The best indicator for Starbucks (SBUX)
We backtested 20 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real Starbucks (SBUX) 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 Starbucks (SBUX) over ~33.9 years — trailing buy-and-hold by 7.9% 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 | 11.3% | 0.53 | -51.6% | 43.8% | 73 | -7.9% |
| 2 | WaveTrend (8/6/4) ✓ | Daily | 9.7% | 0.49 | -70.1% | 71.8% | 117 | -9.5% |
| 3 | RSI Trend (>50) | Weekly | 9.3% | 0.47 | -55.0% | 40.0% | 95 | -9.8% |
| 4 | Donchian Midline ✓ | Weekly | 9.1% | 0.47 | -57.8% | 43.2% | 95 | -10.0% |
| 5 | EMA 20/50 Cross | Weekly | 9.5% | 0.46 | -59.7% | 50.0% | 16 | -9.5% |
| 6 | Williams %R ✓ | Daily | 8.1% | 0.44 | -66.1% | 65.0% | 223 | -11.1% |
| 7 | SMA 50/200 Cross ✓ | Daily | 8.6% | 0.43 | -65.2% | 62.5% | 24 | -10.6% |
| 8 | Stochastic ✓ | Daily | 7.2% | 0.42 | -62.4% | 62.4% | 157 | -12.0% |
| 9 | EMA 50/200 Cross | Daily | 8.0% | 0.41 | -61.0% | 44.0% | 25 | -11.2% |
| 10 | WaveTrend (8/6/4) ✓ | Weekly | 7.2% | 0.41 | -75.7% | 88.0% | 25 | -11.9% |
| 11 | EMA-10 Trend ✓ | Weekly | 7.4% | 0.41 | -62.6% | 48.0% | 152 | -11.7% |
| 12 | Bollinger Mean-Reversion ✓ | Weekly | 5.6% | 0.4 | -43.7% | 76.0% | 25 | -13.5% |
| 13 | Donchian Breakout | Weekly | 6.5% | 0.39 | -59.3% | 41.4% | 29 | -12.6% |
| 14 | Williams %R ✓ | Weekly | 6.5% | 0.39 | -75.3% | 87.5% | 40 | -12.6% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For Starbucks (SBUX), EMA 20/50 Cross 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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