Evidence-based investing research
Value Investing Strategy (Strategy Overview)
Allocations for March 2026 (Final)
Cash TLT LQD SPY
Momentum Investing Strategy (Strategy Overview)
Allocations for March 2026 (Final)
1st ETF 2nd ETF 3rd ETF

SACEMS with Momentum Breadth Protection Update

Steve LeCompte | | Posted in: Momentum Investing, Strategic Allocation, Technical Trading

"SACEMS with Momentum Breadth Crash Protection" evaluates in depth the potential of a simple momentum breadth rule to improve performance of the Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy (SACEMS). This rule forces the model to all cash when fewer than some threshold of the non-cash SACEMS assets have positive returns over a specified lookback interval. Do major findings of that evaluation still hold? To update, we repeat some of the analyses with the minor changes since made to SACEMS plus recent data. We focus on compound annual growth rates (CAGR) and maximum drawdowns (MaxDD) for the Top 1, equal-weighted (EW) Top 2 and EW Top 3 SACEMS portfolios. We look at all possible momentum breadth thresholds for the baseline SACEMS lookback interval. We then consider lookback intervals ranging from one to 12 months for a specific momentum breadth threshold. Using monthly dividend-adjusted closing prices for SACEMS assets and the T-bill yield during February 2006 through February 2022, we find that:

Subscribe to Keep Reading

Get the research edge serious investors rely on.

  • 1,200+ research articles
  • Monthly strategy signals
  • 20+ years of backtested analysis
$17.99 /month

Cancel anytime