Strategies / Mean reversion / One Notch Long

One Notch Long: buying the first uptick after a dip

One Notch Long waits until price is below its 5 period SMA and then buys the first bar where the close crosses above its 2 period EMA. That makes it a quick bounce trade after a short pullback. Every trade has a 9% stop loss and a 9% profit target.

Mean reversionLong onlySwingS&P 500Daily

2.38Profit factor

7,308Net profit EUR

65.84%Win rate

161Trades

-1,224Max drawdown

45.39Avg trade

Best run of 68. S&P 500, Daily, spread 1, from run pf:2026-09-24-USA500-D.tsv:4.

Entry rules, long

Members only
Close is below the 5-period SMA

Exit rules

Stop loss 9%
Members only

Test conditions

Period	Up to 2026-09-25
Instrument	S&P 500, Daily
Spread	1 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

Parameters

positionSize Contracts per trade	1
fastPeriod Fast EMA length	1
slowPeriod Slow EMA length	2
dipPeriod Short average the close must be under	5
stopLossPct Protective stop, percent	9
takeProfitPct Profit target, percent	9

Every run

Markets and timeframes tested

Market	Timeframe	PF	Trades	Win %	Net	Max DD
S&P 500Best run	Daily	2.38	161	65.84	7,308 EUR	-1,224
Nasdaq 100	4 hours	2.04	116	66.38	28,975 EUR	-5,286
Dow Jones	Daily	1.94	145	64.14	45,216 EUR	-9,811
Nasdaq 100	1 hour	1.81	125	64.80	26,742 EUR	-6,558
USD/JPY	30 min	n/a	20	70.00	736,930 JPY	-247,050
USD/JPY	10 min	n/a	8	75.00	427,920 JPY	-247,840
USD/JPY	15 min	n/a	12	66.67	411,490 JPY	-243,910
USD/JPY	2 min	n/a	1	100.00	132,930 JPY	-110,450
Nikkei 225	4 hours	n/a	85	63.53	55,151 USD	-11,172
Nikkei 225	30 min	n/a	80	65.00	53,913 USD	-11,664
Nikkei 225	1 hour	n/a	89	61.80	43,391 USD	-14,696
Nikkei 225	10 min	n/a	30	70.00	40,648 USD	-12,161
Nikkei 225	15 min	n/a	43	65.12	40,517 USD	-13,260
Nikkei 225	5 min	n/a	23	69.57	32,135 USD	-13,011
Dow Jones	1 hour	n/a	28	67.86	29,792 EUR	-9,062
Nikkei 225	3 min	n/a	15	73.33	29,491 USD	-12,956
Silver	5 min	n/a	66	62.12	28,557 USD	-27,460
Nasdaq 100	30 min	n/a	87	70.11	28,261 EUR	-6,147
Silver	Daily	n/a	260	55.38	28,178 USD	-18,918
Silver	4 hours	n/a	237	56.54	27,200 USD	-17,274
Dow Jones	4 hours	n/a	20	70.00	24,492 EUR	-8,488
DAX 40	4 hours	n/a	99	63.64	23,580 EUR	-5,025
Dow Jones	15 min	n/a	30	63.33	23,499 EUR	-12,044
Dow Jones	30 min	n/a	28	64.29	23,419 EUR	-9,689
Nasdaq 100	15 min	n/a	56	66.07	22,230 EUR	-6,118
DAX 40	30 min	n/a	76	64.47	21,945 EUR	-4,926
Nikkei 225	2 min	n/a	11	72.73	21,917 USD	-13,821
Nasdaq 100	Daily	n/a	198	59.09	20,769 EUR	-5,328
EUR/USD	3 min	n/a	2	100.00	19,694 USD	-7,397
DAX 40	1 hour	n/a	106	59.43	19,229 EUR	-4,843
Dow Jones	10 min	n/a	13	69.23	17,275 EUR	-8,869
Nasdaq 100	10 min	n/a	34	64.71	15,372 EUR	-6,341
DAX 40	Daily	n/a	205	57.07	14,611 EUR	-6,783
Dow Jones	5 min	n/a	8	75.00	14,560 EUR	-8,264
DAX 40	15 min	n/a	36	63.89	12,904 EUR	-5,346
Nasdaq 100	5 min	n/a	13	76.92	12,885 EUR	-6,090
EUR/USD	2 min	n/a	1	100.00	10,497 USD	-7,397
DAX 40	10 min	n/a	16	68.75	9,774 EUR	-4,629
FTSE 100	Daily	n/a	105	62.86	8,785 EUR	-2,763
Dow Jones	2 min	n/a	2	100.00	8,438 EUR	-5,676
DAX 40	5 min	n/a	11	72.73	8,287 EUR	-4,186
Nasdaq 100	3 min	n/a	12	66.67	7,972 EUR	-6,001
FTSE 100	1 hour	n/a	73	60.27	6,599 EUR	-3,074
S&P 500	1 hour	n/a	90	63.33	6,401 EUR	-1,575
Nasdaq 100	2 min	n/a	7	71.43	6,328 EUR	-3,779
S&P 500	30 min	n/a	63	68.25	6,267 EUR	-1,305
FTSE 100	30 min	n/a	53	60.38	5,796 EUR	-2,964
S&P 500	4 hours	n/a	73	64.38	5,629 EUR	-1,609
FTSE 100	4 hours	n/a	57	59.65	5,179 EUR	-3,554
S&P 500	15 min	n/a	39	66.67	4,512 EUR	-1,384
Nasdaq 100	1 min	n/a	4	75.00	4,483 EUR	-3,760
Dow Jones	1 min	n/a	1	100.00	4,306 EUR	-3,548
Gold	1 hour	n/a	87	64.37	3,707 EUR	-1,494
FTSE 100	10 min	n/a	11	72.73	3,488 EUR	-1,334
Gold	15 min	n/a	36	72.22	3,453 EUR	-1,415
Gold	30 min	n/a	70	62.86	3,298 EUR	-1,761
S&P 500	10 min	n/a	17	70.59	3,237 EUR	-1,448
FTSE 100	5 min	n/a	8	75.00	2,989 EUR	-1,304
Gold	4 hours	n/a	84	63.10	2,822 EUR	-2,251
Gold	Daily	n/a	159	59.12	2,750 EUR	-1,106
Gold	5 min	n/a	20	75.00	2,553 EUR	-1,576
S&P 500	5 min	n/a	7	85.71	2,513 EUR	-1,346
FTSE 100	3 min	n/a	7	71.43	2,325 EUR	-1,338
Gold	10 min	n/a	32	65.62	2,202 EUR	-1,769
S&P 500	3 min	n/a	7	71.43	1,540 EUR	-1,258
S&P 500	2 min	n/a	4	75.00	1,139 EUR	-681
GBP/USD	3 min	n/a	1	100.00	1,134 USD	-776
S&P 500	1 min	n/a	1	100.00	610 EUR	-532

