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3-Month Momentum Switch on RINF

ProShares Inflation Expectations ETF: tracks 30-year breakeven inflation expectations. Backtest 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, $10,000 starting capital, computed by the same engine that runs live DeployQuant strategies.

Result: 3-month momentum on RINF turned $10,000 into $9,786 (−2.1% total, −0.4% CAGR): it trailed buy-and-hold by 7.0% per year, with a maximum drawdown 0.5 points shallower than holding (12.8% vs 13.3%).
−0.4%CAGR
6.6%buy & hold CAGR
−12.8%max drawdown
-0.00Sharpe ratio
10round trips
50%win rate
■ 3-month momentum   ■ buy & hold, $10,000 invested 2021-01-04

Year by year

Year3-month momentumbuy & hold
20214.5%14.7%
2022−3.6%8.8%
2023−1.1%0.2%
20240.2%9.7%
2025−2.0%1.5%
20260.0%3.7%

Month by month

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20210.0%0.0%0.0%2.9%2.3%−3.2%0.0%0.0%0.0%−1.8%2.5%1.9%
2022−2.4%0.0%1.6%5.2%−2.8%−3.2%0.0%0.0%0.0%4.2%−5.8%0.0%
2023−2.1%0.0%0.0%−1.7%0.7%0.6%1.5%0.0%3.7%3.3%−4.5%−2.3%
20240.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%1.1%−0.6%−0.7%0.0%0.0%0.0%−1.7%2.1%
20251.2%−1.4%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%−1.7%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%
20260.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%––

Every trade

3-month momentum on RINF made 10 closed round trips, an average hold of 73 days, an average winner of 0.97%, an average loser of −1.39%, a profit factor of 0.69, a longest losing streak of 3. It held a position at the close on 35.4% of trading days.

EntryEntry priceExitExit priceReturnDays held
2021-04-12$23.702021-06-21$24.161.9%70
2021-10-07$25.192022-01-07$25.220.1%92
2022-03-03$26.802022-06-30$26.960.6%119
2022-10-17$28.792022-11-21$28.24−1.9%35
2023-01-03$27.992023-01-13$27.39−2.1%10
2023-04-20$27.932023-05-01$27.64−1.0%11
2023-06-20$28.242023-12-06$28.842.1%169
2024-05-03$29.952024-07-26$29.92−0.1%84
2024-11-01$30.912025-02-26$30.930.1%117
2025-07-18$31.882025-08-14$31.32−1.8%27

Prices are adjusted for splits and dividends, so they sit below the quotes printed at the time. An open position is marked at the last close.

Largest drawdowns

PeakLow pointDepthDays to lowRecoveredDays to recover
2022-06-062023-04-28−12.8%326not yet–
2021-11-152022-03-04−7.7%1092022-04-1138
2022-04-212022-05-25−7.4%342022-06-039

Buy-and-hold's deepest drawdown ran from 2022-10-24 to 2023-02-03 and reached −13.3%.

With trading costs

The headline run fills at the bar price. These runs charge slippage on every fill.

Slippage per fillCAGRMax drawdownFinal valueSharpe
None (headline)−0.4%−12.8%$9,786-0.00
5 basis points−0.6%−13.3%$9,691-0.02
10 basis points−0.7%−13.9%$9,597-0.04

Changing the parameters

VersionCAGRMax drawdownRound tripsWin rateFinal value
Published rules−0.4%−12.8%1050%$9,786
Enter above 0%−1.6%−19.0%5433%$9,109
Enter above 10%−2.3%−13.3%30%$8,750
Enter above 15%−2.4%−13.0%20%$8,704

How RINF behaved

MeasureRINF
Data in this test2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02 (1428 sessions)
Total return, buy and hold45.4%
Annualized volatility12.4%
Deepest drawdown−13.5% (2022-10-24 to 2023-02-03)
Up days51.9%
Average daily range0.61%
Average overnight gap0.36%
Correlation to SPY0.13
Correlation to QQQ0.09
Correlation to TLT-0.40
Sessions above the 200-day average82.3%
Crossings of the 200-day average74
Falls of 10% or more from a 20-day high1

The rules

Hold while the trailing 3-month return is positive (above +5% to enter, below 0% to exit).

  1. WHEN the market opens · IF not invested AND the 63-day return > +5% · THEN buy with 98% of the sleeve
  2. WHEN the market opens · IF invested AND the 63-day return < 0% · THEN sell the whole position

Time-series momentum on a quarterly lookback, the horizon much of the academic momentum literature uses. The template enters after a +5% three-month run and exits when the same measure turns negative. The gap between entry (+5%) and exit (0%) is a buffer against flip-flopping around a single threshold.

Good for: assets with long, persistent cycles, such as index, sector and managed-futures ETFs.
Watch out: a three-month lookback is slow; V-shaped crashes and recoveries can see it exit near the bottom and re-enter well off the low.

Run 3-month momentum on RINF yourself, free →

Build it from blocks (or type it in English), backtest it on 5.7 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

Did 3-month momentum beat buy-and-hold on RINF?

Over 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, 3-month momentum on RINF returned −0.4% annualized vs 6.6% for buy-and-hold: it trailed buy-and-hold by 7.0% per year, with a maximum drawdown 0.5 points shallower than holding (12.8% vs 13.3%).

How many trades did it make?

10 completed round trips over 5.7 years (20 fills), with 50% of round trips closing profitably.

Why 63 days?

63 trading days is about one quarter, a common momentum lookback. You can sweep it in DeployQuant to see how the horizon changes results.

Related

3-Month Momentum Switch on all 59 ETFsfull results table All strategies on RINF12 templates compared RSI(14) Mean Reversion on RINFsame ETF, different rulesRSI(2) Dip Snapback on RINFsame ETF, different rules

Backtests are hypothetical, computed by DeployQuant's engine on minute-resolution consolidated US market data (2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, $10,000 starting capital, no margin, no fees or slippage in the headline run; buy-and-hold puts 98% of the account in at the first open, as the templates do) and do not guarantee future results. Nothing on this page is investment advice. Live trading involves risk of loss.