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Trend following · daily rule · Financials

Holy Grail on Onex

What the play says

Out since Feb 26, 2024at C$97.90ONEX since then +5.1%

Latest reading: ADX 24.95

Next move

No single daily close can flip this call, not even one as low as C$25.71 or as high as C$411.44. It needs a strong trend (ADX above 30) and a pullback to the 20-day EMA first, then a close above the pullback day's high.

Next check: the Oct 14, 2026 close

See every reason, for and against, in the Theory tester

ONEX with the play, last two years

ONEX20-day EMAStop (pullback-day low)Target (prior swing high)Play inPlay out

Shading shows the play's call from the close that triggered it.

ADX (14)

ADX

Dashed line at 30.

Growth of C$10,000 since 2005

Holy GrailBuy & hold

Log scale. After trading costs, with T-bill interest while out.

The record

The play against buying and holding ONEX over exactly the same dates, after costs.

Play, since 2005Hold, since 2005Play, 5 yrsHold, 5 yrs
Annual return+0.7%+8.6%+2.8%+3.3%
Total return+17%+500%+15%+17%
Worst drawdown−15.7%−68.1%−8.7%−40.6%
Volatility4.2%26.5%3.2%26.1%
Sharpe ratio−0.230.38−0.300.11
Time invested5%100%
Switches per year2.40

Every call, graded

Right on 17 of 54 closed calls (31%). In calls averaged −0.8%; out calls saw ONEX move +9.5% on average.

CalledCallPriceUntilONEX movedResult
Feb 26, 2024OUTC$97.90now+5.1%open
Feb 14, 2024INC$101.82Feb 26, 2024−3.9%✕ wrong
Jan 5, 2024OUTC$87.61Feb 14, 2024+16.2%✕ wrong
Dec 14, 2023INC$89.58Jan 5, 2024−2.2%✕ wrong
Sep 19, 2023OUTC$80.27Dec 14, 2023+11.6%✕ wrong
Sep 8, 2023INC$82.63Sep 19, 2023−2.9%✕ wrong
Sep 1, 2023OUTC$84.40Sep 8, 2023−2.1%✓ right
Aug 23, 2023INC$80.26Sep 1, 2023+5.1%✓ right
Jan 21, 2021OUTC$68.51Aug 23, 2023+17.1%✕ wrong
Dec 23, 2020INC$70.09Jan 21, 2021−2.3%✕ wrong
Jan 31, 2020OUTC$82.10Dec 23, 2020−14.6%✓ right
Jan 28, 2020INC$83.98Jan 31, 2020−2.2%✕ wrong

An in call is right when the price rose before the next call; an out call is right when it fell. The latest 12 of 55 calls shown.

How the play works

  1. In when, within 5 days of a pullback day, a close tops that day's high while ADX (14) is still above 30. A pullback day has ADX above 30, +DI above −DI, and a low at or below the 20-day EMA.
  2. Out on a close below the pullback day's low (the stop), or at or above the highest high of the 20 days before the pullback (the target).

ADX measures trend strength, and +DI above −DI says the trend is up. Descriptions of the setup ask for ADX above 30 with rising prices; reading that as +DI above −DI is Be The Puck's choice.

The 5-day entry window and the 20-day high used as the target are Be The Puck's choices. Neither number is published.

A 20-day exponential average, as most descriptions of Street Smarts use. Some write-ups use a simple one.

Raschke enters on a buy-stop during the day. Be The Puck waits for a close above the pullback day's high; that close may come on a day that also dips to the average. A close already at the target counts as no trade.

Be The Puck sells the whole position at the target.

Where the rules come from

The case against

Valeriy Zakamulin tested moving-average timing on up to 155 years of U.S. stock data and found no statistically significant edge in the second half of that record. The rules earned their keep in a few severe bear markets and lagged buy and hold for long stretches in between.

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