Trend Following
A strategy family that buys assets in established uptrends and steps aside (or shorts) in downtrends, accepting late entries and exits in exchange for catching the middle of large moves. Moving-average filters and crossovers are the retail workhorses; managed-futures funds apply the same idea across dozens of markets. Trend following loses in whipsaws and earns its keep in sustained regimes.
See it in action: SMA-200 Trend + 15% Trailing Stop →
Backtested on 59 ETFs over 5.5 years — real engine results, buy-and-hold comparison on every page.
Related terms
MomentumThe empirical tendency of assets that have recently performed well to …WhipsawA quick false signal: a strategy enters on a crossover or breakout, th…Moving Average CrossoverA signal generated when a faster moving average crosses a slower one —…
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.