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Finaxion Research · The Turtles: 55-day breakout · indices and ETFs · Recomputed 2026-09-10

Does the Turtles: 55-day breakout work on QQQ?

The Turtles: 55-day breakout does not beat buy-and-hold on QQQ: -6.8 points a year over 27 years.

Total return
188.8%
Buy and hold
×17
CAGR
3.9%
Sharpe
0.06
Max drawdown
-59.9%
Trades
128
Out of sample
overfit
Years
27
1×10×17×20002002200420062008201020122014201620182020202220242026
StrategyQQQ

Findings

  1. The Turtles: 55-day breakout does not beat buy-and-hold on QQQ: -6.8 points a year over 27 years.
  2. Against the S&P 500 over the same window: -4.6 points a year.
  3. Total return +188.8% versus ×17 for buy-and-hold, with 128 trades.
  4. The result does not hold out of sample: it is overfit.
  5. Maximum drawdown -59.9%.
  6. It beats in neither half of the history (split at 2012).
  7. It ranks #67 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 0712690e8935.

Exactly what was tested

Close above the prior 55-day high → entry. Close below the prior 20-day low → exit (original System 2). No pyramiding or ATR sizing: we test the signal alone.

How to read it

The verdict compares the strategy with buying and holding QQQ 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 QQQ → · Full page for The Turtles: 55-day breakout →

How to cite

Finaxion Research (2026). Does the Turtles: 55-day breakout work on QQQ?. Daily backtest 1962-01-01–2026-08-31, artifact 0712690e8935. https://finaxion.app/en/research/donchian-55-breakout/qqq

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