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Finaxion Research · Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) · single stocks · Recomputed 2026-09-10

Does Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) work on A?

Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) does not beat buy-and-hold on A: -2.5 points a year over 27 years.

Total return
211.6%
Buy and hold
486.3%
CAGR
4.3%
Sharpe
0.14
Max drawdown
-73.2%
Trades
925
Out of sample
partly
Years
27
1×6×20002002200420062008201020122014201620182020202220242026
StrategyA

Findings

  1. Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) does not beat buy-and-hold on A: -2.5 points a year over 27 years.
  2. Against the S&P 500 over the same window: -4.0 points a year.
  3. Total return +211.6% versus +486.3% for buy-and-hold, with 925 trades.
  4. The result holds only partly out of sample.
  5. Maximum drawdown -73.2%.
  6. It beat before 2013 and stopped afterwards.
  7. It ranks #44 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 6540eaf5c46b.

Exactly what was tested

Close crosses above KAMA(10, 2, 30) → entry; close crosses below → exit.

How to read it

The verdict compares the strategy with buying and holding A 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 A → · Full page for Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) →

How to cite

Finaxion Research (2026). Does Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) work on A?. Daily backtest 1962-01-01–2026-08-31, artifact 6540eaf5c46b. https://finaxion.app/en/research/kama-adaptive-average/a

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