtest to find out what works or not!
- AAII And Market Sentiment Indicators — How To Trade It (Examples And Backtests)
- NAAIM Exposure Index (Backtest Trading Strategy)
- Consumer Confidence And Stock Market Returns (Strategy And Backtest)
- Advance-Decline Indicator (Strategy Backtest)
Here you can find all our Sentiment trading strategies.
Options trading strategies
Options trading is a lot more complicated than “regular” trading. The reason is that options have limited life, and time decay and volatility are important factors in determining the price.
Here you can find all our Options Strategies.
Stock trading strategies
There are different strategies for trading single stocks. Here are some of the common stock strategies.
- Stock Trading Strategies with a backtest
- OHL Trading Strategy
- Opening Range Breakout Strategy
- Expiry Trading Strategies
- President Election Cycles Stocks
- 52-Week High Trading Strategy
- Rubber Band Strategy
- MACD-histogram trading strategy
- Lower highs and lower lows pattern (trading strategy)
- Higher highs and higher lows pattern (trading strategy)
- NR7 trading strategy — The Narrow Range 7
Dow Jones trading strategies
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), also commonly referred to as “the Dow Jones” or simply “the Dow,” is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The index is one of the most widely followed stock market indices in the world, and is often seen as a barometer of the overall US stock market.
Today, the index is not as important as it once was. S&P 500 is a much more important index.
- Dogs Of The Dow — Strategy And Backtest
- Hounds of the Bay Strategy (Rules, Backtest, Returns)
- Dow Theory Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- Dow Jones New All-Time High Trading Strategy (Rules And Backtest)
Here you can find all our Dow Jones trading strategies.
ETF trading strategies
ETFs are baskets of securities that track a particular index or sector. They can be traded on exchanges like stocks, and offer a number of advantages over other types of investments, such as low fees and diversification.
Here are some more strategies using ETFs.
Market Regime Indicators
Market regime indicators are designed to provide insights into when you should buy or sell. Is it really possible to time the market? Below we have a few such indicators. We remind you that all are backtested with specific trading rules:
- Market Timing: What Is It And How To Be Successful
- Coppock Curve Strategy — What Is It And How Does It Perform? (Backtest)
- Fabian Timing Model — What Is It? (Performance, Strategy Rules, and Backtest)
- Yale Hirsch’s The Best 6 Months Timing Model (Rules, Backtest, Performance)
- The PENTAD Timing Model Strategy By Nelson Freeburg (Rules, Backtest, Performance)
Here you can find all our Market Regime Indicators.
TradingView trading strategies (Pine Script)
TradingView is a relatively new trading platform and was founded in 2011. According to Wikipedia it is among the 150 biggest websites in the world and has over 10 million active monthly users. The coding language is called Pine Script.
We have written a few articles where we have shown you both the basics and how you can backtest using Pine Script:
- TradingView Trading Strategies — (Backtests, Systems, Pine Script, and Setups)
- How I Used TradingView To Create And Backtest An RSI Trading Strategy (Step By Step)
- How I Used Tradingview To Create And Backtest A Bollinger Band Trading Strategy
- How To Make A Successful Trading Strategy Using Pine Script on TradingView
Exotic, Diverse & Alternative Trading Strategies
Many trading strategies and indicators are difficult to label. Let’s call them “exotic or alternative”. Below, you see a few examples of them. However, we have many more — please click on the link below thearticles.
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb — Trading Strategies, Philosophy And The Barbell Strategy
- The Kiss of Death Trading Strategy — (Backtest, Setup, Rules and Performance)
- Random Walk Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest And Example)
- Tail risk hedging strategies — what is it? (Tail hedge examples)
- Martingale Trading System (Backtest And Example)
Commodity trading strategies
Commodity trading might offer substantial diversification benefits. However, commodities are very difficult to trade. Below, we have summarized just a few of the commodities we have backtested. Please clink on the link to the landing page (below) to see our full list.
- Seasonal Trading Strategy For Silver (Seasonality Backtest)
- Platinum Futures Strategy (Backtest And Example)
- Corn Trading Strategy (Backtest And Example)
- Cocoa Trading Strategy (Backtest And Futures Example)
- Sugar Futures Strategy (Backtest And Example)
- Heating Oil Futures Trading Strategy (Rules, Setup, Backtest, Returns)
Here you find all our Commodity Trading Strategies.
