The best indicator for Southwest Airlines (LUV)
We backtested 382 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real Southwest Airlines (LUV) history. Here's what actually worked — risk-adjusted, out-of-sample, with costs.
Where Southwest Airlines (LUV) stands
Computed from our own daily OHLCV history, not quoted from a third party. Moving averages use closing prices; "52-week" is the last 252 trading sessions.
EMA 20/50 Cross
On the daily chart, this is the strongest risk-adjusted edge we found for Southwest Airlines (LUV) over ~46.4 years — trailing buy-and-hold by 0.2% CAGR.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) on the daily chart
The timeframe our backtest found best for this asset. The chart is live market data; the results above are hypothetical and historical.
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Best multi-indicator combo
Going long only when all 2 agree was the strongest confluence setup we found for Southwest Airlines (LUV) — trailing buy-and-hold by 8.6% 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 | EMA 20/50 Cross ✓ | Daily | 12.6% | 0.58 | -66.0% | 38.7% | 93 | -0.2% |
| 2 | Cutler's RSI ✓ | Weekly | 12.4% | 0.58 | -72.5% | 45.5% | 132 | -0.4% |
| 3 | ROC (14) ✓ | Weekly | 12.4% | 0.58 | -72.5% | 45.5% | 132 | -0.4% |
| 4 | CMO (14) ✓ | Weekly | 12.4% | 0.58 | -72.5% | 45.5% | 132 | -0.4% |
| 5 | EMA 15/60 Cross ✓ | Daily | 12.2% | 0.57 | -70.1% | 39.8% | 98 | -0.6% |
| 6 | Inverse Fisher RSI ✓ | Weekly | 12.1% | 0.57 | -72.7% | 41.1% | 73 | -0.6% |
| 7 | Trendlines with Breaks ✓ | Daily | 12.1% | 0.57 | -58.7% | 41.7% | 96 | -0.7% |
| 8 | Instantaneous Trendline ✓ | Weekly | 11.9% | 0.56 | -71.0% | 42.0% | 81 | -0.8% |
| 9 | SMA 5/20 Cross ✓ | Weekly | 11.8% | 0.56 | -64.0% | 41.4% | 70 | -0.9% |
| 10 | Std Error Channel ✓ | Weekly | 11.3% | 0.56 | -56.0% | 35.2% | 88 | -1.5% |
| 11 | Premier Stochastic ✓ | Weekly | 11.6% | 0.55 | -69.3% | 45.7% | 81 | -1.1% |
| 12 | ROC (60) ✓ | Daily | 11.4% | 0.54 | -61.6% | 36.9% | 295 | -1.4% |
| 13 | Coral Trend ✓ | Weekly | 11.5% | 0.54 | -66.6% | 37.7% | 53 | -1.3% |
| 14 | Coppock (fast) ✓ | Weekly | 11.2% | 0.54 | -70.8% | 43.6% | 78 | -1.5% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
What it would take to beat buy & hold on Southwest Airlines (LUV)
24 of 719 tested setups beat buy-and-hold on Southwest Airlines (LUV) outright. Another 273 could get there with leverage they would survive — but 369 would be liquidated by their own drawdown before they caught it.
| Indicator | Beats B&H unlevered | Leverage needed | Leverage survived |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parabolic SAR | 1 | 1.08× | 2.17× |
| QQE | 1 | 1.28× | 1.53× |
| Gann HiLo Activator | 1 | 1.33× | 2.1× |
| Fisher Transform | 1 | 1.34× | 2.45× |
| Smoothed Heikin-Ashi | 1 | 1.52× | 2.34× |
| HalfTrend | 1 | 1.81× | 2.18× |
Out-of-sample, costs included. A setup is only listed if the leverage it needs is less than the leverage its own worst drawdown survives — when it isn't, no amount of leverage gets there. Volatility drag isn't modelled, so these are the optimistic case. Every indicator, ranked this way
For Southwest Airlines (LUV), EMA 20/50 Cross on the daily timeframe gave the best balance of return and risk in our test. It still trailed buy-and-hold on raw return — 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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