The best indicator for Soybean Oil (ZL)
We backtested 20 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real Soybean Oil (ZL) history. Here's what actually worked — risk-adjusted, out-of-sample, with costs.
MACD
On the weekly chart, this is the strongest risk-adjusted edge we found for Soybean Oil (ZL) over ~26.3 years — beating buy-and-hold by 3.5% 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 | MACD ✓ | Weekly | 9.1% | 0.56 | -38.9% | 48.7% | 39 | 3.5% |
| 2 | EMA-10 Trend ✓ | Weekly | 7.7% | 0.5 | -41.9% | 36.7% | 109 | 2.1% |
| 3 | RSI Trend (>50) ✓ | Weekly | 7.3% | 0.48 | -48.4% | 29.4% | 68 | 1.7% |
| 4 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Daily | 7.2% | 0.47 | -61.2% | 37.7% | 53 | 1.3% |
| 5 | Donchian Midline ✓ | Weekly | 6.5% | 0.44 | -56.0% | 35.5% | 62 | 0.9% |
| 6 | RSI Trend (>50) ✓ | Daily | 6.2% | 0.42 | -63.2% | 35.5% | 363 | 0.3% |
| 7 | Bollinger Breakout ✓ | Weekly | 5.3% | 0.41 | -36.3% | 34.6% | 26 | -0.3% |
| 8 | ADX / DMI ✓ | Daily | 4.7% | 0.39 | -35.4% | 39.2% | 153 | -1.2% |
| 9 | Donchian Midline ✓ | Daily | 4.8% | 0.35 | -68.2% | 35.7% | 367 | -1.1% |
| 10 | Rate of Change ✓ | Weekly | 4.7% | 0.34 | -55.5% | 33.3% | 87 | -0.9% |
| 11 | CCI ✓ | Weekly | 3.8% | 0.33 | -35.0% | 77.8% | 27 | -1.8% |
| 12 | MACD ✓ | Daily | 4.2% | 0.32 | -57.7% | 39.9% | 258 | -1.7% |
| 13 | EMA-10 Trend ✓ | Daily | 4.3% | 0.32 | -56.9% | 41.0% | 607 | -1.6% |
| 14 | Donchian Breakout ✓ | Weekly | 4.0% | 0.32 | -57.8% | 33.3% | 24 | -1.6% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For Soybean Oil (ZL), MACD on the weekly timeframe gave the best balance of return and risk in our test. It beat buy-and-hold — 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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