Micro E-mini Futures Trading Strategies
A Micro E-mini trading strategy is a trading strategy that is used to trade Micro E-mini futures contracts.
A micro E-mini futures contract is a smaller version of a standard E-mini futures contract. It is one-tenth the size of an E-mini contract, which means that it has a smaller contract value and requires less margin to trade.
Micro E-mini futures contracts are available on a variety of underlying assets, including stock market indexes, commodities, and currencies. They are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).
Micro E-mini futures contracts are designed to make futures trading more accessible to a wider range of participants, including retail investors and smaller institutions. The reason is simple: less margin and more retail traders can trade them, thus good for those with small accounts.
- Micro E-mini Nasdaq 100 Trading Strategy (Rules, Backtest, Futures Example)
- Micro E-mini S&P 500 Trading Strategy (Backtest And Futures Example)
Here you can find all our Micro E-Mini Trading Strategies
Derivatives trading strategies
CTA, hedge fund, and Macro trading strategies
- Macro Trading Strategies — What Are They? (Backtest)
- CTA Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- Hedge Fund Trading Strategies (Backtests And Examples)
Python trading strategies
Python is a general-purpose programming language that is used for a wide variety of tasks, including web development, data science, machine learning, backtesting, trading, and artificial intelligence. It is a popular language for beginners because it is relatively easy to learn and has a large community of users and developers. It has gained a lot of traction over the last years and is widely popular among traders.
Python is a high-level language, which means that it is closer to human language than to machine language. This makes it easier to read and write Python code. Python is also an interpreted language, which means that the code is executed line by line as it is read. This makes it easy to debug and test Python code.
- How I Created A Trend Following Trading Strategy Using Python (Backtest And Code)
- How To Make a Momentum Trading Strategy in Python (Rules, Setup, Backtest, Performance)
- Relative Strength Index (RSI) And Moving Average Trading Strategy In Python (Rules, Backtest)
- How To Make An Average True Range (ATR) Trading Strategy In Python- (Backtest, Performance, Setup, and Code)
- Python and MACD Trading Strategy: Backtest, Rules, Code, Setup, Performance
- Python Bollinger Band Trading Strategy: Backtest, Rules, Code, Setup, Performance
Here you can find all our Python trading strategies.
Value Vs. Growth trading strategies
Value and growth stocks are not correlated, depending on the macro element. During economic expansion growth stocks tend to do better and vice versa. However, according to Kenneth French, the famous academic, value stocks have performed better than growth since 1928. We present a rotation strategy that rotates between value and growth:
- Value Vs. Growth Trading Strategy — What Is Best? (Backtest, Returns, Performance)
- Growth Stock Trading Strategy (Backtest And Example)
Different trading strategies
Many trading strategies are hard to put in a certain box. These strategies aere listed below. For a full list, please click on the link to the landing page.
- Scale-In Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- Leveraged ETF Trading Strategy (Backtest, Example, And How To Trade It)
- Ichimoku Trading Strategy (Example And Backtest)
- HHLL Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- 52-week high strategy (backtest)
- Follow Through Day — What Is It? (Trading Strategy, Backtest, Meaning, and Example)
- Gap trading strategies (How to trade gaps with backtested examples)
- Double Down Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- Inside Day Trading Strategy — What Is An Inside Day In Trading? Does It Work? (Backtest)
- CANSLIM — Does It Work? (Backtest And Innovator IBD 50 ETF)
Gann, Fibonacci, and Elliot Wave strategy
- Fibonacci Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- Gann Fan Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- Elliott Wave Trading Strategy — What Is It? (Backtest)
- Market Structure Trading Strategy
Long-term trading strategies
A long-term trading strategy is a trading strategy that involves holding positions for an extended period of time, typically months or years. It’s the strategy that is closest to a buy and hold strategy.
- The Best Performing Stock Markets In The World Since 1900
- Bull Market Signal Strategy — How To Predict A Bull Market (Backtest)
- How does war affect the stock market historically?
- Do stocks outperform Treasury Bills? (Not what you expected)
- Lump Sum Investment Strategy (Buy & Hold, Example, Performance, Returns)
- How likely are you to go broke as retired or FIRE? (Sequence risk, diversification, and withdrawal rate)
Here you can find all our long term trading strategies.
