Mean reversion · issue of Sep 17, 2026 · A few trades a year

RSI(2) Mean Reversion
Buy deep dips inside an uptrend.

Wins about 8 trades in 10 with a small drawdown, but sits in cash 90% of the time.

What it says now · from the close of Nov 11, 2026
In cash

In cash — RSI(2) is 81, the rule needs below 10

Data freshNext decision · Close of Thu Nov 12

Re-read at every close.

TickerNamePosition
SPYS&P 500Flat

Levels

Last close 759.81
200-day average below it, dips are not bought728.85-4.1%
Buys on a close below RSI(2) under 10 — but that is under the 200-day average, so no buy694.30-8.6%

The closes at which the rule, as published, would act. Read from the last close; they move with the market.

Track record

H $1.25 $1.25
Strategy $1.25 Buy & hold SPY $1.75 Growth of $1, Nov 11, 2021 to Nov 11, 2026
Last 5 yearsSince 2000Buy & hold SPY, since 2000
Annual return4.5%3.7%8.5%
Sharpe ratio0.810.640.52
Worst drawdown-6.8%-13.9%-55.2%

A backtest with the issue's own costs, extended to the last close. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Stance history

Aug 14, 2026Nov 11, 2026

In the market 11 of the last 63 sessions, returning +3.0% across them. Last change Nov 5, 2026: Long → Flat.

Research Lab

Written down before the results existed: Every 21 sessions after the issue returns between -1.5% and +2.3%: the range of 90% of the 6,508 such stretches in the backtest up to Sep 17, 2026.

WindowReturnResult
Check 1Sep 18, 2026 – Oct 16, 2026-1.1%Inside the range

Check 2 is running: 18 of 21 sessions in, judged on Nov 16, 2026.

Standing check: the deepest fall since the issue is -1.1%, against a worst of -13.9% in the backtest — within it.

Checked by the program when each window completes and sealed into the record. Misses stay public; the record counts both ways.

The issue's numbers, reproduced

Every figure the issue printed, recomputed on the same window from the platform's own price history.

FigureIn the issueRecomputed
Annual return3.6%3.6%matches
Sharpe0.620.62matches
Worst drawdown-13.8%-13.9%matches
Winning trades81.8%81.4%matches

More from the newsletter, live

Get the next stance change
in your inbox.

Follow any issue and you get one email when its strategy changes position. Free, no card.