Charts

Results by run

Profit factor by run

Above 1.0 made money, below 1.0 lost money.

Net profit against max drawdown

Net profitMax drawdown

The code

ProBuilder, rewritten to house standard

Every file in the library uses the same header, the same section order and the same variable names. The numbers above were produced by the original version before the rewrite, and the rewrite has not yet been compiled in ProRealTime.

// ============================================================
// One Notch Long
// ProRealAlgos Strategy Library  |  prorealalgos.com
// Type: Mean reversion
// Direction: Long only
// Timeframe tested: Daily
// ============================================================

// --- Settings ---
DEFPARAM CumulateOrders = false

// --- Parameters ---
positionSize = 1      // contracts per trade
fastPeriod = 1        // fast EMA length (equals the close)
slowPeriod = 2        // slow EMA length
dipPeriod = 5         // close must be below this average
stopLossPct = 9       // protective stop, percent
takeProfitPct = 9     // profit target, percent

// --- Indicators ---
fastMA = ExponentialAverage[fastPeriod](close)
slowMA = ExponentialAverage[slowPeriod](close)
dipMA = Average[dipPeriod](close)

11 more lines: the entry and exit rules.

Read this first

Known weaknesses

The best run had 161 trades, a modest sample for a daily strategy.
A 9% stop is wide for an index, so a single loss can wipe out several winners.
Several intraday results rest on 1 to 4 trades (for example S&P 500 1 minute and GBP/USD 3 minutes) and carry no weight.
Most of the 67 runs come from sweeps, so their profit factor was not recorded.

Indicators used

EMASMA

How to load it

Copy the code with the copy button above the code block.
In ProRealTime, open a chart of the instrument and timeframe you want to test, then open ProOrder > New trading system and choose "Create with programming".
Paste the code, give the system a name and save it.
Click "Backtest", set your own spread and position size, and run it before you consider trading it live.

Questions

About this strategy

Can One Notch Long run in ProOrder?

Yes. It is a long only system with percent based stop and target. Compile check the rewritten code before going live.

Which markets were tested and how did it do?

All 67 runs across 11 instruments were profitable. Beyond S&P 500 Daily, Nasdaq 100 4 hours (profit factor 2.04) and Dow Jones Daily (1.94) stood out.

What risk comes with 1 contract?

On S&P 500 Daily the max drawdown was EUR 1,223.58. Each trade can lose up to 9% of entry price, which is large on an index CFD.

Why daily bars?

The pullback below a 5 day average and the 9% bracket fit daily swings. Very short timeframes rarely reach a 9% move, which is why they show so few trades.

Monday Dip Buy

Uses the same indicator.

n/a PF · 146 trades

Candle Body Sum Intraday

Best run on the same market, S&P 500.

2.86 PF · 124 trades

Three Lower Highs and Lows

A similar profit factor.

2.36 PF · 187 trades

Want to see what else works on the S&P 500? Join the ProRealAlgos waitlist.

Copy trading on US indices is available to ProRealAlgos members as spots open.

Past backtest results do not guarantee future results. This is not financial advice. Curated and maintained by ProRealAlgos. ProRealTime™ is a trademark of ProRealTime SAS. prorealalgos.com Stats Docs