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SMA-200 Trend + 15% Trailing Stop on SSO

ProShares Ultra S&P500: 2x daily leveraged S&P 500. 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 SSO turned $10,000 into $18,618 (86.2% total, 11.4% CAGR): it trailed buy-and-hold by 10.5% per year, with a maximum drawdown 7.2 points shallower than holding (38.9% vs 46.1%).
11.4%CAGR
21.9%buy & hold CAGR
−38.9%max drawdown
0.63Sharpe ratio
8round trips
50%win rate
■ trend + trailing stop   ■ buy & hold, $10,000 invested 2021-01-04

Year by year

Yeartrend + trailing stopbuy & hold
202111.7%63.6%
2022−30.1%−38.5%
202323.8%45.6%
202443.0%42.9%
202520.0%25.9%
202612.3%22.4%

Month by month

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20210.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%4.6%−1.7%8.7%
2022−12.9%−11.7%1.9%−10.8%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%
20231.3%−5.5%0.2%2.6%0.2%12.4%6.0%−4.0%−9.8%−4.9%17.8%8.6%
20242.5%9.7%6.0%−8.4%9.4%6.6%1.5%3.9%3.6%−2.5%11.3%−5.3%
20254.6%−3.1%−9.0%0.0%−0.1%9.7%4.0%3.5%6.5%4.1%−0.2%−0.4%
20262.3%−2.1%−11.3%12.6%10.1%−2.7%−0.5%4.8%−1.2%1.8%––

Every trade

trend + trailing stop on SSO made 8 closed round trips and one position still open at the end of the test, an average hold of 152 days, an average winner of 20.71%, an average loser of −8.24%, a profit factor of 2.64, a longest losing streak of 4. It held a position at the close on 66.2% of trading days.

EntryEntry priceExitExit priceReturnDays held
2021-10-19$31.742022-01-21$30.86−2.8%94
2022-02-01$31.822022-02-23$28.00−12.0%22
2022-03-23$31.262022-04-22$28.36−9.3%30
2023-01-27$24.022023-03-10$21.88−8.9%42
2023-03-22$23.282023-09-27$25.7710.7%189
2023-09-28$25.802024-08-05$35.4837.5%312
2024-08-05$35.402025-03-07$42.0518.8%214
2025-05-14$44.052026-03-20$51.0215.8%310
2026-04-09$55.54open–27.1%–

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
2022-01-032023-03-22−38.9%4432024-03-20364
2025-02-192025-05-23−17.5%932025-08-1281
2024-07-162024-08-05−16.3%202024-09-1945

Buy-and-hold's deepest drawdown ran from 2022-01-03 to 2022-10-12 and reached −46.1%.

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)11.4%−38.9%$18,6180.63
5 basis points11.3%−39.2%$18,4600.62
10 basis points11.1%−39.5%$18,3110.62

Changing the parameters

VersionCAGRMax drawdownRound tripsWin rateFinal value
Published rules11.4%−38.9%850%$18,618
10% trailing stop9.4%−35.2%1844%$16,744
20% trailing stop8.0%−47.8%540%$15,550
25% trailing stop8.3%−46.3%333%$15,768

How SSO behaved

MeasureSSO
Data in this test2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02 (1444 sessions)
Total return, buy and hold227.7%
Annualized volatility32.9%
Deepest drawdown−46.8% (2022-01-03 to 2022-10-12)
Up days53.6%
Average daily range2.28%
Average overnight gap0.87%
Correlation to SPY1.00
Correlation to QQQ0.94
Correlation to TLT0.08
Sessions above the 200-day average73.2%
Crossings of the 200-day average36
Falls of 10% or more from a 20-day high32

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 SSO 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 SSO?

Over 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, trend + trailing stop on SSO returned 11.4% annualized vs 21.9% for buy-and-hold: it trailed buy-and-hold by 10.5% per year, with a maximum drawdown 7.2 points shallower than holding (38.9% vs 46.1%).

How many trades did it make?

8 completed round trips over 5.7 years (17 fills), with 50% 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.