Trading EdgeTest the Rule Before You Trade It
A trading signal is only useful after it survives the parts most backtests avoid.
We test technical rules against data-snooping, transaction costs, taxes, and out-of-sample evidence.
Backtest Evidence
Trading Costs
Out-of-Sample Tests
The Survival Test
How We Test a Claimed Trading Edge
A profitable chart in hindsight is not enough. The analysis has to show that the rule was defined before the result, survives realistic execution costs, and continues to work outside the sample that produced it.
01 · Signal
Was the rule defined clearly?
We separate testable entry and exit rules from visual pattern recognition that changes after the chart is already known.
02 · Friction
Does the edge survive implementation?
Turnover, spreads, slippage, taxes, and missed market exposure are included before a gross backtest is called investable.
03 · Survival
Does it work beyond the original sample?
We look for multiple-testing corrections, regime robustness, and out-of-sample evidence rather than rewarding one attractive historical period.
Backtest analysis for education and further research, not a recommendation to trade any signal or security.
Research Library
Latest Trading Edge Analysis
Technical signals, backtest failures, execution costs, market timing rules, and evidence that survives hindsight.
Jun 1, 2026
TradingView Settings for Investors Cost You $4,757
TradingView's default RSI 14 and MACD 12/26/9 are 1970s day-trading numbers. Obey their alerts as a long-term investor and the quiet bill runs about $4,757 a decade.
Read the analysis →May 25, 2026
Portfolio Tracker Sync Delay: The 30-Year Costs $0
We ran 3,000 simulations to price a day-late portfolio tracker. Median 30-year cost: about zero. It adds swing, not a steady drain.
Read the analysis →May 22, 2026
Volume Precedes Price: The Myth 3 Journals Demolish
The ‘volume precedes price 73 percent of the time’ claim has no peer-reviewed academic source. Four major academic papers from 1987 through 2009 contain zero quantification of the specific hit-rate.…
Read the analysis →May 19, 2026
Bollinger Band Squeeze: The 50/50 Direction Trap
Bollinger Band squeeze win rate sits at 50 percent in academic tests of 7,846 trading rules. The compound cost on a $50,000 account over 15 years reaches $26,328.
Read the analysis →May 16, 2026
Does MACD Work? A 2012 Study Tested 7,846 Rules
A 2012 study tested 7,846 technical trading rules on the Dow Jones and found zero that beat buying and holding. A $300K portfolio adding $1K monthly forfeits $359,104 over 20…
Read the analysis →May 13, 2026
RSI Overbought Signal: Right Only 47% of the Time
Why trust this analysis Danny Hwang; aggregated 5-market RSI 70/30 trading-rule profitability Tables from Chong-Ng-Liew JRFM 2014. Hit rates verified against published Brock-Lakonishok-LeBaron t-statistics; 4-year crypto cross-asset confirmation; methodology open.…
Read the analysis →May 11, 2026
Golden Cross Win Rate: 78% Wins Drain $337K in 30 Years
A 78 percent golden cross win rate is a frequency claim, not a wealth claim. QuantifiedStrategies' 33-signal S&P 500 backtest from 1960 through 2026 logs the 78 percent figure alongside…
Read the analysis →May 8, 2026
SMA vs EMA Crossover: Both Drain $602K via Turnover
Barber and Odean's Q4 turnover quintile costs 5.568 percent yearly across 66,465 households. That drag attaches to trade frequency, not signal smoothness.
Read the analysis →May 6, 2026
Trendline Survivorship Bias Drains $598K in 35y
Retail trendline trading looks free but compounds 1% drag into a $598,099 wealth gap on $200K over 35 years. The chart never shows what it deleted.
Read the analysis →May 4, 2026
Support and Resistance: The 3.73x Round-Number Trap
Round-number support and resistance attract 3.73x more trades than uniform distribution would predict at integer prices like $100. Bhattacharya, Holden and Jacobsen estimated -$813 million in annual aggregate wealth transfer.
Read the analysis →