Library
Mean reversion · SPY · 1D

Does Stochastic %K/%D cross actually work on SPY? We tested it

We ran Stochastic %K/%D cross on SPY through walk-forward testing and a 100-run random-entry gauntlet. 4 of 4 unseen periods positive. Beat 95 of 100 random-entry runs.

WALK-FORWARD VERIFIED EDGESTACKER ENGINE
Return +46.2%
Win rate 95.7%
Max drawdown −16.4%
Trades 23
Sharpe 0.66
Equity curve

Equity curve over Aug 2016 to Jul 2026. Hover any point for its value. Turn on buy and hold to compare.

PeriodWindowReturnSharpeTrades
1 Aug 2018 to Jul 2020 +3.6% 0.55 2
2 Jul 2020 to Jul 2022 +9.9% 1.02 4
3 Jul 2022 to Jul 2024 +5.2% 0.62 5
4 Jul 2024 to Jul 2026 +6.7% 0.37 9
4 of 4 periods positive. Mean Sharpe 0.64. Worst period +3.6%.
Market matrix
Edge held on 7 of 28

The same rules, tested on 28 tickers. Edge held on 7. We ship it on those.

SPY SHIPPED
95/100 EDGE
AVGO
95/100 EDGE
XOM
92/100 EDGE
QQQ
91/100 EDGE
META
91/100 EDGE
NVDA
82/100 EDGE
JPM
76/100 EDGE
Show every ticker we tested
NFLX
83/100 NONE
COIN
75/100 NONE
DIA
68/100 NONE
UBER
68/100 NONE
MSTR
61/100 NONE
MU
60/100 NONE
IWM
57/100 NONE
RIOT
55/100 NONE
AMZN
54/100 NONE
BA
53/100 NONE
MSFT
49/100 NONE
GLD
48/100 NONE
AAPL
26/100 NONE
SOFI
18/100 NONE
MARA
17/100 NONE
AMD
16/100 NONE
GOOGL
15/100 NONE
SMCI
10/100 NONE
TSLA
7/100 NONE
PLTR
too new TOO NEW
HOOD
too new TOO NEW
The rules
Entrywhen STOCH %K(14/3/3) of close crosses above STOCH %D(14/3/3) of close AND STOCH %K(14/3/3) of close is below 30 AND close is above SMA of close over 200 bars
Exitwhen a signal fires (STOCH %K(14/3/3) of close is above 80)
Sizing**Position size:** no fixed stop distance to size against. This strategy exits on signal only. Size by conviction, or add a hard stop for a size-by-risk number.
Diagnosis

This strategy made money overall, turning a 46% total return on SPY with a very high win rate of nearly 96%, meaning almost every trade was a winner. However, the ride was not smooth; the worst drawdown hit -16.44% and lasted from January to April 2025, which is a significant and painful stretch. The high win rate and modest average gain of 1.69% per trade suggest the result is not driven by a few big winners, but rather by many small, consistent wins. The entry-timing edge is strong, with real entries beating 95% of random entry runs, so the entry signal itself is doing the heavy lifting rather than the exits. The consistency figure shows the edge held up across all four walk-forward periods, so the profit did not come from one lucky stretch.

Run this on your own account.

Sign up free. EdgeStacker runs a fresh backtest for you, then alerts you on the Today screen when the setup fires.

Test it yourself, free