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Finaxion Research · ICT / Smart Money: the fair value gap · single stocks · Recomputed 2026-09-10

Does ICT / Smart Money: the fair value gap work on PYPL?

ICT / Smart Money: the fair value gap does not beat buy-and-hold on PYPL: -2.4 points a year over 11 years.

Total return
10.8%
Buy and hold
44.7%
CAGR
0.9%
Sharpe
-0.61
Max drawdown
-8.2%
Trades
62
Out of sample
—
Years
11
0.9×1×4.5×8.1×20162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
StrategyPYPL

Findings

  1. ICT / Smart Money: the fair value gap does not beat buy-and-hold on PYPL: -2.4 points a year over 11 years.
  2. Against the S&P 500 over the same window: -13.4 points a year.
  3. Total return +10.8% versus +44.7% for buy-and-hold, with 62 trades.
  4. Maximum drawdown -8.2%.
  5. It did not beat before 2021 and started afterwards.
  6. It ranks #182 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 baf59d3a43e0.

Exactly what was tested

Mechanical approximation: three-candle bullish gaps are detected within a 38-bar window; a return of price into the gap → entry; exit after 20 bars.

How to read it

The verdict compares the strategy with buying and holding PYPL 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 PYPL → · Full page for ICT / Smart Money: the fair value gap →

How to cite

Finaxion Research (2026). Does ICT / Smart Money: the fair value gap work on PYPL?. Daily backtest 1962-01-01–2026-08-31, artifact baf59d3a43e0. https://finaxion.app/en/research/ict-fair-value-gap/pypl

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