Single stock strategy
- Option Trading in AMZN: 20 Things You Should Know
- Stock Trading in AAPL: 27 Things Every Trader Need To Know
- Option Trading In AAPL: 25 Things You Should Know
- Option Trading in NVDA: 20 Things You Should Know
- Options Trading in META: 20 Things You Should Know
- Option Trading in IWM: 21 Things You Should Know
- Options Trading in TQQQ: 19 Things You Should Know
- Option Trading in EEM: 20 Things You Should Know
- Option Trading in TSLA: 20 Things You Should Know
Conclusion: Some last advice before you embark on your trading career
Youtube Trading Strategies
Check out our YouTube Channel with hundreds of videos about trading and investment strategies.
Our Best Trading Strategies
Buy 20 Trading Strategies + Many Extra
Buy Single strategies (From Strategy Database)
Buy Multiple Strategies in Bundles
Futures trading strategies
What are the Best Trading Strategies and Investment Strategies
The Best Trading Strategies and Investment Strategies are answered below. If you have clicked on one or several in the list or library of the profitable free trading strategies above, you might wonder what is the best way to approach trading. We have tried to answer that in many other articles, but below we give a very brief explanation of what should be your main considerations before you start trading:
What is a Library of Trading Strategies?
If you like our library of trading strategies on this page, you might be interested in our monthly subscription service where we provide our best strategies. We save our best trading and investment strategies for our paying subscribers. We publish a new “edge”/strategy each month — a 100% quantifiable trading idea that includes buy and sell signals in “plain” English (plus code for Amibroker and Tradestation/Easy language). Please also have a peek inside our Trading Academy.
Are you a trader or an investor?
First, you need to understand what kind of trader or investor you are thoroughly. It might seem obvious, but many derail already before they start.
Sit down and think about what your aims and goals are. Are you a trader or an investor? Looking for trading and investment strategies or investment strategies? Do you think you have the mindset and capabilities to deal with frequent profits and losses?
The alternative to trading is to invest in stocks and mutual funds for the long-term:
What is position trading/buy and hold?
By position trading we mean holding positions for a long time, close to or equal to “buy and hold”.
Should you trade at all? Trading is scalable, ie. you can make a lot of money in a relatively short period of time, but the fail ratio is much higher compared to buy and hold.
If you invest passively in a mutual fund, you participate in the earnings and productivity growth in society, and you are most likely well protected against inflation.
We recommend spending some time pondering where you should put your money.
What is a trading strategy?
A trading strategy needs at least four elements:
- It needs to have defined/quantified buy/short criteria. That is, you need to know exactly when to buy. “Buy when touching resistance” is not a criterion — it’s vague and unclear. You should not use anecdotal evidence in your decision-making!
- How do you execute the buy/short order if you get a buy signal? Do you put in a limit order or do you buy at the market? In the trading and investment strategies above, we mainly use at the close orders. We only know the close price in hindsight. However, we start sending orders ten seconds before the close, and that works really well and gets very close to the results in our backtests.
- If you are in a position, you need to know when to sell/cover. Just like the buy criterion, this needs to be quantified to avoid second-guessing.
- The sell/short order should be executed at prices that are realistic compared to your backtests. Slippage and commissions are a big cost for a trader, and you need to minimize costs and make it as similar as possible to the backtest. We have been using at the close orders for years, just like when we buy and enter positions, and it works well for us.
What types of trading strategies are there? Successful Traders Strategies
Is there a most successful trading strategy? Unfortunately not. You need to make many uncorrelated strategies and work hard:
If you start trading and are a beginner, you need to make plans and systems, and you need a trading or investment strategy. This takes time, but hopefully, this is time well spent and at the same time enjoyable.
If you don’t have a particular interest in trading, you should invest for the long term and forget about trading. A great interest in trading is a prerequisite for success! Beginners often start with the goal of striking it rich, but this is a bad starting point.
Furthermore, your approach should be agnostic. First off, what kind of instruments and asset classes should you trade? Don’t limit yourself by focusing on a certain time frame or asset class.
There are many types of trading systems to choose from, but we can argue that they fall into two main groups: day trading and swing trading.
What are Day trading strategies?
Day trading strategies have the shortest time frame. Many day traders do scalping, but we are a bit cautious with scalping. If you want to day trade it’s crucial that you know what you’re doing.
Unfortunately, many want to be day traders in the hope they can make money faster. The reality is that most of them get poor pretty fast. It’s a fast way of departing your money if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Another downside with day trading is that you don’t benefit from the long-term tailwind in the stock market, as you do in swing trading:
What are Swing strategies (end-of-day trading)?
