The best indicator for Quality (QUAL)
We backtested 20 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real Quality (QUAL) history. Here's what actually worked — risk-adjusted, out-of-sample, with costs.
Rate of Change
On the weekly chart, this is the strongest risk-adjusted edge we found for Quality (QUAL) over ~12.9 years — trailing buy-and-hold by 5.1% 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 | Rate of Change ✓ | Weekly | 8.4% | 0.78 | -16.6% | 58.8% | 34 | -5.1% |
| 2 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Daily | 8.4% | 0.76 | -20.0% | 68.2% | 22 | -5.1% |
| 3 | RSI Trend (>50) ✓ | Weekly | 8.4% | 0.74 | -19.0% | 62.5% | 24 | -5.1% |
| 4 | Donchian Midline ✓ | Weekly | 8.7% | 0.74 | -24.0% | 59.3% | 27 | -4.8% |
| 5 | Donchian Breakout ✓ | Daily | 5.5% | 0.65 | -11.7% | 55.7% | 61 | -8.0% |
| 6 | Money Flow Index ✓ | Daily | 5.9% | 0.64 | -20.9% | 89.5% | 19 | -7.6% |
| 7 | Donchian Midline ✓ | Daily | 6.3% | 0.62 | -27.2% | 42.8% | 159 | -7.2% |
| 8 | MACD ✓ | Daily | 5.5% | 0.58 | -21.2% | 50.7% | 140 | -8.0% |
| 9 | Rate of Change ✓ | Daily | 5.5% | 0.58 | -28.0% | 50.8% | 183 | -8.0% |
| 10 | Holy Grail Confluence ✓ | Daily | 5.8% | 0.54 | -28.6% | 83.3% | 18 | -7.7% |
| 11 | Donchian Breakout ✓ | Weekly | 6.5% | 0.63 | -20.5% | 75.0% | 12 | -7.0% |
| 12 | RSI Trend (>50) ✓ | Daily | 4.5% | 0.48 | -24.0% | 43.5% | 161 | -9.0% |
| 13 | WaveTrend (8/6/4) ✓ | Daily | 5.0% | 0.45 | -30.9% | 77.3% | 44 | -8.5% |
| 14 | EMA-10 Trend ✓ | Weekly | 3.8% | 0.4 | -29.0% | 61.7% | 60 | -9.7% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For Quality (QUAL), Rate of Change on the weekly 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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