IWM trading strategies, backtested
iShares Russell 2000 ETF — US small caps — higher beta and choppier trends than the S&P 500. Every DeployQuant template run on IWM over 5.5 years of minute data, same engine, same window, sorted by return.
| Strategy | CAGR | max DD | Sharpe | trades | win rate | final value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSI(2) Dip Snapback | 11.1% | −23.0% | 0.81 | 164 | 66% | $17,931 |
| Weekly Entry + 7% Target | 8.1% | −26.2% | 0.51 | 138 | 25% | $15,372 |
| First-to-Last Day of Month | 7.0% | −36.9% | 0.44 | 67 | 57% | $14,517 |
| 200-Day SMA Regime Filter | 5.6% | −22.2% | 0.46 | 17 | 41% | $13,539 |
| Drawdown Dip Buyer + 8% Target | 3.2% | −26.0% | 0.27 | 2 | 100% | $11,906 |
| 20-Day Momentum + Trailing Stop | 2.1% | −24.0% | 0.22 | 7 | 29% | $11,247 |
| SMA-200 Trend + 15% Trailing Stop | 2.0% | −35.6% | 0.20 | 5 | 20% | $11,144 |
| Golden Cross (SMA 50/200) | 1.8% | −31.1% | 0.20 | 4 | 25% | $11,059 |
| RSI(14) Mean Reversion | 1.3% | −25.9% | 0.16 | 13 | 54% | $10,760 |
| EMA 12/26 Trend | 0.9% | −34.0% | 0.14 | 23 | 35% | $10,521 |
| 3-Month Momentum Switch | −1.1% | −26.8% | -0.02 | 18 | 39% | $9,434 |
| SMA 10/50 Trend | −1.4% | −33.0% | -0.02 | 20 | 35% | $9,241 |
| Buy & hold IWM | 8.5% | −30.9% | 0.50 | — | — | $15,677 |
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 IWM?
Of the 12 templates tested on IWM over 2021-01-04–2026-07-17, the strongest by CAGR was RSI(2) snapback at 11.1% (max drawdown 23.0%), versus 8.5% 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 IWM?
1 of 12 templates beat IWM buy-and-hold (8.5% CAGR) on this window; 7 of 12 had a shallower maximum drawdown than holding (30.9%).
Other broad index etfs
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.