The best indicator for South Korea (EWY)
We backtested 20 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real South Korea (EWY) history. Here's what actually worked — risk-adjusted, out-of-sample, with costs.
EMA 20/50 Cross
On the daily chart, this is the strongest risk-adjusted edge we found for South Korea (EWY) over ~26.0 years — beating buy-and-hold by 1.4% CAGR.
The winner on each chart
Every indicator, ranked
Ranked by Sharpe (risk-adjusted return). Hypothetical, fees included.
| # | Indicator | TF | CAGR | Sharpe | Max DD | Win | Trades | vs B&H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Daily | 11.5% | 0.62 | -42.5% | 38.2% | 55 | 1.4% |
| 2 | Donchian Breakout ✓ | Weekly | 10.6% | 0.62 | -33.0% | 55.0% | 20 | 0.5% |
| 3 | RSI Trend (>50) ✓ | Weekly | 9.1% | 0.53 | -48.2% | 50.0% | 70 | -1.0% |
| 4 | Bollinger Breakout ✓ | Weekly | 7.7% | 0.53 | -30.8% | 45.8% | 24 | -2.4% |
| 5 | Donchian Midline ✓ | Weekly | 9.1% | 0.53 | -39.0% | 46.5% | 71 | -1.0% |
| 6 | SMA 50/200 Cross ✓ | Daily | 9.3% | 0.52 | -52.3% | 55.6% | 18 | -0.8% |
| 7 | EMA 50/200 Cross ✓ | Daily | 8.9% | 0.51 | -54.5% | 41.2% | 17 | -1.3% |
| 8 | MACD ✓ | Weekly | 8.0% | 0.47 | -43.0% | 46.3% | 54 | -2.1% |
| 9 | Rate of Change ✓ | Weekly | 7.3% | 0.45 | -48.6% | 41.3% | 75 | -2.7% |
| 10 | ADX / DMI ✓ | Weekly | 5.5% | 0.42 | -37.9% | 55.9% | 34 | -4.6% |
| 11 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Weekly | 6.6% | 0.41 | -50.8% | 53.8% | 13 | -3.5% |
| 12 | Stochastic ✓ | Daily | 4.7% | 0.32 | -62.8% | 69.9% | 146 | -5.5% |
| 13 | EMA-10 Trend ✓ | Weekly | 4.6% | 0.32 | -52.6% | 53.4% | 133 | -5.5% |
| 14 | Williams %R ✓ | Daily | 3.9% | 0.28 | -67.2% | 70.9% | 196 | -6.2% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For South Korea (EWY), EMA 20/50 Cross on the daily timeframe gave the best balance of return and risk in our test. It beat buy-and-hold — but remember: this is a hypothetical backtest of a standard rule, not a recommendation. Markets change. See the methodology and disclaimer.
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