The best indicator for Corn (ZC)
We backtested 366 indicators across daily, weekly and hourly charts on real Corn (ZC) history. Here's what actually worked — risk-adjusted, out-of-sample, with costs.
Intraday Momentum Index
On the weekly chart, this is the strongest risk-adjusted edge we found for Corn (ZC) over ~25.9 years — beating buy-and-hold by 6.3% CAGR.
Best multi-indicator combo
Going long only when all 2 agree was the strongest confluence setup we found for Corn (ZC) — beating buy-and-hold by 3.3% 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 | Intraday Momentum Index ✓ | Weekly | 9.4% | 0.69 | -22.6% | 86.4% | 22 | 6.3% |
| 2 | Order-Flow Reversion ✓ | Weekly | 4.2% | 0.55 | -16.2% | 75.0% | 16 | 1.1% |
| 3 | DeMarker ✓ | Weekly | 5.7% | 0.48 | -37.9% | 72.7% | 22 | 2.6% |
| 4 | Donchian 55/20 ✓ | Daily | 6.5% | 0.47 | -30.0% | 39.1% | 46 | 3.2% |
| 5 | Hull MA Trend ✓ | Weekly | 6.7% | 0.42 | -53.6% | 38.2% | 68 | 3.6% |
| 6 | Ulcer Index ✓ | Weekly | 5.6% | 0.41 | -47.4% | 46.5% | 43 | 2.5% |
| 7 | Camarilla Pivots ✓ | Weekly | 5.9% | 0.41 | -44.6% | 51.9% | 293 | 2.7% |
| 8 | MACD ✓ | Weekly | 6.1% | 0.4 | -46.9% | 42.6% | 47 | 3.0% |
| 9 | Ease of Movement ✓ | Weekly | 6.0% | 0.4 | -64.9% | 41.5% | 41 | 2.8% |
| 10 | Standard Error Bands ✓ | Daily | 2.6% | 0.39 | -24.7% | 56.1% | 66 | -0.7% |
| 11 | WaveTrend (8/6/4) ✓ | Weekly | 5.9% | 0.39 | -43.6% | 83.3% | 24 | 2.8% |
| 12 | Adaptive Supertrend ✓ | Weekly | 5.7% | 0.38 | -51.5% | 29.3% | 41 | 2.5% |
| 13 | QQE MOD ✓ | Weekly | 5.2% | 0.38 | -52.2% | 49.1% | 55 | 2.0% |
| 14 | Pring's Special K ✓ | Weekly | 4.8% | 0.38 | -38.4% | 36.7% | 30 | 1.7% |
✓ = held up out-of-sample. Hypothetical, costs included. See methodology.
For Corn (ZC), Intraday Momentum Index 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.
More commodity
Get the weekly edge report
The best-performing indicator per asset, what changed this week, and the honest caveats — straight to your inbox.