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Drawdown Dip Buyer + 8% Target

Wait for a 10% drawdown from the 20-day high, buy it, and take profit at +8%.

Across 59 ETFs (2021-01-04 → 2026-07-17): median CAGR 1.4%, median max drawdown 26.2%, and it beat buy-and-hold of the same ETF in 19 of 59 cases (32%). Same rules, same engine, every ETF.

The rules

  1. WHEN the market opens · IF not invested AND the 20-day drawdown is worse than −10% · THEN buy with 98% of the sleeve
  2. WHILE invested · a managed limit order rests at entry price × 1.08

Buy-the-dip, formalized. Instead of a feeling, the entry is a measured 10% drawdown inside the trailing 20 sessions; instead of hoping, the exit is a resting +8% limit order. Between signals the sleeve sits in cash — this template is selective by construction and can wait months for its pitch.

Good for: assets that sell off hard and recover — it monetizes volatility without chasing strength.
Watch out: no stop-loss: if the dip keeps dipping, the position rides it down until the +8% target is eventually reached or the strategy is stopped; trade counts are low, so single trades dominate results.

Run dip buyer 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.

Results on every ETF

ETFCAGRbuy & holdmax DDSharpetradeswin rate
FAS 28.5% 22.9% −65.3% 0.7518 100%
SOXX 25.9% 29.6% −39.3% 0.9019 100%
TECL 18.7% 31.9% −76.3% 0.5918 100%
QLD 16.5% 21.6% −62.0% 0.5812 100%
ROM 15.8% 26.1% −66.3% 0.5513 100%
SPUU 14.8% 22.0% −41.4% 0.6410 100%
SSO 13.5% 21.5% −41.6% 0.609 100%
SOXL 13.3% 30.2% −88.6% 0.6417 100%
TQQQ 8.8% 22.3% −79.5% 0.459 100%
IOO 8.6% 16.4% −10.8% 1.056 100%
XLF 7.0% 14.1% −16.0% 0.635 100%
EEM 6.0% 5.6% −26.2% 0.494 100%
XLK 5.7% 20.2% −27.9% 0.395 100%
QQQE 5.6% 9.4% −24.9% 0.434 100%
QQQM 5.6% 15.8% −28.7% 0.414 100%
CLSE 5.6% 20.1% −16.9% 0.512 100%
QQQ 5.5% 15.8% −28.6% 0.414 100%
VOOG 4.3% 14.9% −26.8% 0.343 100%
VOX 4.2% 9.2% −41.0% 0.333 100%
VOOV 4.2% 13.2% −4.5% 0.733 100%
XLY 4.2% 7.3% −32.8% 0.313 100%
VTV 4.2% 13.9% −4.4% 0.763 100%
IWM 3.2% 8.5% −26.0% 0.272 100%
TBF 2.8% 11.0% −8.2% 0.472 100%
VV 2.8% 13.9% −22.2% 0.282 100%
SPY 2.7% 14.4% −16.0% 0.302 100%
VOO 2.7% 14.3% −15.9% 0.302 100%
ALTY 1.4% 8.7% −4.6% 0.511 100%
XLP 1.4% 7.0% −8.0% 0.451 100%
RINF 1.4% 6.6% −2.8% 0.531 100%
KMLM 1.1% 6.0% −21.9% 0.161 100%
CTA 0.5% 7.2% −13.3% 0.131 100%
AGG 0.0% −0.3% −0.0% 0.000
BND 0.0% −0.3% −0.0% 0.000
IEF 0.0% −1.6% −0.0% 0.000
IEI 0.0% 0.0% −0.0% 0.000
IGIB 0.0% 0.9% −0.0% 0.000
SGOV 0.0% 3.2% −0.0% 0.000
FXE 0.0% −0.7% −0.0% 0.000
UDN 0.0% −1.0% −0.0% 0.000
USDU 0.0% 5.1% −0.0% 0.000
QAI 0.0% 3.9% −0.0% 0.000
IAU −1.4% 13.6% −24.9% -0.122 100%
SPDN −1.4% −9.7% −22.8% -0.182 100%
SH −1.5% −9.9% −23.1% -0.202 100%
TLT −3.2% −7.3% −27.9% -0.180
UST −3.8% −7.3% −31.7% -0.210
EEV −8.0% −14.5% −77.2% -0.079 100%
PSQ −8.5% −13.2% −55.1% -0.363 100%
VXZ −14.6% −13.9% −61.1% -0.450
VIXM −15.5% −14.9% −63.1% -0.450
TECS −16.6% −21.8% −68.2% -0.542 100%
SDS −19.4% −22.1% −73.7% -0.551 100%
QID −26.6% −28.9% −86.6% -0.533 100%
SQQQ −28.9% −30.9% −89.7% -0.454 100%
TMF −29.2% −30.7% −86.5% -0.620
SOXS −30.7% −30.5% −88.1% -0.461 100%
REW −33.1% −33.6% −91.2% -0.631 100%
UVXY −38.0% −38.0% −93.0% -0.650

Frequently asked questions

What is the dip buyer strategy?

Wait for a 10% drawdown from the 20-day high, buy it, and take profit at +8%. Buy-the-dip, formalized. Instead of a feeling, the entry is a measured 10% drawdown inside the trailing 20 sessions; instead of hoping, the exit is a resting +8% limit order. Between signals the sleeve sits in cash — this template is selective by construction and can wait months for its pitch.

Does dip buyer beat buy-and-hold?

Across 59 ETFs backtested 2021-01-04–2026-07-17, it beat same-ETF buy-and-hold on 19 of 59 (32%). Median CAGR was 1.4% with a median max drawdown of 26.2%. Per-ETF results vary widely — see the table.

What counts as a 10% dip?

The engine computes the worst peak-to-trough move within the last 20 sessions; when it's deeper than −10%, the entry condition is met. Both the window and the threshold are editable parameters.

Compare with other strategies

dip buyer vs RSI mean reversionhead-to-head on 59 ETFsdip buyer vs RSI(2) snapbackhead-to-head on 59 ETFsdip buyer vs golden crosshead-to-head on 59 ETFsdip buyer vs SMA 10/50 trendhead-to-head on 59 ETFsdip buyer vs EMA 12/26 trendhead-to-head on 59 ETFsdip buyer vs 200-day regime filterhead-to-head on 59 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.