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SMA-200 Trend + 15% Trailing Stop on IGIB

iShares 5-10 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF: investment-grade corporate credit. Backtest 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, $10,000 starting capital, computed by the same engine that runs live DeployQuant strategies.

Result: trend + trailing stop on IGIB turned $10,000 into $10,034 (0.3% total, 0.1% CAGR): it trailed buy-and-hold by 0.1% per year, with a maximum drawdown 2.3 points shallower than holding (17.8% vs 20.1%).
0.1%CAGR
0.2%buy & hold CAGR
−17.8%max drawdown
0.04Sharpe ratio
1round trips
0%win rate
■ trend + trailing stop   ■ buy & hold, $10,000 invested 2021-01-04

Year by year

Yeartrend + trailing stopbuy & hold
2021−0.1%−1.6%
2022−15.7%−13.6%
20239.0%8.9%
20243.4%3.4%
20259.4%9.3%
2026−3.3%−3.3%

Month by month

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20210.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%−0.2%−0.2%0.3%
2022−2.4%−1.5%−3.1%−4.6%1.2%−4.2%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%−2.1%
20234.2%−3.1%3.1%0.7%−1.2%0.0%0.4%−0.6%−2.5%−1.7%5.7%4.0%
20240.0%−1.3%1.3%−2.2%2.0%0.7%2.5%1.6%1.6%−2.4%1.3%−1.5%
20250.7%1.9%0.0%0.4%0.4%1.8%0.1%1.3%1.2%0.3%0.9%−0.1%
20260.2%1.3%−2.0%0.6%0.4%0.1%−1.2%0.2%−3.0%0.0%––

Every trade

trend + trailing stop on IGIB made 1 closed round trip and one position still open at the end of the test, an average hold of 228 days, an average loser of −14.30%, a longest losing streak of 1. It held a position at the close on 76.8% of trading days.

EntryEntry priceExitExit priceReturnDays held
2021-10-28$48.792022-06-13$41.81−14.3%228
2022-12-14$42.86open–17.0%–

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
2021-11-052023-10-19−17.8%7132025-08-01652
2026-02-272026-09-30−4.8%215not yet–
2025-10-282025-11-05−1.2%82025-11-2621

Buy-and-hold's deepest drawdown ran from 2021-08-03 to 2022-10-20 and reached −20.1%.

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)0.1%−17.8%$10,0340.04
5 basis points0.0%−17.9%$10,0210.03
10 basis points0.0%−18.0%$10,0080.03

Changing the parameters

VersionCAGRMax drawdownRound tripsWin rateFinal value
Published rules0.1%−17.8%10%$10,034
10% trailing stop1.0%−13.1%10%$10,606
20% trailing stop−1.0%−22.5%10%$9,462
25% trailing stop0.5%−19.2%0–$10,273

How IGIB behaved

MeasureIGIB
Data in this test2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02 (1444 sessions)
Total return, buy and hold1.3%
Annualized volatility6.3%
Deepest drawdown−20.6% (2021-08-03 to 2022-10-20)
Up days50.0%
Average daily range0.37%
Average overnight gap0.21%
Correlation to SPY0.35
Correlation to QQQ0.34
Correlation to TLT0.84
Sessions above the 200-day average66.3%
Crossings of the 200-day average52
Falls of 10% or more from a 20-day high0

The rules

Enter when price is above the 200-day average; exit only when a 15% trailing stop is hit.

  1. WHEN the market opens · IF not invested AND yesterday's close > SMA(200) · THEN buy with 98% of the sleeve
  2. WHILE invested · a managed trailing stop follows 15% below the position's high-water mark

A hybrid of the regime filter and the trailing stop. The 200-day average decides when to get in, and a 15% trail from the position's high-water mark decides when to get out. Winners can run well past the point where a crossover would have exited, and the position gives back 15% from every peak.

Good for: long trends with moderate pullbacks; the 15% trail is wide enough to survive normal corrections.
Watch out: every exit gives back 15% from the peak, and on choppy assets it re-enters above the 200-day repeatedly after each stop-out.

Run trend + trailing stop on IGIB 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 trend + trailing stop beat buy-and-hold on IGIB?

Over 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, trend + trailing stop on IGIB returned 0.1% annualized vs 0.2% for buy-and-hold: it trailed buy-and-hold by 0.1% per year, with a maximum drawdown 2.3 points shallower than holding (17.8% vs 20.1%).

How many trades did it make?

1 completed round trips over 5.7 years (3 fills), with 0% of round trips closing profitably.

Why 15% rather than 10%?

A wider trail survives routine corrections and gives back more at the end. Both numbers are one-field edits in DeployQuant, so you can backtest both and compare.

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.