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Weekly Entry + 7% Target on SQQQ

ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ: -3x daily Nasdaq-100: gains when tech falls, decays when it doesn't. Backtest 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, $10,000 starting capital, computed by the same engine that runs live DeployQuant strategies.

Result: weekly 7% target on SQQQ turned $10,000 into $1,363 (−86.4% total, −29.3% CAGR): it beat buy-and-hold by 13.0% per year, with a maximum drawdown 3.2 points shallower than holding (92.9% vs 96.1%).
−29.3%CAGR
−42.3%buy & hold CAGR
−92.9%max drawdown
-0.46Sharpe ratio
261round trips
38%win rate
■ weekly 7% target   ■ buy & hold, $10,000 invested 2021-01-04

Year by year

Yearweekly 7% targetbuy & hold
2021−19.9%−61.3%
202245.0%78.4%
2023−46.2%−71.5%
2024−50.3%−44.9%
2025−50.4%−43.5%
2026−17.2%−34.0%

Month by month

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2021−3.1%4.8%15.3%−9.6%20.1%−15.9%−2.8%−1.5%7.7%−21.8%2.3%−9.2%
20225.9%3.2%−19.3%21.7%21.1%13.9%−14.9%−1.3%21.9%−12.5%−16.1%30.4%
2023−5.7%−13.8%−14.7%6.9%−2.9%−10.7%−8.2%11.5%6.5%4.8%−18.7%−9.8%
20242.3%−10.4%0.2%4.7%−2.2%−16.6%14.0%−21.1%−18.1%3.7%−12.5%−5.0%
2025−10.6%1.7%6.8%−27.4%−17.7%−14.2%−5.6%0.8%−13.1%−7.1%14.0%13.9%
2026−10.8%6.0%4.1%−28.0%−10.3%13.1%40.4%−14.1%−3.5%−1.1%––

Every trade

weekly 7% target on SQQQ made 261 closed round trips, an average hold of 4 days, an average winner of 7.37%, an average loser of −5.33%, a profit factor of 0.85, a longest losing streak of 12. It held a position at the close on 57.8% of trading days.

Best 10 round trips

EntryEntry priceExitExit priceReturnDays held
2025-03-31$183.292025-04-04$211.2315.2%4
2026-06-22$34.992026-06-23$39.0711.7%1
2021-05-10$1118.872021-05-11$1248.1411.6%1
2026-07-13$38.442026-07-17$42.8211.4%4
2025-11-10$64.702025-11-14$71.1710.0%4
2021-02-22$1272.952021-02-23$1389.989.2%1
2024-12-30$137.112025-01-13$148.748.5%14
2023-08-14$394.722023-08-18$427.988.4%4
2022-08-29$840.832022-09-01$911.268.4%3
2022-06-06$888.372022-06-07$959.688.0%1

Worst 10 round trips

EntryEntry priceExitExit priceReturnDays held
2025-04-07$255.342025-04-10$175.31−31.3%3
2023-01-30$783.912023-02-02$633.11−19.2%3
2022-03-14$959.392022-03-17$789.58−17.7%3
2025-04-21$183.452025-04-24$151.27−17.5%3
2023-03-13$818.452023-03-16$677.17−17.3%3
2022-07-05$1179.872022-07-07$985.60−16.5%2
2022-11-07$1143.092022-11-10$962.71−15.8%3
2024-11-04$164.092024-11-07$139.96−14.7%3
2024-08-05$247.622024-08-08$212.21−14.3%3
2024-08-12$207.052024-08-15$177.99−14.0%3

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
2021-06-032026-06-02−92.9%1825not yet–
2021-03-302021-04-26−16.9%272021-05-1115
2021-01-152021-02-11−15.8%272021-03-0320

Buy-and-hold's deepest drawdown ran from 2021-03-08 to 2026-10-02 and reached −96.1%.

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)−29.3%−92.9%$1,363-0.46
5 basis points−34.8%−95.4%$861-0.61
10 basis points−37.5%−96.3%$676-0.69

Changing the parameters

VersionCAGRMax drawdownRound tripsWin rateFinal value
Published rules−29.3%−92.9%26138%$1,363
5% target−17.5%−84.4%28048%$3,312
10% target−41.0%−96.5%22927%$485
15% target−29.6%−94.4%20023%$1,337

How SQQQ behaved

MeasureSQQQ
Data in this test2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02 (1444 sessions)
Total return, buy and hold−97.9%
Annualized volatility67.2%
Deepest drawdown−97.9% (2021-03-08 to 2026-10-02)
Up days45.2%
Average daily range4.75%
Average overnight gap1.78%
Correlation to SPY-0.94
Correlation to QQQ-1.00
Correlation to TLT-0.09
Sessions above the 200-day average16.8%
Crossings of the 200-day average26
Falls of 10% or more from a 20-day high85

The rules

Buy at the first open of each week, rest a +7% profit target, and exit Thursday afternoon if the trade is losing.

  1. WHEN the first session of the week opens · IF not invested · THEN buy with 98% of the sleeve (once per week)
  2. WHILE invested · a managed limit order rests at entry price × 1.07
  3. WHEN it's 2:00pm on the week's second-to-last session · IF the position is losing · THEN sell everything

A weekly swing template: enter Monday, aim for +7%, and do not carry a loser into the weekend. The profit target rests at the broker as a real limit order the whole time (DeployQuant maintains it as a managed order). The Thursday-afternoon exit gives losing trades a time deadline instead of a price stop.

Good for: volatile assets that regularly swing 7% within a week, such as leveraged ETFs.
Watch out: the time-based exit realizes many small losses by design. The template needs the +7% winners to outnumber them, which the per-ETF results test directly.

Run weekly 7% target on SQQQ 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 weekly 7% target beat buy-and-hold on SQQQ?

Over 2021-01-04 to 2026-10-02, weekly 7% target on SQQQ returned −29.3% annualized vs −42.3% for buy-and-hold: it beat buy-and-hold by 13.0% per year, with a maximum drawdown 3.2 points shallower than holding (92.9% vs 96.1%).

How many trades did it make?

261 completed round trips over 5.7 years (522 fills), with 38% of round trips closing profitably.

Why exit on Thursday?

It is a time deadline. The template does not hold a losing trade over the weekend gap. On holiday-shortened weeks the exit moves to the week's second-to-last session automatically.

Does the 7% target rest at the broker?

Yes. Deployed live, the target is a real GTC limit order that DeployQuant places and maintains.

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.