The best indicator for Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW)
We backtested 20 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) history. Here's what actually worked — risk-adjusted, out-of-sample, with costs.
EMA 20/50 Cross
On the weekly chart, this is the strongest risk-adjusted edge we found for Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) over ~38.8 years — trailing buy-and-hold by 2.5% 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 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Weekly | 13.8% | 0.55 | -56.6% | 60.0% | 15 | -2.5% |
| 2 | ADX / DMI ✓ | Daily | 9.8% | 0.51 | -59.4% | 42.4% | 236 | -6.7% |
| 3 | MACD ✓ | Weekly | 10.7% | 0.49 | -67.5% | 53.3% | 75 | -5.6% |
| 4 | Bollinger Breakout ✓ | Daily | 8.5% | 0.48 | -65.4% | 49.1% | 173 | -8.0% |
| 5 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Daily | 10.3% | 0.47 | -75.0% | 41.6% | 89 | -6.2% |
| 6 | RSI Trend (>50) ✓ | Weekly | 10.1% | 0.47 | -72.8% | 42.7% | 110 | -6.2% |
| 7 | EMA 50/200 Cross ✓ | Daily | 10.1% | 0.46 | -72.5% | 39.3% | 28 | -6.4% |
| 8 | EMA-10 Trend ✓ | Weekly | 10.0% | 0.46 | -67.7% | 53.3% | 182 | -6.3% |
| 9 | WaveTrend (8/6/4) ✓ | Weekly | 8.6% | 0.45 | -73.7% | 67.9% | 28 | -7.7% |
| 10 | Donchian Breakout ✓ | Daily | 8.2% | 0.42 | -72.4% | 48.7% | 154 | -8.3% |
| 11 | Rate of Change ✓ | Weekly | 8.6% | 0.42 | -77.7% | 52.7% | 129 | -7.7% |
| 12 | Donchian Midline | Weekly | 8.3% | 0.41 | -72.8% | 48.6% | 107 | -8.0% |
| 13 | SMA 50/200 Cross ✓ | Daily | 7.6% | 0.39 | -86.7% | 43.3% | 30 | -8.8% |
| 14 | WaveTrend (8/6/4) ✓ | Daily | 7.6% | 0.39 | -77.0% | 69.0% | 145 | -8.9% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW), EMA 20/50 Cross 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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