FINAXIONResearch
Finaxion Research · Only invest above the 200-day average · single stocks · Recomputed 2026-09-10

Does Only invest above the 200-day average work on CPRT?

Only invest above the 200-day average does not beat buy-and-hold on CPRT: -8.3 points a year over 32 years.

Total return
×20
Buy and hold
×217
CAGR
9.8%
Sharpe
0.33
Max drawdown
-59.1%
Trades
286
Out of sample
overfit
Years
32
1×10×100×19951998200120042007201020132016201920222025
StrategyCPRT

Findings

  1. Only invest above the 200-day average does not beat buy-and-hold on CPRT: -8.3 points a year over 32 years.
  2. Against the S&P 500 over the same window: -1.2 points a year.
  3. Total return ×20 versus ×217 for buy-and-hold, with 286 trades.
  4. The result does not hold out of sample: it is overfit.
  5. Maximum drawdown -59.1%.
  6. It beats in neither half of the history (split at 2010).
  7. It ranks #80 of 235 markets for this strategy by annual excess over the S&P 500.

Findings derived from the full panel. Each carries its number and its denominator; the computations are reproducible with artifact 7a691ad4255c.

Exactly what was tested

Long while the close is above the 200-day SMA; exit when the close crosses below it. Next-close execution.

How to read it

The verdict compares the strategy with buying and holding CPRT over the same window, with round-trip costs per asset class. “Out of sample” is walk-forward: the rule is fit on one stretch and judged on the next. A result that beats in the full sample but not out of it is overfit. Full methodology in the protocol. How we test.

Open this backtest with its trades   Trades (CSV)

Every strategy on CPRT → · Full page for Only invest above the 200-day average →

How to cite

Finaxion Research (2026). Does Only invest above the 200-day average work on CPRT?. Daily backtest 1962-01-01–2026-08-31, artifact 7a691ad4255c. https://finaxion.app/en/research/200-day-sma-filter/cprt

Not a recommendation. Past performance does not guarantee future results.