Swing strategies and end-of-day trading are where we enter at the close (but sometimes exit at the open). This is the same as swing trading.
Many argue they will day trade to avoid the overnight “risk” in the stock market. But the long-term trend suggests that you get well awarded for taking this “risk”: all the gains since 1993 have come from the close until the next day’s open (the overnight trading edge). There has been no money to be made intraday from the open to the close.
The overnight “risk” is a nice tailwind you can exploit!
The tailwind is particularly strong in stocks, and to some extent in gold. In most other asset classes, you don’t have this edge.
What are Investment strategies — Buy & Hold?
Investment strategies, such as Buy & Hold, involve investing long term and “forgetting about it”. A typical investment strategy can be the boring (but very good) Buy & Hold. This is probably the best option for the great majority of investors.
What are some other strategies and edges?
Some other strategies and edges are, for example, the ones among prop traders long/short and pairs trading are popular. These are market-neutral trading strategies because you hold an equal amount of capital both long and short that should cancel each other out in case of adverse movements.
The idea behind pairs trading strategies is to trade on the value of the spread. For example, this could be shorting the strongest and buying the weakest on the assumption they will converge.
What is the downside of trading?
The downside of trading is that it is quite a lot of risk and it is very time-consuming. If you buy a basket of mutual funds there is no much you need to do. Just buy the funds and forget about it. Get on with your life and save regularly and don’t interfere in your dollar-cost averaging. If history is any guide, you will be well rewarded as long as you are patient and let the capital compound.
With trading, you need to do a lot of work and research. It requires time to develop strategies, and when you are done developing you need to do the actual trading. It’s essential you like this process and find it enjoyable. If not, you will not make it as a trader.
However, if you use automated trading software you can “outsource” the trading to your computer. This gives you leverage to trade an “unlimited” number of strategies.
The best time frame for trading?
One of the most important things in trading is to have a portfolio of diversified strategies that correlate as little as possible. One way to do this is to trade several different time frames.
We believe we have given you a pretty wide variety in time frames in the systems and strategies we have presented above: from day trading to long-term position trading in the S&P 500.
However, most of the strategies are swing trades. Scalping and day trading is very difficult and only a few traders manage being profitable year in and year out. The longer the time frame, the more you utilize the long-term tailwind mentioned above (at least in the stock markets).
What are systematic trading strategies?
Systematic investing is a quantitative strategy for investing in financial markets that involves investing in portfolios with stocks or bonds, with the goal of long-term objectives through strategic asset allocation.
Which market is best for trading?
Because of inflation and earnings growth, a diversified basket of stocks, like, for example, owning the S&P 500, has proven to beat inflation in the long run. Just by owning stocks overnight, you manage a 0.04% return from the close until the next day’s open. We would say that the best place to start is by trading stocks. Stock trading has a long history and you can use the mentioned tailwind. Our experience indicates that the top and most successful traders operate in the stock market.
This is an edge, let’s call it tailwind, that you basically only get in the stock market. Very few other asset classes offer the same tailwind, perhaps gold being an exception.
Thus, we believe you stand better chances in stocks and stock indexes. We are no fans FOREX, for example, because of this. We are also careful with dipping our toes into crypto, mainly because of the short history. Likewise, options and many derivatives are hard to make money in as well.
Moreover, our research stock strategies are less prone to “blow off”, like for example happens frequently in the commodities markets. Likewise, the forex markets are very difficult to trade. If you manage to find commodity and forex trading strategies that last year in and year out — congratulations!
We recommend starting with stocks. Not only do you have a tailwind, but you can also choose among thousand of stocks in different sectors. Many of those have little competition from other traders. Compare this to forex trading strategies where you are competing against millions of traders just in the USD/EUR spread!
What are you looking for in a Swing trading strategy?
In Swing trading strategies you should look for consistent profits, more like an income, but that is very tough to achieve. Some kind of lump-sum and erratic profits are inevitable. Most likely just a few days per month will generate most of the profits. The rest of the time you are scraping by and looking to avoid losses and disasters.
Trading is much like a slow grind where you have to show up day in and day out for years with some occasional big wins.
That said, you want a steady rising equity curve from the left to the right. You want a profit factor that is somewhere between 1.75 and 3. Likewise, you can have a look at the Sharpe Ratio of your trading strategy as well. Below is a an example of a trading strategy with a low profit factor:
Opposite, below is an example of a potentially good trading strategy with a high profit factor:
Because of the behavioral mistakes you are most likely to commit, most traders should make strategies that give the smoothest returns you can get. However, be aware of curve fitting!
