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SMA 10/50 Trend on TECS

Direxion Daily Technology Bear 3X Shares: -3x daily 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 TECS turned $10,000 into $1,635 (−83.7% total, −27.1% CAGR): it beat buy-and-hold by 19.6% per year, with a maximum drawdown 10.3 points shallower than holding (87.2% vs 97.5%).
−27.1%CAGR
−46.7%buy & hold CAGR
−87.2%max drawdown
-0.38Sharpe ratio
21round trips
24%win rate
■ SMA 10/50 trend   ■ buy & hold, $10,000 invested 2021-01-04

Year by year

YearSMA 10/50 trendbuy & hold
2021−15.2%−68.0%
202227.6%42.5%
2023−31.8%−71.4%
2024−41.8%−42.3%
2025−37.8%−46.3%
2026−38.8%−36.9%

Month by month

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20210.0%0.0%5.0%0.0%−7.8%0.0%0.0%0.0%4.3%−16.0%0.0%0.0%
2022−1.3%11.1%−12.2%17.4%−5.3%7.6%−11.5%0.0%43.0%−24.1%18.1%−2.2%
2023−9.6%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%−15.0%16.1%−6.0%−18.7%0.0%
20240.0%0.0%0.0%8.4%−21.7%0.0%−3.9%−9.8%−21.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%
2025−5.4%−11.8%12.6%−20.9%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%−11.2%−5.8%
20260.0%−3.6%10.2%−27.7%0.0%0.0%1.8%−21.7%0.0%0.0%––

Every trade

SMA 10/50 trend on TECS made 21 closed round trips, an average hold of 28 days, an average winner of 12.62%, an average loser of −13.85%, a profit factor of 0.38, a longest losing streak of 8. It held a position at the close on 28.3% of trading days.

EntryEntry priceExitExit priceReturnDays held
2021-03-17$6581.802021-03-19$6918.675.1%2
2021-05-20$5873.622021-05-27$5409.07−7.9%7
2021-09-30$3942.442021-10-21$3442.00−12.7%21
2022-01-19$2904.632022-03-28$2793.35−3.8%68
2022-04-21$3081.482022-06-10$3906.2026.8%50
2022-06-14$4534.232022-07-19$3786.29−16.5%35
2022-09-09$3331.652022-11-03$4287.3328.7%55
2022-12-30$3593.052023-01-20$3167.75−11.8%21
2023-08-14$1390.652023-09-07$1261.57−9.3%24
2023-09-19$1329.292023-10-18$1332.520.2%29
2023-10-24$1417.732023-11-10$1168.04−17.6%17
2024-04-16$767.932024-05-16$649.51−15.4%30
2024-07-31$605.962024-08-26$523.98−13.5%26
2024-09-09$660.462024-09-20$519.13−21.4%11
2025-01-14$472.112025-01-30$446.19−5.5%16
2025-02-05$447.042025-02-18$393.03−12.1%13
2025-03-04$533.092025-04-29$473.72−11.1%56
2025-11-24$195.612025-12-09$159.42−18.5%15
2025-12-26$159.782025-12-31$163.412.3%5
2026-02-06$190.492026-04-15$145.39−23.7%68
2026-07-27$73.312026-08-12$58.14−20.7%16

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
2022-10-122026-08-12−87.2%1400not yet–
2022-03-142022-09-12−31.6%1822022-09-2917
2021-03-182022-02-09−24.4%3282022-02-2314

Buy-and-hold's deepest drawdown ran from 2021-01-06 to 2026-10-02 and reached −97.5%.

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)−27.1%−87.2%$1,635-0.38
5 basis points−27.3%−87.4%$1,600-0.39
10 basis points−27.6%−87.6%$1,566-0.40

Changing the parameters

VersionCAGRMax drawdownRound tripsWin rateFinal value
Published rules−27.1%−87.2%2124%$1,635
SMA 5/50−27.2%−85.8%2520%$1,612
SMA 20/50−38.6%−94.4%150%$607
SMA 10/100−26.2%−82.5%100%$1,754

How TECS behaved

MeasureTECS
Data in this test2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02 (1444 sessions)
Total return, buy and hold−99.4%
Annualized volatility75.2%
Deepest drawdown−99.4% (2021-01-06 to 2026-10-02)
Up days44.6%
Average daily range5.28%
Average overnight gap2.08%
Correlation to SPY-0.91
Correlation to QQQ-0.97
Correlation to TLT-0.07
Sessions above the 200-day average13.2%
Crossings of the 200-day average34
Falls of 10% or more from a 20-day high92

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 TECS 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 TECS?

Over 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, SMA 10/50 trend on TECS returned −27.1% annualized vs −46.7% for buy-and-hold: it beat buy-and-hold by 19.6% per year, with a maximum drawdown 10.3 points shallower than holding (87.2% vs 97.5%).

How many trades did it make?

21 completed round trips over 5.7 years (42 fills), with 24% 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.