// Bench notes
Trading research guides, with the caveats attached
How to backtest properly, what a Sharpe ratio and a maximum drawdown really tell you, how the classic strategies behave on 20+ years of data, and honest answers about what AI can and cannot do in markets. Written by the Agenttrading research team. Educational content, never advice.
How to Backtest a Trading Strategy in 6 Steps (No Code)
How to backtest a trading strategy: define a precise rule, use adjusted historical data, include costs, run it, read the drawdown, and check it out of sample.
Read the guideWhat Is a Good Sharpe Ratio? Benchmarks From 0 to 3
What is a good Sharpe ratio: above 1.0 is good, above 2.0 very good, below 0 means cash won. Definition, benchmark table, and the caveats that change the answer.
Read the guideMaximum Drawdown Explained: The Risk Number That Actually Hurts
Maximum drawdown is the largest peak-to-trough loss a strategy suffered. Why it matters more than volatility, the recovery math, and how to read it in a backtest.
Read the guideMoving Average Crossover Strategy: Rules, Evidence, Honest Results
Moving average crossover strategy explained: golden cross and death cross rules, why the signal lags, whipsaws in sideways markets, and what backtests really show.
Read the guideRSI Trading Strategy: The 14-Period Rules, Tested Honestly
RSI trading strategy explained: how the 14-period oscillator works, the 30/70 rules, why it mean-reverts in choppy markets and fails in strong trends, with tests.
Read the guideMean Reversion Trading: How It Works and When It Breaks
Mean reversion trading bets that stretched prices snap back. Why it works on indexes, why it feels awful to trade, and the cost and regime traps that break it.
Read the guideHow to Analyze a Stock: Business, Financials, Valuation, Risks
How to analyze a stock in four ordered questions: is the business good, do the financials confirm it, is the price fair, and what could go wrong. A framework.
Read the guideCan AI Predict the Stock Market? An Honest No, and What It Can Do
Can AI predict the stock market? No, and no honest tool claims it. Why markets resist prediction, and what AI genuinely does well: summarize, test, and explain.
Read the guidePosition Sizing: The Skill That Keeps Traders Alive
Position sizing explained: fixed fractional sizing, risk per trade, the losing-streak math that shows why sizing beats entries, and a careful word on Kelly.
Read the guideCommon Backtesting Mistakes: 7 Ways Your Results Lie to You
Backtesting mistakes that inflate results: overfitting, survivorship bias, look-ahead bias, ignored costs, and small samples, each with the symptom and the fix.
Read the guideBuy and Hold vs Active Trading: The Honest Trade-offs
Buy and hold strategy vs active trading, honestly compared: costs, taxes, the behavior gap, and when rule-based trading actually helps (risk control, not magic).
Read the guidePut a guide to work on a real ticker
Describe a thesis in plain English or paste a ticker. Agenttrading summarizes the fundamentals, backtests the rule on 20+ years of adjusted daily data, and explains the risks before you decide anything.
Past performance does not guarantee future results. For educational and informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Consult a licensed advisor.