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SMA 10/50 Trend on TECL

Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares: 3x daily leveraged technology sector. Backtest 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, $10,000 starting capital, computed by the same engine that runs live DeployQuant strategies.

Result: SMA 10/50 trend on TECL turned $10,000 into $25,826 (158.3% total, 18.0% CAGR): it trailed buy-and-hold by 20.2% per year, with a maximum drawdown 14.8 points shallower than holding (62.4% vs 77.2%).
18.0%CAGR
38.2%buy & hold CAGR
−62.4%max drawdown
0.59Sharpe ratio
17round trips
47%win rate
■ SMA 10/50 trend   ■ buy & hold, $10,000 invested 2021-01-04

Year by year

YearSMA 10/50 trendbuy & hold
202130.9%121.5%
2022−59.3%−73.5%
2023113.2%194.9%
202423.7%35.9%
202533.1%38.0%
202637.9%109.2%

Month by month

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20210.0%0.0%0.0%−0.8%−11.0%12.6%11.2%10.2%−13.7%2.8%12.4%7.8%
2022−16.9%0.0%−7.2%−20.0%0.0%0.0%8.0%−19.1%−3.9%0.0%4.9%−25.0%
20230.6%−0.9%32.3%−1.7%25.9%17.0%6.3%−19.3%1.5%0.0%15.1%11.4%
20245.9%12.4%0.6%−4.4%−4.3%22.7%−13.7%0.0%2.9%−6.4%13.9%−2.9%
2025−9.4%−11.1%0.0%0.0%4.6%30.1%10.0%−1.7%22.5%18.4%−14.2%−9.8%
2026−6.9%−13.7%0.0%16.9%66.6%−5.8%−12.1%−8.5%9.9%6.0%––

Every trade

SMA 10/50 trend on TECL made 17 closed round trips and one position still open at the end of the test, an average hold of 69 days, an average winner of 35.81%, an average loser of −14.44%, a profit factor of 1.75, a longest losing streak of 3. It held a position at the close on 57.3% of trading days.

EntryEntry priceExitExit priceReturnDays held
2021-04-09$44.382021-05-14$39.05−12.0%35
2021-06-14$45.472021-09-29$54.3119.4%107
2021-10-26$63.782022-01-14$66.033.5%80
2022-03-30$61.172022-04-13$45.09−26.3%14
2022-07-28$34.362022-09-06$28.72−16.4%40
2022-11-18$25.922022-12-23$20.29−21.7%35
2023-01-26$26.022023-08-14$43.0365.4%200
2023-09-13$45.662023-09-14$46.361.5%1
2023-11-10$48.262024-04-11$71.3347.8%153
2024-05-17$77.132024-07-29$78.161.3%73
2024-09-25$79.382025-01-13$76.64−3.5%110
2025-02-21$90.982025-02-27$80.64−11.4%6
2025-05-12$64.132025-11-20$118.5784.9%192
2025-12-12$125.262025-12-18$112.77−10.0%6
2026-01-13$123.762026-02-05$98.91−20.1%23
2026-04-16$124.452026-07-14$202.3562.6%89
2026-08-17$221.342026-08-31$202.10−8.7%14
2026-09-08$210.78open–16.8%–

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
2021-12-272023-01-30−62.4%3992024-02-09375
2025-10-292026-02-05−40.1%992026-05-26110
2024-07-102025-02-25−38.5%2302025-08-12168

Buy-and-hold's deepest drawdown ran from 2021-12-27 to 2022-10-12 and reached −77.2%.

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)18.0%−62.4%$25,8260.59
5 basis points17.6%−62.5%$25,3720.58
10 basis points17.3%−62.8%$24,9740.58

Changing the parameters

VersionCAGRMax drawdownRound tripsWin rateFinal value
Published rules18.0%−62.4%1747%$25,826
SMA 5/5032.3%−55.4%2348%$49,849
SMA 20/506.1%−68.3%1346%$14,049
SMA 10/10015.2%−68.8%1040%$22,495

How TECL behaved

MeasureTECL
Data in this test2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02 (1444 sessions)
Total return, buy and hold592.0%
Annualized volatility75.1%
Deepest drawdown−78.0% (2021-12-27 to 2022-10-12)
Up days54.8%
Average daily range5.28%
Average overnight gap2.06%
Correlation to SPY0.91
Correlation to QQQ0.97
Correlation to TLT0.07
Sessions above the 200-day average68.4%
Crossings of the 200-day average40
Falls of 10% or more from a 20-day high68

The rules

A faster moving-average crossover: hold while the 10-day average is above the 50-day.

  1. WHEN the market opens · IF not invested AND SMA(10) > SMA(50) · THEN buy with 98% of the sleeve
  2. WHEN the market opens · IF invested AND SMA(10) < SMA(50) · THEN sell the whole position

A faster version of the golden cross. The 10- and 50-day averages catch intermediate trends measured in weeks rather than years. It enters recoveries earlier and exits breakdowns earlier, with more whipsaw trades in sideways markets. Useful for seeing how signal speed changes a strategy's results.

Good for: trending assets with multi-week swings, such as leveraged index ETFs.
Watch out: several false signals a year is normal; each whipsaw costs a small loss and they add up in flat markets.

Run SMA 10/50 trend on TECL 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 SMA 10/50 trend beat buy-and-hold on TECL?

Over 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, SMA 10/50 trend on TECL returned 18.0% annualized vs 38.2% for buy-and-hold: it trailed buy-and-hold by 20.2% per year, with a maximum drawdown 14.8 points shallower than holding (62.4% vs 77.2%).

How many trades did it make?

17 completed round trips over 5.7 years (35 fills), with 47% of round trips closing profitably.

Why 10 and 50 days?

A common intermediate-trend pairing. It reacts within weeks and ignores single bad days. Both windows are editable parameters in DeployQuant.

Related

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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.