The best indicator for McDonald's (MCD)
We backtested 20 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real McDonald's (MCD) 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 McDonald's (MCD) over ~59.8 years — trailing buy-and-hold by 5.5% 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 | 8.5% | 0.58 | -58.1% | 83.1% | 65 | -5.5% |
| 2 | WaveTrend (8/6/4) ✓ | Weekly | 7.9% | 0.53 | -53.8% | 88.2% | 51 | -6.0% |
| 3 | EMA 50/200 Cross ✓ | Daily | 8.9% | 0.5 | -79.1% | 61.8% | 34 | -5.1% |
| 4 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Weekly | 8.8% | 0.5 | -76.2% | 57.1% | 21 | -5.0% |
| 5 | ADX / DMI ✓ | Weekly | 6.8% | 0.48 | -52.4% | 58.0% | 81 | -7.1% |
| 6 | Donchian Midline ✓ | Weekly | 7.9% | 0.48 | -79.7% | 46.4% | 166 | -5.9% |
| 7 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Daily | 7.9% | 0.47 | -78.4% | 39.0% | 141 | -6.0% |
| 8 | RSI Trend (>50) ✓ | Weekly | 7.8% | 0.47 | -84.4% | 43.1% | 174 | -6.1% |
| 9 | Rate of Change ✓ | Weekly | 8.0% | 0.47 | -76.5% | 53.8% | 182 | -5.9% |
| 10 | MACD ✓ | Weekly | 7.4% | 0.46 | -73.7% | 50.8% | 132 | -6.5% |
| 11 | Bollinger Breakout ✓ | Weekly | 6.3% | 0.45 | -56.4% | 52.2% | 69 | -7.6% |
| 12 | EMA-10 Trend ✓ | Weekly | 7.4% | 0.45 | -79.4% | 48.3% | 286 | -6.4% |
| 13 | CCI ✓ | Weekly | 5.4% | 0.44 | -53.2% | 87.9% | 58 | -8.4% |
| 14 | Rate of Change ✓ | Daily | 6.1% | 0.41 | -60.1% | 42.0% | 950 | -7.9% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For McDonald's (MCD), 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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