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RSI(14) Mean Reversion on ALTY

Global X Alternative Income ETF: a multi-asset income basket: MLPs, REITs, preferreds and more. Backtest 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, $10,000 starting capital, computed by the same engine that runs live DeployQuant strategies.

Result: RSI mean reversion on ALTY turned $10,000 into $11,283 (12.8% total, 2.1% CAGR): it trailed buy-and-hold by 5.5% per year, with a maximum drawdown 7.0 points shallower than holding (11.3% vs 18.3%).
2.1%CAGR
7.6%buy & hold CAGR
−11.3%max drawdown
0.32Sharpe ratio
14round trips
64%win rate
■ RSI mean reversion   ■ buy & hold, $10,000 invested 2021-01-04

Year by year

YearRSI mean reversionbuy & hold
20210.9%23.9%
20220.4%−11.4%
20231.3%10.7%
20248.9%10.1%
20252.4%11.1%
2026−1.4%3.9%

Month by month

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20210.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%−2.2%3.1%
20221.3%−2.0%3.2%−0.8%0.2%1.4%0.7%−0.2%−9.2%3.2%3.2%0.0%
20230.0%−0.2%−0.4%−0.2%0.4%1.9%0.0%−0.7%−2.6%−2.3%5.8%0.0%
20241.3%0.2%1.4%0.3%1.7%0.0%0.0%4.4%0.0%0.0%0.0%−0.7%
20253.3%0.0%0.9%−1.8%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%
20260.0%0.0%−0.9%2.3%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%−2.8%0.2%––

Every trade

RSI mean reversion on ALTY made 14 closed round trips and one position still open at the end of the test, an average hold of 43 days, an average winner of 2.55%, an average loser of −1.49%, a profit factor of 3.07, a longest losing streak of 2. It held a position at the close on 29.7% of trading days.

EntryEntry priceExitExit priceReturnDays held
2021-11-22$9.352022-01-05$9.461.1%44
2022-01-24$9.092022-04-04$9.352.9%70
2022-04-25$8.962022-06-03$8.77−2.1%39
2022-06-16$8.202022-07-11$8.453.2%25
2022-08-31$8.642022-11-11$8.34−3.5%72
2023-02-23$8.722023-04-03$8.65−0.8%39
2023-05-26$8.512023-06-14$8.702.3%19
2023-08-09$8.832023-11-15$8.82−0.1%98
2024-01-18$9.112024-03-06$9.393.0%48
2024-04-15$9.232024-05-06$9.412.0%21
2024-08-06$9.612024-08-26$10.044.5%20
2024-12-17$10.262025-01-22$10.532.6%36
2025-03-11$10.372025-04-30$10.28−0.9%50
2026-03-19$11.642026-04-13$11.801.4%25
2026-09-16$12.12open–−2.7%–

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
2022-09-122022-10-14−11.3%322024-04-23557
2025-03-192025-04-08−8.9%20not yet–
2022-02-012022-03-14−6.8%412022-04-0421

Buy-and-hold's deepest drawdown ran from 2022-01-04 to 2022-10-14 and reached −18.3%.

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)2.1%−11.3%$11,2830.32
5 basis points1.9%−11.3%$11,1250.28
10 basis points1.6%−11.3%$10,9680.25

Changing the parameters

VersionCAGRMax drawdownRound tripsWin rateFinal value
Published rules2.1%−11.3%1464%$11,283
RSI < 25 / > 703.9%−11.3%1080%$12,429
RSI < 35 / > 702.6%−11.3%1872%$11,613
RSI < 30 / > 651.4%−11.3%1567%$10,829
RSI < 30 / > 750.5%−16.6%1155%$10,289

How ALTY behaved

MeasureALTY
Data in this test2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02 (1444 sessions)
Total return, buy and hold55.4%
Annualized volatility10.4%
Deepest drawdown−18.6% (2022-01-04 to 2022-10-14)
Up days52.1%
Average daily range0.81%
Average overnight gap0.41%
Correlation to SPY0.75
Correlation to QQQ0.65
Correlation to TLT0.23
Sessions above the 200-day average75.3%
Crossings of the 200-day average29
Falls of 10% or more from a 20-day high1

The rules

Buy when the 14-day RSI drops below 30 (oversold), sell when it recovers above 70 (overbought).

  1. WHEN the market opens · IF not invested AND RSI(14) < 30 · THEN buy with 98% of the sleeve
  2. WHEN the market opens · IF invested AND RSI(14) > 70 · THEN sell the whole position

A standard mean-reversion setup. The Relative Strength Index measures how stretched recent price action is. Readings under 30 have historically marked short-term washouts in uptrending assets. This template buys at the next session open and holds until RSI crosses back above 70. It has no profit target and no stop.

Good for: assets that trend up over time but overshoot on the way, such as broad index ETFs.
Watch out: in a persistent downtrend, RSI can stay oversold for weeks while the position keeps losing; there is no stop-loss in this template.

Run RSI mean reversion on ALTY 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 RSI mean reversion beat buy-and-hold on ALTY?

Over 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, RSI mean reversion on ALTY returned 2.1% annualized vs 7.6% for buy-and-hold: it trailed buy-and-hold by 5.5% per year, with a maximum drawdown 7.0 points shallower than holding (11.3% vs 18.3%).

How many trades did it make?

14 completed round trips over 5.7 years (29 fills), with 64% of round trips closing profitably.

Why RSI 30/70?

They are the conventional oversold and overbought bands from Welles Wilder's original formulation. Treat them as a starting point. In DeployQuant you can change them to 25/65 or anything else and re-backtest in seconds.

Does this strategy use a stop-loss?

No. The only exit is RSI recovering above 70. Adding a stop or a take-profit block is a one-block edit in the Lab.

Related

RSI(14) Mean Reversion on all 59 ETFsfull results table All strategies on ALTY12 templates compared RSI(2) Dip Snapback on ALTYsame ETF, different rulesGolden Cross (SMA 50/200) on ALTYsame 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.