Mean Reversion Trading Strategies Backtest With Mean Reverting Indicators

what is mean reversion trading

Market anomalies and unforeseen events, known as Black Swan events, can disrupt the expected reversion to the mean. The efficient market hypothesis has also been criticized for oversimplifying market dynamics, which may affect the reliability of mean reversion. Furthermore, market manipulation and insider trading can distort price movements and impede the predictability of mean reversion. It is essential to consider these limitations when applying mean reversion in financial analysis and decision-making. Considering the above provides investors with a framework to navigate volatile markets and potentially capitalize on price movements that revert to the mean. Market manipulation and insider trading can distort price movements and influence mean reversion.

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what is mean reversion trading

The 2008 financial crisis serves as a prime example of mean reversion in commodity prices. Post-crisis, the prices of many commodities fell sharply but gradually recovered over the following years to levels more in line with their historical averages. The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) is a fundamental pillar https://www.1investing.in/ of modern financial theory. It asserts that financial markets are “informationally efficient,” meaning that asset prices always reflect all available information. However, while it offers a lesser risk-reward ratio compared to trend trading, that shouldn’t be a deal breaker, especially if you’re a day trader.

Is mean reversion a good strategy?

A good trade setup would have been on the down candle after the highest swing point. Traders take advantage of this—either buying or selling—to catch the move back towards its average deposit meaning in bank value. Another metaphor to help you understand this concept is the pendulum. It swings to the left, then the right, but always seems to find its way back to the center.

What is a momentum strategy?

The greater the deviation from this mean, the higher the probability that the asset’s price will move closer to it in the future. In the world of algorithmic trading, the principle of mean reversion has shaped numerous successful strategies. Traders who adopt a mean reversion strategy capitalise on price corrections when an asset significantly deviates from its mean. We explore the fundamentals of mean reversion trading, its implementation steps, challenges, and the importance of careful analysis and risk management for successful execution. The Relative Strength Index is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and change of price movements.

One common strategy to consider when forex trading is looking at how far a currency’s relative value tends to deviate from its mean before reverting. This can be done using MACD or the similar Percentage Price Oscillator (PPO) strategy – a technical momentum indicator that shows the relationship between two moving averages in percentage terms. Forex traders often use moving averages to identify the mean exchange rate over a specific period. When a currency pair deviates significantly from this average, a reversion is often expected.

What Are the Key Characteristics of Mean Reversion?

As said above, a mean reversion trader is looking for opportunities where price has moved away from its mean (or average) price significantly. Usually, the mean price is calculated by using a moving average and applying it to the charts. For example, the chart below shows the EUR/USD Daily chart and a 50 period smoothed moving average. The probability of an event occurring, particularly in financial markets, often dictates the actions of investors and traders.

  1. The Mean reversion definition is that asset prices and historical returns eventually return to their long-term average or mean.
  2. You’ll be able to recognize and take advantage of trends in the market in no time.
  3. The mean reversion trade for down trending stocks really looks no different, just a mirror image of an up trending stock.
  4. One might observe this when a stock recovers from a sharp decline during an overall uptrend, hinting that it may revert to align with the prevailing economic growth.
  5. It’s often more reasonable to assume a company’s growth will revert to its industry’s average, as opposed to the market average, and compare those results.

This principle is based on the cyclical nature of markets, where periods of high performance are often followed by a decline, and vice versa. Traders using this strategy buy undervalued assets expecting a rise towards the mean and sell overvalued ones anticipating a fall. Mean reversion is used in several investment strategies such as pair trading, statistical arbitrage, contrarian investing, and value investing. These strategies aim to exploit fluctuations in prices and take positions in assets that are expected to revert to their historical averages over time. It’s important to note that mean reversion can be a good investing strategy for some investors, but there is no guarantee that prices will revert back to their historical averages.

Accurate measurement is the foundation of any trading strategy’s improvement. Traders typically review key metrics such as sharp ratio, win rate, and drawdowns to gauge the effectiveness of their mean reversion trades. They analyze whether the trades regularly gravitate towards the long-term average levels and if the strategy performs well during different market phases, especially during uptrends or downtrends. Deviation from the mean is usually measured using statistical tools, which signal whether an asset is under or overvalued based on historical data. The mean reversion strategy posits high deviations are not sustained indefinitely, and prices will eventually revert to their long-term mean. In essence, mean reversion suggests that prices will fluctuate around a true average, implying a state of equilibrium that is normal for the asset.

This analysis is based on the idea that exchange rates are likely to revert to their historical averages over time. Traders can use mean reversion strategies to take advantage of temporary price deviations. Mean reversion is a key financial concept that hypothesizes that asset prices and returns eventually return towards their long-term mean or average.

Because of that, they can likely offer a similar product at a lower price, which is attractive to potential customers. The mean reversion trade for down trending stocks really looks no different, just a mirror image of an up trending stock. In other words, rallies should be met with resistance somewhere into the mean reversion of the channel. In this example, we have the 20ema in blue, the 50sma in red, and the 200sma in black. For a moment, just visualize all three of these on the chart and their relation to each other.

This means we’ll need to exit our trade on the next day (when the market opens). What we’re looking for is, for the 10-period RSI to cross above 40 which happens only after the market rallies higher. The idea behind this mean reversion trading is to capture “one move” in the market, and that’s it. When the 10-period RSI is below 30, it means there’s strong bearish momentum (over the last 10 days).

Once you’ve drawn your line, clone the line on the other side of the developing channel. The more channels you study, the better you’ll get at judging the support and resistance sooner in the trend. We’ve written an entire post on how to trade trends, so be sure to check that out in addition to the information below. Discover how to increase your chances of trading success, with data gleaned from over 100,00 IG accounts. So, if the RSI doesn’t cross above 40 after 10 trading days, we’ll exit the trade on the open of the 11th trading day. Alternatively, you can rank the stocks according to their rate of change (ROC) values over the last 50-weeks.

Now, calculating the mean involves taking an average of the asset’s historical prices over a specific period. While mean reversion profits from price corrections, trend following seeks to capitalize on longer-term momentum. Typically, mean reversion may offer quicker, smaller trades, whereas trend following aims for larger gains over a more extended period, potentially involving higher risks.