We provide you with a last chart that shows you examples of drawdowns:
However, because of little or negative correlation between strategies, you might not be looking for the specific best trading strategies. Investment strategies can still be useful if they independently are not the best, but they complement each other.
Why do trading strategies stop working?
The main reasons why trading strategies stop working are:
- Curve fitting: This occurs when you adjust the parameters of your strategy to fit the historical data, but the strategy does not work as well in live trading.
- Behavioral mistakes: Traders often make emotional decisions that can lead to poor trading performance. For example, they may hold onto losing positions too long or cut winning positions too short.
- Survivorship bias: This occurs when you only study the strategies that have been successful in the past, and ignore the strategies that have failed. This can lead to an inflated view of the effectiveness of trading strategies.
- Trading costs: Trading costs, such as commissions and slippage, can erode the profits of even the best trading strategies.
- News and information: Traders who make trading decisions based on news and information are often at a disadvantage, as this information is often already reflected in the prices of the securities they are trading.
- Improper money management: Using too much leverage or not having a proper risk management plan can lead to large losses, even if your trading strategy is sound.
What are trading strategies in forex?
Forex trading involves buying and selling different currencies to profit from market fluctuations. It is a technique used to decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair at a certain time. Forex trading strategies can be both based on technical analysis, and fundamental or news-based events.
How can you reduce the risk of trading strategies stop working?
- Backtesting your strategies on a variety of data sets.
- Use a trading journal to track your trades and identify any patterns.
- Developing a trading plan and sticking to it.
- Using a variety of trading strategies.
- Managing your risk carefully.
What are the best trading strategies?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to what are the best trading strategies question, as the best trading strategy for you will depend on your individual risk tolerance, trading style, and market knowledge. However, some of the most popular and successful trading strategies include:
- Trend following: This strategy involves identifying and trading in the direction of a prevailing trend. Trend followers typically use technical analysis to identify key support and resistance levels, as well as moving averages and other indicators to confirm the trend.
- Range trading: This strategy involves trading within a defined price range. Range traders typically use technical analysis to identify support and resistance levels, as well as other indicators to identify potential entry and exit points.
- Momentum trading: This strategy involves trading based on the momentum of a security. Momentum traders typically use technical indicators such as relative strength index (RSI) and moving averages to identify stocks that are trending.
- Breakout trading: This strategy involves trading after a security breaks out of a key support or resistance level. Breakout traders typically use technical indicators such as Bollinger bands to identify potential breakout opportunities.
If you are interested in learning more about these strategies, I recommend checking out the website QuantifiedStrategies.com. They have a wealth of information on a variety of trading strategies, as well as backtesting tools that you can use to test different strategies on historical data.
What are algorithmic trading strategies?
Algorithmic trading involves the use of algorithms to execute trades with precision and speed. Algo trading strategies are automated methods that use computer programs to make decisions about buying or selling assets in financial markets, aiming to generate profits by leveraging data and mathematical models.
Where to buy trading strategies?
You can buy trading strategies from online marketplaces such as brokers, trading education providers, freelance developers, or trading forums and communities. Be very careful with this and do your research before purchasing to ensure legitimacy and effectiveness.
Where to backtest trading strategies?
You can backtest trading strategies using trading software or trading platforms like Tradestation, Amibroker, MetaTrader, TradingView, NinjaTrader, or Python.
Where to learn trading strategies?
QuantifiedStrategies.com is a great resource for learning about trading strategies. They offer a variety of resources, including articles, videos, and a free trading strategy guide. You can also purchase their premium content, which includes more in-depth analysis and strategies.
Here are some specific resources from Quantified Strategies that you may find helpful:
- 100 Trading Strategies 2024 (Free) — Guide with Backtest And Rules: This guide provides you with 100 different trading strategies, each with backtested results and trading rules.
- Bitcoin Intraday Seasonality Trading Strategy (Backtest, Performance, Results, Video): This article and video discuss a specific trading strategy that focuses on Bitcoin’s intraday seasonality.
- The Best Days to Trade Stocks: This article examines the historical performance of stocks on different days of the week and holidays.
- Start Of The Year Rally? ( Stocks, Bonds, And Gold): This article explores the phenomenon of the January Barometer and whether it can be used to predict market trends for the year.
