Impulse Momentum blends 13-bar momentum with a 3-bar impulse score and buys when that signal tops 0.7 and its own 8-bar average. Volume must be 1.2 times normal, the bar must be 1.8 times the recent average range, and the 9 SMA must sit above the 21 SMA. It exits on a 1% stop, when the signal fades, or when price closes under the 9 SMA.
Best run of 10. Nasdaq 100, 1 hour, spread 3, from run pf:2026-09-24-NAS100-1h.tsv:2.
| Period | Up to 2026-09-25 |
| Instrument | Nasdaq 100, 1 hour |
| Spread | 3 points |
| Contracts | 1 |
| Starting capital | 1,000,000 |
| Costs | Spread only. Commissions and overnight financing are not included. |
| Bars | Up to 200,000 bars, fewer where the instrument has less history |
| Last tested | 2026-09-25 |
| positionSize Contracts per trade | 1 |
| momentumPeriod Price momentum length and normalising window | 13 |
| volumePeriod Average volume length | 21 |
| fastPeriod Fast SMA length | 9 |
| slowPeriod Slow SMA length | 21 |
| impulseBars Bars in the short impulse window | 3 |
| powerPeriod Average bar range length for impulse power | 5 |
| momentumWeight Weight of normalised momentum in the signal | 2 |
| impulseWeight Weight of normalised impulse in the signal | 3 |
| signalPeriod SMA length of the signal line | 8 |
| signalLevel Signal must be above this to buy | 0.7 |
| minVolumeRatio Volume must be this multiple of its 21-bar average | 1.2 |
| minImpulsePower Bar range must be this multiple of its 5-bar average | 1.8 |
| stopLossPct Protective stop, percent of entry price | 1 |
Every run
| Market | Timeframe | PF | Trades | Win % | Net | Max DD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq 100Best run | 1 hour | 1.44 | 481 | 48.65 | 4,958 EUR | -1,182 |
| USD/JPY | 1 hour | n/a | 839 | 42.55 | 144,730 JPY | -56,450 |
| USD/JPY | 10 min | n/a | 975 | 40.21 | 46,450 JPY | -40,770 |
| Silver | 3 min | n/a | 773 | 36.74 | 3,975 USD | -2,757 |
| Nikkei 225 | Daily | n/a | 22 | 45.45 | 3,294 USD | -1,928 |
| Silver | 2 min | n/a | 812 | 33.25 | 2,654 USD | -2,639 |
| Nasdaq 100 | 4 hours | n/a | 282 | 53.19 | 2,145 EUR | -1,341 |
| DAX 40 | 4 hours | n/a | 215 | 49.30 | 1,078 EUR | -821 |
| Gold | 4 hours | n/a | 345 | 41.74 | 321 EUR | -185 |
| Gold | Daily | n/a | 43 | 39.53 | 164 EUR | -156 |
Charts
The code
// ============================================================ // Impulse Momentum // ProRealAlgos Strategy Library | prorealalgos.com // Type: Momentum // Direction: Long only // Timeframe tested: 1 hour // ============================================================ // --- Settings --- DEFPARAM CumulateOrders = false // --- Parameters --- positionSize = 1 // contracts per trade momentumPeriod = 13 // price momentum length and normalising window volumePeriod = 21 // average volume length fastPeriod = 9 // fast SMA length slowPeriod = 21 // slow SMA length impulseBars = 3 // bars in the short impulse window powerPeriod = 5 // average bar range length for impulse power momentumWeight = 2 // weight of normalised momentum in the signal impulseWeight = 3 // weight of normalised impulse in the signal signalPeriod = 8 // SMA of the signal line signalLevel = 0.7 // signal must be above this to buy minVolumeRatio = 1.2 // volume must be this multiple of its average minImpulsePower = 1.8 // bar range must be this multiple of its average stopLossPct = 1 // protective stop, percent of entry price ONCE inTrade = 0 // --- Indicators --- fastMA = Average[fastPeriod](close) slowMA = Average[slowPeriod](close) priceMomentum = (close - close[momentumPeriod]) / close[momentumPeriod] * 100 // Directional movement: only count up moves that beat down moves. upMove = high - high[1] IF upMove <= 0 THEN upMove = 0 ENDIF downMove = low[1] - low IF downMove <= 0 THEN downMove = 0 ENDIF upMoveDominant = 0 IF upMove > downMove AND upMove > 0 THEN upMoveDominant = 1 ENDIF volumeRatio = Volume / Average[volumePeriod](Volume) impulseUp = (close - close[impulseBars]) / (Highest[impulseBars](high) - Lowest[impulseBars](low)) * 100 impulsePower = (high - low) / Average[powerPeriod](high - low) // Scale momentum and impulse to 0..1 over the recent window, then blend them. normMomentum = (priceMomentum - Lowest[momentumPeriod](priceMomentum)) / (Highest[momentumPeriod](priceMomentum) - Lowest[momentumPeriod](priceMomentum)) normImpulse = (impulseUp - Lowest[momentumPeriod](impulseUp)) / (Highest[momentumPeriod](impulseUp) - Lowest[momentumPeriod](impulseUp)) signalLine = (normMomentum * momentumWeight + normImpulse * impulseWeight) / (momentumWeight + impulseWeight) signalMA = Average[signalPeriod](signalLine)
19 more lines: the entry and exit rules.
Setup
Questions
Yes. All five entry filters, the signal exit and the 1% stop are coded. The rewritten code has not been compile checked yet.
The headline Nasdaq 100 1 hour run made 4,958.30 EUR over 481 trades. All 9 other runs were positive, including USD/JPY 1 hour at 144,730 JPY and DAX 40 4 hours at 1,077.90 EUR.
At 1 contract with a 3 point spread, the Nasdaq 100 1 hour run had a max drawdown of 1,181.50 EUR. Each trade is protected by a 1% stop.
The volume and range filters need enough activity per bar to be meaningful. On Nasdaq 100 the 1 hour chart gave the best profit factor, 1.44.
Related
Copy trading on US indices is available to ProRealAlgos members as spots open.