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EEM trading strategies, backtested

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF — emerging-market equities — a different cycle than US indexes. Every DeployQuant template run on EEM over 5.5 years of minute data, same engine, same window, sorted by return.

Quick answer: the best-performing template on EEM (2021-01-04 → 2026-07-17) was weekly 7% target at 11.0% CAGR vs 5.6% for buy-and-hold. 6 of 12 templates beat holding; 10 cut the max drawdown.
StrategyCAGRmax DDSharpetradeswin ratefinal value
Weekly Entry + 7% Target 11.0% −27.4% 0.6998 26% $17,815
RSI(14) Mean Reversion 8.8% −14.0% 0.7417 82% $15,942
SMA-200 Trend + 15% Trailing Stop 8.4% −16.3% 0.631 100% $15,653
Golden Cross (SMA 50/200) 6.8% −20.6% 0.532 50% $14,378
200-Day SMA Regime Filter 6.8% −17.7% 0.5515 27% $14,378
Drawdown Dip Buyer + 8% Target 6.0% −26.2% 0.494 100% $13,779
RSI(2) Dip Snapback 3.7% −15.9% 0.35157 61% $12,219
20-Day Momentum + Trailing Stop 2.5% −24.4% 0.285 60% $11,434
First-to-Last Day of Month 1.2% −44.4% 0.1767 52% $10,685
EMA 12/26 Trend 0.1% −31.8% 0.0725 32% $10,034
3-Month Momentum Switch −0.5% −32.7% 0.0311 18% $9,732
SMA 10/50 Trend −4.2% −41.2% -0.2522 23% $7,889
Buy & hold EEM 5.6%−39.1% 0.39 $13,494
Run a EEM strategy yourself — free →

Build it from blocks (or type it in English), backtest it on 5.5 years of minute data in seconds, tweak any parameter, then paper trade it on live data. No card, no broker needed to start.

Frequently asked questions

What was the best strategy for EEM?

Of the 12 templates tested on EEM over 2021-01-04–2026-07-17, the strongest by CAGR was weekly 7% target at 11.0% (max drawdown 27.4%), versus 5.6% for buy-and-hold. Best-in-hindsight is not a forecast — check drawdowns and trade counts before drawing conclusions.

Did any strategy beat buying and holding EEM?

6 of 12 templates beat EEM buy-and-hold (5.6% CAGR) on this window; 10 of 12 had a shallower maximum drawdown than holding (39.1%).

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Backtests are hypothetical, computed by DeployQuant's engine on minute-resolution consolidated US market data (2021-01-04 to 2026-07-17, $10,000 starting capital, no margin, fees and slippage not modeled) and do not guarantee future results. Nothing on this page is investment advice. Live trading involves risk of loss.