MA Stock: MACD Signal Line Crossover Backtest — +18.1% vs +106.4% Buy-and-Hold
Real backtest of the MACD Signal Line Crossover strategy on MA over 5 years: +18.1% return vs +106.4% buy-and-hold, 43 trades, 40% win rate, 23.9% max drawdown. Computed on real historical data, not simulated — full trade log and verdict inside.
- Total return: +18.1% (trailed buy-and-hold at +106.4%)
- Win rate: 40% over 43 trades
- Max drawdown: 23.9%
- Sharpe ratio: -0.02
- Period: 5 years of real historical price data
What the numbers say
On MA, the MACD Signal Line Crossover trailed buy-and-hold over the five years through Nov 2026: +18.1% against +106.4% for simply holding — a gap of 88.3 percentage points. The strategy took 43 completed trades (17 profitable, 26 not), a 40% win rate.
It did not buy that return with less pain: the strategy's max drawdown was 23.9%, against 20.9% for buy-and-hold. Dollar-cost averaging into MA over the same window returned +47.0%. Best single trade: +15.9% (2026-10-07 to 2026-11-12); worst: -5.0% (2022-10-05 to 2022-10-11).
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.
A momentum strategy: buy Mastercard (MA) when the MACD line crosses above its signal line, sell when it crosses back below.
Run this exact rule on your own ticker — Test-My-Rule, free · StratIQ Premium: daily picks with exact levels