DIA Stock: Golden Cross (50/200 SMA) Backtest — +14.0% vs +77.5% Buy-and-Hold
Real backtest of the Golden Cross (50/200 SMA) strategy on DIA over 5 years: +14.0% return vs +77.5% buy-and-hold, 2 trades, 50% win rate, 9.8% max drawdown. Computed on real historical data, not simulated — full trade log and verdict inside.
- Total return: +14.0% (trailed buy-and-hold at +77.5%)
- Win rate: 50% over 2 trades
- Max drawdown: 9.8%
- Sharpe ratio: -0.19
- Period: 5 years of real historical price data
What the numbers say
On DIA, the Golden Cross (50/200 SMA) trailed buy-and-hold over the five years through Nov 2026: +14.0% against +77.5% for simply holding — a gap of 63.5 percentage points. The strategy took 2 completed trades (1 profitable, 1 not), a 50% win rate — a small sample, so read this as a clue about the rule, not proof.
That came with a shallower worst stretch: the strategy's max drawdown was 9.8% versus 15.9% for buy-and-hold. Dollar-cost averaging into DIA over the same window returned +36.4%. Best single trade: +20.0% (2025-07-10 to 2026-11-12); worst: -5.0% (2022-12-12 to 2023-03-10).
Computed by StratIQ's backtest engine on real daily prices through Nov 2026 (generated 2026-11-12). Fills are assumed at the close with a 5% stop-loss; slippage and commissions are not modeled. This is a historical study of a rule — not a pick, not a recommendation, and not financial advice.
One of the most widely cited trend-following signals: go long DIA when the 50-day SMA crosses above the 200-day SMA (a 'golden cross'), exit when it crosses back below (a 'death cross').
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