The best indicator for Gold Miners (GDX)
We backtested 366 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real Gold Miners (GDX) history. Here's what actually worked — risk-adjusted, out-of-sample, with costs.
DeMarker
On the daily chart, this is the strongest risk-adjusted edge we found for Gold Miners (GDX) over ~20.0 years — beating buy-and-hold by 3.7% CAGR.
Best multi-indicator combo
Going long only when all 2 agree was the strongest confluence setup we found for Gold Miners (GDX) — beating buy-and-hold by 1.7% 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 | DeMarker ✓ | Daily | 8.4% | 0.45 | -69.4% | 69.0% | 71 | 3.7% |
| 2 | Demand Index ✓ | Weekly | 8.9% | 0.44 | -62.2% | 70.8% | 65 | 4.4% |
| 3 | VWAP Bands ✓ | Daily | 7.0% | 0.42 | -59.2% | 77.6% | 85 | 2.3% |
| 4 | Lorentzian Classification ✓ | Weekly | 7.6% | 0.42 | -59.8% | 50.7% | 148 | 3.1% |
| 5 | Three White Soldiers ✓ | Weekly | 6.4% | 0.4 | -56.3% | 66.0% | 50 | 1.9% |
| 6 | SMC: Liquidity Sweep ✓ | Daily | 8.0% | 0.4 | -75.8% | 69.6% | 69 | 3.3% |
| 7 | WMA 15/60 Cross ✓ | Daily | 7.0% | 0.39 | -37.3% | 48.5% | 66 | 2.3% |
| 8 | MA Envelope ✓ | Weekly | 7.0% | 0.39 | -67.5% | 60.0% | 55 | 2.6% |
| 9 | Camarilla Pivots ✓ | Weekly | 6.7% | 0.39 | -59.9% | 54.9% | 215 | 2.3% |
| 10 | Fibonacci Pivots ✓ | Weekly | 6.6% | 0.38 | -76.5% | 59.0% | 166 | 2.1% |
| 11 | Stochastic Momentum Index ✓ | Daily | 6.0% | 0.37 | -68.6% | 66.3% | 95 | 1.3% |
| 12 | Positive Volume Index ✓ | Daily | 6.1% | 0.37 | -39.0% | 34.7% | 72 | 1.4% |
| 13 | Relative Vigor Index ✓ | Weekly | 6.5% | 0.37 | -50.0% | 54.8% | 73 | 2.1% |
| 14 | Bollinger Mean-Reversion ✓ | Daily | 5.5% | 0.36 | -47.2% | 73.8% | 84 | 0.8% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For Gold Miners (GDX), DeMarker on the daily 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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