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Trend · BA · 1D

Does Donchian 20/10 breakout actually work on BA? We tested it

We ran Donchian 20/10 breakout on BA through walk-forward testing and a 100-run random-entry gauntlet. 3 of 4 unseen periods positive. Beat 76 of 100 random-entry runs.

WALK-FORWARD VERIFIED EDGESTACKER ENGINE
Return +177.8%
Win rate 36.1%
Max drawdown −31.7%
Trades 36
Sharpe 0.71
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 +3.0% 0.23 7
2 Jul 2020 to Jul 2022 −0.7% 0.10 8
3 Jul 2022 to Jul 2024 +24.4% 0.78 8
4 Jul 2024 to Jul 2026 +2.2% 0.18 7
3 of 4 periods positive. Mean Sharpe 0.32. Worst period −0.7%.
Market matrix
Edge held on 1 of 28

The same rules, tested on 28 tickers. Edge held on 1. We ship it on those.

BA SHIPPED
76/100 EDGE
Show every ticker we tested
COIN
82/100 NONE
TSLA
73/100 NONE
AAPL
61/100 NONE
IWM
55/100 NONE
SPY
54/100 NONE
MARA
54/100 NONE
PLTR
53/100 NONE
XOM
52/100 NONE
RIOT
50/100 NONE
AVGO
48/100 NONE
SMCI
48/100 NONE
UBER
48/100 NONE
GLD
43/100 NONE
AMD
42/100 NONE
AMZN
38/100 NONE
META
38/100 NONE
MSTR
38/100 NONE
DIA
36/100 NONE
NFLX
36/100 NONE
NVDA
34/100 NONE
SOFI
30/100 NONE
QQQ
29/100 NONE
JPM
25/100 NONE
MSFT
16/100 NONE
MU
14/100 NONE
GOOGL
9/100 NONE
HOOD
too new TOO NEW
The rules
Entrywhen close crosses above DONCHIAN upper band of close over 20 bars
Exitwhen a signal fires (close crosses below DONCHIAN lower band of close over 10 bars)
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 177.81% total return, but the ride was very lumpy. The worst stretch was a brutal 31.70% drawdown that lasted from March 2021 to October 2022, which is where it hurt the most. With only 36 trades and a win rate of 36%, the result is not driven by just a few lucky trades, but the profits came from a handful of big winners that made up for many small losses. The entry timing is strong, as real entries beat 76% of random entry runs, meaning the entry signal itself is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. The edge was consistent across time, showing up in 3 out of 4 walk forward periods, so the performance was not just from one lucky stretch.

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Backtested results, not live trading returns. Fees and slippage included. Not investment advice.