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Strategies / Mean reversion / Monday Dip Turnaround

Monday Dip Turnaround: buying weakness early in the week

On Mondays, if price is below its 34 period SMA, this strategy buys and aims to catch a rebound during the next two days. It sells on Wednesday unless the 2.3% target or the 2.6% stop is hit first. It trades long only.

Mean reversionLong onlyIntradayS&P 5005 min
1.90Profit factor
2,493Net profit EUR
65.79%Win rate
152Trades
-442Max drawdown
16.40Avg trade

Best run of 72. S&P 500, 5 min, spread 1, from run pf:2026-09-24-USA500-5m.tsv:2.

Entry rules, long

  1. It is Monday
  2. Members only

Exit rules

  1. Members only
  2. Stop loss 2.6%
  3. Profit target 2.3%

Test conditions

PeriodUp to 2026-09-25
InstrumentS&P 500, 5 minutes
Spread1 points
Contracts1
Starting capital1,000,000
CostsSpread only. Commissions and overnight financing are not included.
BarsUp to 200,000 bars, fewer where the instrument has less history
Last tested2026-09-25

Parameters

positionSize
Shares per trade
1
entryDay
Day of week to buy (1 = Monday)
1
exitDay
Day of week to sell (3 = Wednesday)
3
trendPeriod
Buy only while price is below this moving average
34
stopLossPct
Protective stop, percent of entry price
2.6
takeProfitPct
Profit target, percent of entry price
2.3

Every run

Markets and timeframes tested

MarketTimeframePFTradesWin %NetMax DD
S&P 500Best run5 min1.90 15265.792,493 EUR-442
Dow Jones5 min1.77 14959.0615,557 EUR-2,807
DAX 405 min1.53 15556.777,507 EUR-1,626
Dow Jones4 hours1.52 21656.4816,581 EUR-3,680
USD/JPY10 min1.50 27960.57431,700 JPY-89,560
S&P 50010 min1.50 30158.142,876 EUR-497
Dow Jones30 min1.47 34655.4922,453 EUR-3,132
Dow Jones10 min1.47 29255.8218,828 EUR-3,126
Nikkei 225Daily1.46 36059.7220,807 USD-4,148
Dow Jones15 min1.44 37055.1422,624 EUR-3,048
Nasdaq 10010 min1.43 31758.3612,996 EUR-2,239
USD/JPY15 min1.38 41856.22440,920 JPY-81,810
S&P 50015 min1.38 45157.433,080 EUR-502
Nasdaq 10015 min1.31 48056.8812,484 EUR-2,427
DAX 4015 min1.30 46456.0310,732 EUR-2,115
Dow Jones1 hour1.29 29053.1012,725 EUR-3,126
FTSE 1004 hours1.26 65956.605,389 EUR-1,227
S&P 50030 min1.25 84654.852,695 EUR-537
S&P 5004 hours1.23 61955.741,878 EUR-445
USD/JPY4 hoursn/a 71553.99423,570 JPY-124,090
USD/JPY30 minn/a 79453.78301,710 JPY-153,640
EUR/USD5 minn/a 22254.9537,890 USD-14,197
EUR/USD4 hoursn/a 94951.6337,427 USD-31,829
EUR/USD1 hourn/a 1,29450.6236,914 USD-35,017
Dow Jones3 minn/a 9067.7816,118 EUR-2,503
Nikkei 22530 minn/a 82953.4415,803 USD-6,804
Nikkei 2255 minn/a 17159.6514,579 USD-6,037
Nikkei 2253 minn/a 10564.7613,972 USD-7,265
Nikkei 2254 hoursn/a 54155.2713,180 USD-6,210
Nikkei 22510 minn/a 31756.7812,893 USD-6,724
Nikkei 22515 minn/a 47454.6412,675 USD-7,540
Nikkei 2251 hourn/a 71153.7312,341 USD-5,112
Dow JonesDailyn/a 12155.3711,484 EUR-3,409
Nasdaq 10030 minn/a 84655.6710,206 EUR-2,808
DAX 404 hoursn/a 67955.5210,106 EUR-2,670
Nasdaq 1001 hourn/a 92054.898,918 EUR-2,901
Dow Jones2 minn/a 5961.028,684 EUR-2,189
DAX 40Dailyn/a 38656.998,445 EUR-2,840
Nikkei 2251 minn/a 4160.987,898 USD-7,469
Nikkei 2252 minn/a 7159.157,824 USD-7,483
DAX 4030 minn/a 87754.057,685 EUR-3,462
Dow Jones1 minn/a 3070.007,325 EUR-2,208
DAX 4010 minn/a 29954.857,267 EUR-2,103
Nasdaq 1005 minn/a 15860.137,156 EUR-2,838
Nasdaq 1003 minn/a 9861.227,109 EUR-2,701
DAX 403 minn/a 9760.827,002 EUR-1,598
DAX 401 hourn/a 91654.376,789 EUR-3,273
Nasdaq 100Dailyn/a 35356.945,314 EUR-2,569
Nasdaq 1004 hoursn/a 66655.564,130 EUR-3,470
FTSE 10015 minn/a 45656.143,618 EUR-1,410
DAX 401 minn/a 3366.673,473 EUR-1,454
FTSE 100Dailyn/a 41355.453,239 EUR-1,033
Nasdaq 1002 minn/a 6155.743,189 EUR-2,719
DAX 402 minn/a 6155.743,166 EUR-1,404
FTSE 10030 minn/a 85954.713,041 EUR-1,967
EUR/USD1 minn/a 2853.573,018 USD-3,013
FTSE 1001 hourn/a 88154.142,506 EUR-2,223
GBP/USD15 minn/a 41852.872,238 USD-1,803
FTSE 1003 minn/a 9062.222,085 EUR-440
FTSE 10010 minn/a 29055.522,032 EUR-1,436
S&P 5001 hourn/a 91753.542,007 EUR-600
S&P 5003 minn/a 9265.221,953 EUR-447
GBP/USD5 minn/a 13955.401,563 USD-405
FTSE 1005 minn/a 14757.141,366 EUR-1,070
S&P 500Dailyn/a 34157.771,329 EUR-491
GBP/USD3 minn/a 8355.421,191 USD-384
FTSE 1002 minn/a 5959.321,144 EUR-439
FTSE 1001 minn/a 3060.001,134 EUR-441
S&P 5002 minn/a 5962.711,086 EUR-271
S&P 5001 minn/a 3060.00786 EUR-272
GBP/USD2 minn/a 5554.55704 USD-330
GBP/USD1 minn/a 2853.57370 USD-289