Trade small size — be careful
Trading requires experience — lots of it. In order to survive, always make sure you are trading smaller position sizes than you would like.
Likewise, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Spread your time frames, asset classes, and strategies are a good guide.
Why trade small position sizes in trading strategies?
You want to trade small because you want to make sure you can survive adverse movements against your position. Sooner or later you’ll experience days where all or most of your positions go against you.
Put aside money for a rainy day
Likewise, don’t put all your money in your trading account. We recommend setting aside money for long-term appreciation, preferably in mutual funds. Don’t try to be smart, make your investments simple.
Be careful with leverage:
It’s easy to get fooled by a backtest — it all looks so simple and easy in hindsight. Because of this, many use too much leverage by being greedy.
Leverage can put you out of business. Make sure you always think about how much you can lose, not what you can make. A 50% drop requires a 100% rise to get back to break-even.
Make sure you have a trading plan
This website is all about quantified trading strategies and trading systems. We believe as a guide that 100% quantified rules are what fits most traders.
The reason for this is simple: Although nothing is certain about the future, you at least have an opinion if your trading strategy performed well in the past. Additionally, it makes you disciplined and less prone to knee-jerk trades out of the blue.
Besides, by automating all your trading you theoretically can trade an almost unlimited amount of trading systems. You focus on developing strategies, and you let the computer do the rest.
Where to find trading strategies
Quantified Strategies is a website that offers free trading strategies. They have a wide variety of strategies to choose from, and they also provide backtesting data so you can see how well each strategy has performed in the past.
Avoid obvious mistakes
Profits tend to take care of themselves as long as you avoid the biggest blunders. In tennis, this is called unforced errors. In professional tennis, most of the matches are won by the player who makes the least amount of unforced errors!
How many trading strategies are there?
There is no definitive answer to the exact number of trading strategies that exist. The world of trading is vast and diverse, and new strategies are continually being developed and refined by traders and investors. As a start you can find over 200 trading strategies on this page and thousands on the site altogether.
Make sure you understand yourself
It might sound like a cliche, but you need to understand yourself and the potential behavior mistakes you are prone to make. Even very profitable strategies won’t make you money if you buy and sell at the wrong time.
What are option trading strategies?
Option trading strategies are a set of rules or guidelines that an investor follows to manage the risks and rewards associated with buying or selling options. Options are financial contracts that give the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a certain price by a certain time.
Conclusion
This page which contains some of our best trading strategies and trading systems might give you input on how to start trading. Trading is not easy, and certainly much more demanding than long-term investing.
While trading offers scalability and huge profit potential, consider the time spent and the risk of ruin in trading. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you might lose your capital quickly.
Disclaimer: We are not financial advisors. Please do your own due diligence and investment research or consult a financial professional. All articles are our opinions — they are not suggestions to buy or sell any securities.
Trading Strategy Glossary And Terms
There are many other terms and expressions related to Trading Strategies. We have summarized them and explained them in this trading strategy glossary:
- Arbitrage: A strategy that involves taking advantage of price differences for the same asset on different markets.
- Trend Following: A strategy where traders aim to profit from the continuation of existing price trends.
- Swing Trading: A strategy that seeks to capture short to medium-term price swings or fluctuations in the market.
- Scalping: A short-term strategy where traders make quick, small profits by executing many trades throughout the day.
- Day Trading: Buying and selling financial instruments within the same trading day, typically closing all positions before the market closes.
- Position Trading: A long-term trading strategy where traders hold positions for extended periods, often based on fundamental analysis.
- Technical Analysis: The study of historical price charts and patterns to make trading decisions.
- Fundamental Analysis: Evaluating a security’s intrinsic value based on financial and economic data.
- Volatility Trading: A strategy that focuses on profiting from price fluctuations, often through options or derivatives.
- Pairs Trading: Simultaneously buying and selling two related assets to profit from their relative price movements.
- Mean Reversion: A strategy based on the belief that prices tend to revert to their historical average over time.
- Market Making: A strategy where traders provide liquidity by simultaneously quoting both buy and sell prices for an asset.
- Statistical Arbitrage: Using statistical models to identify and exploit short-term price discrepancies between related assets.
- High-Frequency Trading (HFT): Trading strategy that involves executing a large number of orders at extremely high speeds.
- Algorithmic Trading: The use of computer programs to automate trading strategies and execution.
