The best indicator for Crude Oil WTI (CL)
We backtested 366 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real Crude Oil WTI (CL) history. Here's what actually worked — risk-adjusted, out-of-sample, with costs.
Hammer
On the weekly chart, this is the strongest risk-adjusted edge we found for Crude Oil WTI (CL) over ~25.9 years — beating buy-and-hold by 7.4% CAGR.
Best multi-indicator combo
Going long only when all 2 agree was the strongest confluence setup we found for Crude Oil WTI (CL) — beating buy-and-hold by 4.8% CAGR, out-of-sample. Fewer, higher-conviction trades than any single indicator.
The winner on each chart
Every indicator, ranked
Ranked by Sharpe (risk-adjusted return). Hypothetical, fees included.
| # | Indicator | TF | CAGR | Sharpe | Max DD | Win | Trades | vs B&H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hammer ✓ | Weekly | 11.5% | 0.75 | -40.0% | 65.6% | 32 | 7.4% |
| 2 | Stochastic RSI ✓ | Weekly | 9.3% | 0.58 | -39.0% | 72.5% | 40 | 5.2% |
| 3 | Ehlers Relative Vigor ✓ | Weekly | 12.1% | 0.56 | -46.8% | 46.2% | 104 | 8.0% |
| 4 | FRAMA 10/30 Cross ✓ | Weekly | 10.2% | 0.51 | -40.4% | 53.7% | 82 | 6.1% |
| 5 | Relative Vigor Index ✓ | Weekly | 10.4% | 0.5 | -46.3% | 49.0% | 96 | 6.3% |
| 6 | Advance Trend Pressure ✓ | Weekly | 10.2% | 0.48 | -54.3% | 50.9% | 57 | 6.1% |
| 7 | Zero-Lag LSMA ✓ | Weekly | 8.8% | 0.44 | -64.7% | 51.8% | 85 | 4.7% |
| 8 | Donchian Midline ✓ | Weekly | 8.2% | 0.43 | -44.2% | 40.6% | 69 | 4.1% |
| 9 | Williams %R (21) ✓ | Weekly | 8.2% | 0.43 | -46.3% | 38.2% | 68 | 4.1% |
| 10 | Williams %R (50) ✓ | Weekly | 8.1% | 0.43 | -52.7% | 45.7% | 46 | 4.0% |
| 11 | McGinley 100 Trend ✓ | Daily | 8.5% | 0.42 | -58.9% | 33.8% | 77 | 4.3% |
| 12 | Williams %R (28) ✓ | Weekly | 7.9% | 0.42 | -54.9% | 33.3% | 60 | 3.8% |
| 13 | LSMA 100 Trend ✓ | Daily | 6.8% | 0.41 | -48.4% | 39.5% | 238 | 2.6% |
| 14 | DEMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Daily | 7.5% | 0.4 | -58.0% | 45.4% | 108 | 3.4% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For Crude Oil WTI (CL), Hammer on the weekly timeframe gave the best balance of return and risk in our test. It beat buy-and-hold — but remember: this is a hypothetical backtest of a standard rule, not a recommendation. Markets change. See the methodology and disclaimer.
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