Premium VWAP Trendfollow Strategy [wbburgin]

This is a strongly-revised version of my VWAP Trendfollow Strategy, which follows a substantial reworking to address various structural inefficiencies with the script, such as the narrowing of the standard deviation band upon anchor reset. I will continue updating the original script with planned adjustments, this is a different proof-of-concept that builds off of the original script thesis with a different calculation method and execution.

This strategy is not built for any specific asset or timeframe, and has been backtested on crypto and equities from 1 min-1 day. The previous experimental strategy was heavily-correlated with the actual movement of the asset, which added unpalatable risk to the strategy and increased drawdown. This revised form has a more stable backtesting curve, but I want to heavily emphasize that I cannot guarantee that the strategy will be profitable for your circumstances. Backtesting only goes so far and every exchange has a different fee schedule, which can substantially eat into your profits. At the bottom I will explain the parameters behind the strategy results.

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The VWAP Trendfollow Strategy begins with a simple premise: to enter long when the price breaks above the upper standard deviation of a VWAP, and to close the position when the price breaks below the lower standard deviation of the VWAP. This is more effective than initiating the same strategy for a VWMA because the VWAP resets its anchor depending on your chosen anchor period, and the act of resetting its anchor also resets its standard deviation value. As a consequence, in sustained uptrends, the standard deviation is pulled upward to meet the price when the anchor resets, instead of requiring the price to fall all the way back down, as in the lower standard deviation band of the VWMA. This essentially acts as the VWAP itself raising the stop loss at each anchor period, which works well for the overall trend-following strategy.

However, this narrowing can still have consequences for a simple breakout strategy; as the price gradually oscillates towards above or below its standard deviation band, it may cross over the other and produce false signals. This oscillation is worrisome especially when fees are taken into account.

Thus, the premium VWAP Trendfollow strategy has a variable width which detects abnormal narrowing of the band, and adjusts it until it is reasonable to close the variability period. Additionally, a filter is added to the open/close signals to soften the frequency of signals without impacting performance significantly.

This script contains an ATR stop loss and an ATR take profit (which is also a difference between it and the original experimental script), with customizable inputs. The strategy results shown below are with initial capital of $1000, qty entry of 10%, and commissions of 0.06%. It works best on 24/7 instruments, like crypto, but I have found it also works with FAANG stocks or other high volatility / high volume assets. The issue with stocks, however, is that the price can jump/plummet because of abnormal events after-hours, which the strategy cannot pick up on until pre-trading begins the next morning. For that reason I suggest it be used on crypto and, because of its low % profitable (but high average winning trade in relation to its average losing trade), be used on an exchange that has minimal fees or volume-based discounts. In the unfortunate case that you cannot find a minimal fee or volume-discounted fee exchange (such as fellow Americans following the liquidity-retreat on Binance.US), I encourage you to test out the higher anchor periods for the higher timeframes, which will reduce the number of trades and increase the average % per trade.

Additionally, this is a long-term strategy used best for accumulation. It is currently long-only; that may change based off of user input.

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Disclaimer

Copyright by wbburgin.

The information contained in my Scripts/Indicators/Algorithms does not constitute financial advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any securities of any type. I will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from the use of or reliance on such information.

All investments involve risk, and the past performance of a security, industry, sector, market, financial product, trading strategy, backtest, or individual's trading does not guarantee future results or returns. Investors are fully responsible for any investment decisions they make. Such decisions should be based solely on an evaluation of their financial circumstances, investment objectives, risk tolerance, and liquidity needs.