- Pattern Recognition: Identifying recurring chart patterns like triangles, head and shoulders, or flags to make trading decisions.
- Risk Management: Techniques and strategies employed to limit potential losses while trading.
- Leverage: Using borrowed capital to increase the potential return on investment (ROI).
- Stop-Loss Order: An order placed to automatically sell a position if it reaches a certain price level, limiting potential losses.
- Take-Profit Order: An order placed to automatically sell a position once it reaches a predetermined profit level.
- Moving Average (MA): A widely used technical indicator that smooths out price data over a specified period to identify trends.
- Relative Strength Index (RSI): A momentum oscillator that measures the speed and change of price movements.
- Bollinger Bands: A volatility indicator consisting of a middle band and two outer bands to identify price volatility.
- MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence): A trend-following momentum indicator used to identify potential buy and sell signals.
- Fibonacci Retracement: A technical analysis tool used to identify potential support and resistance levels based on Fibonacci ratios.
- Stochastic Oscillator: A momentum indicator that compares a security’s closing price to its price range over a specific time period.
- Candlestick Patterns: Price chart patterns that provide insights into potential price reversals or continuations.
- Head and Shoulders Pattern: A reversal pattern that signals a potential change in the direction of an asset’s price movement.
- Investment Strategies: A set of techniques and approaches used to make informed investment decisions.
- Trading Tactics: Specific actions and methods employed in the execution of trading strategies.
- Portfolio Management Techniques: Strategies for optimizing the composition and performance of an investment portfolio.
- Market Analysis Approaches: Various methods of analyzing financial markets to identify trading opportunities.
- Stock Trading Methodologies: Systematic approaches to buying and selling individual stocks.
- Financial Trading Strategies: Strategies designed for trading various financial instruments like stocks, bonds, or commodities.
- Asset Allocation Methods: Methods for distributing investments across different asset classes to achieve desired risk and return profiles.
- Risk Management Strategies: Techniques to minimize potential losses and protect capital while trading.
- Investment Tactics: Specific actions and decisions made within an overall investment strategy.
- Trading Plans: Detailed outlines of a trader’s intended actions and goals in the financial markets.
- Trading Techniques: Specialized methods used to execute trades efficiently and profitably.
- Market Timing Strategies: Approaches for determining the most opportune moments to enter or exit the market.
- Trading Systems: Automated or mechanical setups that execute trades based on predefined rules.
- Position Sizing Methods: Strategies for determining the appropriate size of each trade relative to one’s overall portfolio.
- Algorithmic Trading Approaches: Strategies that rely on computer algorithms to execute high-frequency trades based on predefined criteria.
- Support and Resistance: Price levels where an asset often encounters buying or selling pressure.
- Risk-Reward Ratio: The ratio of potential profit to potential loss in a trade.
- Market Sentiment: The collective attitude and opinions of market participants toward a particular asset or market.
- Order Flow: The real-time buying and selling activity in a market, often analyzed for trading signals.
- Pivot Point: A technical indicator used to identify potential support and resistance levels.
- VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price): A trading indicator that calculates the average price of an asset based on its trading volume.
- Dark Pools: Private trading venues where large institutional investors execute trades away from public exchanges.
- Short Selling: A strategy where traders borrow and sell an asset with the expectation of buying it back at a lower price.
- Circuit Breaker: A mechanism that temporarily halts trading to prevent extreme price volatility.
- Hedging: A risk management strategy that involves taking a position to offset potential losses in another position.
- Gap Trading: Trading strategy that exploits price gaps between the closing and opening prices.
- Market Order: An order to buy or sell a security at the current market price.
- Limit Order: An order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better.
- Execution Risk: The risk that a trade may not be executed at the desired price or at all.
- Slippage: The difference between the expected price of a trade and the actual executed price.
- Volatility Index (VIX): A measure of market volatility often referred to as the “fear gauge.”
- Black-Scholes Model: A mathematical model used to calculate the theoretical price of options.
- Liquidity: The ease with which an asset can be bought or sold without causing significant price movement.
- Margin Call: A demand by a broker for additional funds to cover potential losses in a trading account.
- Risk-on/Risk-off: Market sentiment that alternates between a preference for riskier or safer assets.
- Backtesting: Testing a trading strategy using historical data to evaluate its potential performance.
- Monte Carlo Simulation: A statistical technique used to model the range of possible outcomes for a trading strategy.
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