Backtesting Strategy backtests

Which trading strategies work on QQQ?

Last updated Oct 11, 2026

We ran seven textbook strategies on QQQ from Mar 26, 2024 to Sep 30, 2026, and none of the seven we compared beat just holding it. Luck may explain every one of these results.

All strategies on QQQ

StrategyNet resultJust holdingTradesLuck
Golden Cross+42.7%+67.2%1Too few closed trades (1) to tell. That takes at least 30.
RSI(2) pullback+7.4%+67.2%27Too few trades (27) to tell. That takes at least 30.
MACD crossover+20.1%+67.2%25Too few closed trades (25) to tell. That takes at least 30.
Bollinger Band breakout+13.9%+67.2%11Too few closed trades (11) to tell. That takes at least 30.
Opening range breakout+19.8%+65.8%620The average trade made +0.03% over 620 trades. Luck could explain that. See the QQQ results
First 5-minute candle breakout+27.5%+65.8%630The average trade made +0.04% over 630 trades. Luck could explain that. See the QQQ results
Gap fill fade-5.0%+65.8%377The average trade made -0.01% over 377 trades. Luck could explain that. See the QQQ results

The rows are in the same order on every stock, and they are not ranked.

How we tested

We ran each strategy on QQQ from Mar 26, 2024 to Sep 30, 2026 with the textbook rules. $10,000, all in on every trade, no margin. Commission is $0.005 a share and slippage is a cent a share, on every fill. Just holding is the stock's price only, with no dividends, and a position still open on the last day is counted at that day's close.

Questions

Can I test these on QQQ myself?

Yes. Open a strategy's results page and press "Try it yourself" to load it in the Backtest tab. Without a paid plan you can reach less history than we used, and your numbers can differ.

Why doesn't every strategy have its own page?

The tester needs at least thirty trades before it will tell a result from luck. A strategy with fewer gets a row in the table and no page of its own.

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