The best indicator for Intuitive Surgical (ISRG)
We backtested 20 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) history. Here's what actually worked — risk-adjusted, out-of-sample, with costs.
Money Flow Index
On the daily chart, this is the strongest risk-adjusted edge we found for Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) over ~25.9 years — trailing buy-and-hold by 8.5% 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 | Money Flow Index ✓ | Daily | 14.4% | 0.61 | -62.6% | 82.8% | 29 | -8.5% |
| 2 | Donchian Breakout ✓ | Weekly | 13.9% | 0.6 | -62.9% | 47.6% | 21 | -8.8% |
| 3 | SMA 50/200 Cross ✓ | Daily | 14.4% | 0.57 | -62.0% | 44.0% | 25 | -8.5% |
| 4 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Daily | 14.4% | 0.57 | -59.7% | 38.5% | 52 | -8.5% |
| 5 | ADX / DMI ✓ | Weekly | 14.4% | 0.56 | -76.2% | 54.5% | 33 | -8.3% |
| 6 | EMA-10 Trend ✓ | Weekly | 14.1% | 0.56 | -62.9% | 39.6% | 111 | -8.7% |
| 7 | Donchian Midline ✓ | Weekly | 13.9% | 0.56 | -67.2% | 41.2% | 68 | -8.8% |
| 8 | RSI Trend (>50) ✓ | Weekly | 14.3% | 0.55 | -68.1% | 38.1% | 63 | -8.4% |
| 9 | RSI Trend (>50) ✓ | Daily | 12.3% | 0.51 | -75.1% | 45.0% | 340 | -10.6% |
| 10 | Rate of Change ✓ | Daily | 12.3% | 0.51 | -70.0% | 43.2% | 431 | -10.6% |
| 11 | EMA 50/200 Cross ✓ | Daily | 11.5% | 0.49 | -75.9% | 44.4% | 18 | -11.4% |
| 12 | Heikin-Ashi Trend ✓ | Weekly | 11.6% | 0.49 | -61.8% | 47.9% | 238 | -11.1% |
| 13 | MACD ✓ | Weekly | 10.6% | 0.48 | -76.1% | 47.3% | 55 | -12.2% |
| 14 | Bollinger Breakout ✓ | Weekly | 9.3% | 0.48 | -62.9% | 58.3% | 24 | -13.4% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Money Flow Index on the daily timeframe gave the best balance of return and risk in our test. It still trailed buy-and-hold on raw return — 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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