The best indicator for Soybeans (ZS)
We backtested 20 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real Soybeans (ZS) 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 Soybeans (ZS) over ~25.8 years — beating buy-and-hold by 3.6% 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 | 6.8% | 0.48 | -38.1% | 50.0% | 42 | 3.6% |
| 2 | Bollinger Breakout ✓ | Daily | 3.8% | 0.35 | -41.0% | 42.5% | 106 | 0.5% |
| 3 | Donchian Breakout ✓ | Weekly | 4.1% | 0.34 | -43.4% | 45.5% | 22 | 0.9% |
| 4 | WaveTrend (8/6/4) ✓ | Weekly | 4.3% | 0.34 | -47.4% | 86.4% | 22 | 1.1% |
| 5 | RSI Mean-Reversion ✓ | Daily | 2.7% | 0.3 | -28.8% | 73.5% | 34 | -0.6% |
| 6 | Bollinger Breakout ✓ | Weekly | 3.1% | 0.29 | -47.5% | 38.5% | 26 | -0.2% |
| 7 | EMA-10 Trend ✓ | Weekly | 3.1% | 0.26 | -50.8% | 41.7% | 120 | -0.1% |
| 8 | Rate of Change ✓ | Weekly | 2.2% | 0.21 | -56.3% | 49.0% | 102 | -1.0% |
| 9 | Holy Grail Confluence ✓ | Daily | 1.8% | 0.2 | -33.3% | 63.4% | 41 | -1.4% |
| 10 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Daily | 1.7% | 0.18 | -62.7% | 32.4% | 68 | -1.5% |
| 11 | ADX / DMI ✓ | Weekly | 1.6% | 0.18 | -40.3% | 38.2% | 34 | -1.7% |
| 12 | Donchian Breakout ✓ | Daily | 1.4% | 0.17 | -45.8% | 34.5% | 110 | -1.9% |
| 13 | Stochastic ✓ | Weekly | 1.3% | 0.16 | -59.3% | 78.6% | 28 | -1.9% |
| 14 | Williams %R | Daily | 1.0% | 0.14 | -47.7% | 63.7% | 179 | -2.3% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For Soybeans (ZS), 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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