Charts

Results by run

Profit factor by run

Above 1.0 made money, below 1.0 lost money.

0.00.51.01.52.01.0 = break-evenS&P 500 · 5 min1.90Dow Jones · 5 min1.77DAX 40 · 5 min1.53Dow Jones · 4 hours1.52USD/JPY · 10 min1.50S&P 500 · 10 min1.50Dow Jones · 30 min1.47Dow Jones · 10 min1.47Nikkei 225 · Daily1.46Dow Jones · 15 min1.44Nasdaq 100 · 10 min1.43USD/JPY · 15 min1.38S&P 500 · 15 min1.38Nasdaq 100 · 15 min1.31DAX 40 · 15 min1.30Dow Jones · 1 hour1.29FTSE 100 · 4 hours1.26S&P 500 · 30 min1.25S&P 500 · 4 hours1.23

Net profit against max drawdown

Net profitMax drawdown
0-200K-100K250K500KUSD/JPY · 15 minUSD/JPY · 10 minUSD/JPY · 4 hoursUSD/JPY · 30 minEUR/USD · 5 minEUR/USD · 4 hoursEUR/USD · 1 hourDow Jones · 15 minDow Jones · 30 minNikkei 225 · DailyDow Jones · 10 minDow Jones · 4 hoursDow Jones · 3 minNikkei 225 · 30 minDow Jones · 5 minNikkei 225 · 5 min

Longer history

Re-run on up to 1,000,000 bars

On S&P 500 5 minutes, 947,000 bars were available and profit rose to EUR 3,880.39 from EUR 2,493.14 in the standard run, with EUR 1,387.25 earned on the older data alone.

S&P 500 · 5 min

Bars available947,000
Net, standard 200,000-bar run2,493.14 EUR
Net, long run3,880.39 EUR
Net on the older data alone1,387.25 EUR

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.

// ============================================================
// Monday Dip Turnaround
// ProRealAlgos Strategy Library  |  prorealalgos.com
// Type: Mean reversion
// Direction: Long only
// Timeframe tested: 5 minutes
// ============================================================

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

// --- Parameters ---
positionSize = 1          // shares per trade
entryDay = 1              // day of week to buy (1 = Monday)
exitDay = 3               // day of week to sell (3 = Wednesday)
trendPeriod = 34          // buy only while price is below this moving average
stopLossPct = 2.6         // protective stop, percent of entry price
takeProfitPct = 2.3       // profit target, percent of entry price

// --- Indicators ---
trendMA = Average[trendPeriod](close)

17 more lines: the entry and exit rules.

Read this first

Known weaknesses

  • The best run had 152 trades, and some runs had as few as 28, so each sample is limited.
  • The 2.6% stop is wider than the 2.3% target, so the high win rate (65.79% on the best run) is needed to stay profitable.
  • Positions are held overnight into Tuesday and Wednesday, so weekend and overnight gaps affect results, and financing is not included in costs.

Indicators used

SMA

How to load it

  1. Copy the code with the copy button above the code block.
  2. 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".
  3. Paste the code, give the system a name and save it.
  4. Click "Backtest", set your own spread and position size, and run it before you consider trading it live.

Questions

About this strategy

Can Monday Dip Turnaround run in ProOrder?

Yes. It uses a weekday check, an SMA and percent stops. The code is sized in shares at 1 and is not compile checked yet.

Which markets were tested?

All 71 runs across DAX 40, Dow Jones, EUR/USD, FTSE 100, GBP/USD, Nasdaq 100, Nikkei 225, S&P 500 and USD/JPY were profitable. Dow Jones 5 minutes reached a profit factor of 1.77.

What drawdown should I expect at 1 unit?

On S&P 500 5 minutes max drawdown was EUR 441.65. Each trade can lose up to 2.6% of entry price.

Why a 5 minute chart?

The 34 period SMA uses the chart timeframe, so on 5 minutes it reflects Monday price action and gives a precise entry. The weekday rule stays the same on any timeframe.

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Calendar effects are fun to test together. Join the ProRealAlgos community 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.comStatsDocs