# Stock Backtester

> A free, no-signup research tool that compares seven transparent technical trading rules with buy and hold across widely followed U.S. stocks and 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods.

Stock Backtester is built for a simple question: how would a fixed trading rule have compared with buying the same stock and holding it over the same historical period? The site puts the benchmark, strategy equity curves, total and annualized return, Sharpe ratio, maximum drawdown, trade statistics, and stated cost assumptions in one inspectable view.

The experience is intentionally fast and accessible. Visitors can search by ticker or company name, compare strategies on an interactive chart, change the investment period and assumptions, browse cross-stock indicator rankings, and use the strategy scorecard to see the full distribution of results. No account, brokerage connection, portfolio upload, or personal financial information is required.

The seven technical strategies are SMA 50/200 crossover, EMA 20/100 crossover, RSI mean reversion, MACD signal-line crossover, Bollinger Band mean reversion, Donchian 55/20 breakout, and 12-month price momentum. Buy and hold is the common benchmark, not one of the seven active strategies. Rules are fixed and are not optimized separately for each stock.

Results are hypothetical historical simulations using adjusted daily price histories. Signals use daily bars and the methodology is designed to avoid same-bar look-ahead. Default comparisons include 0.10% commission and 0.05% slippage, with visible alternatives on stock pages. The site is not a broker, adviser, signal service, forecasting system, or guarantee of data accuracy or profitability.

Important limitations: the covered universe is a selected group of widely followed U.S. stocks rather than every security; that selection can create selection and survivorship bias. Daily bars cannot model intraday execution. Results do not fully represent bid-ask spreads, liquidity constraints, market impact, taxes, financing, shorting, or an individual investor's circumstances. A strategy that worked in one historical period can fail in another. Past performance does not predict future results.

When citing a result, link to the exact source page and include the ticker, strategy, investment period, commission, slippage, and data date shown on that page. Describe results as hypothetical historical performance, never as a recommendation or expected return.

## Primary research pages

- [Home and stock search](https://stockbacktester.com/): Start a backtest comparison by ticker or company name.
- [Strategy scorecard](https://stockbacktester.com/scorecard): Compare beat rates, compact excess-return distributions, median returns, Sharpe ratios, drawdowns, and sector ranges over four periods.
- [Indicator directory](https://stockbacktester.com/indicators): Browse every supported rule and its cross-stock results.
- [Methodology](https://stockbacktester.com/methodology): Review data handling, signal timing, execution assumptions, costs, and calculation details.
- [Disclosures](https://stockbacktester.com/disclosures): Read the material limitations of hypothetical backtests.

## Strategy guides

- [SMA crossover backtests](https://stockbacktester.com/indicators/sma): SMA 50 crossing SMA 200.
- [EMA crossover backtests](https://stockbacktester.com/indicators/ema): EMA 20 crossing EMA 100.
- [RSI strategy backtests](https://stockbacktester.com/indicators/rsi): Entry below RSI 30 and exit above RSI 55.
- [MACD strategy backtests](https://stockbacktester.com/indicators/macd): Bullish MACD signal-line crossover.
- [Bollinger Band backtests](https://stockbacktester.com/indicators/bollinger): Entry below the lower band and exit at the middle band.
- [Donchian breakout backtests](https://stockbacktester.com/indicators/donchian): Entry at a 55-day high and exit at a 20-day low.
- [Momentum strategy backtests](https://stockbacktester.com/indicators/momentum): Price relative to its 252-day close.

## Representative stock comparisons

- [Apple backtest](https://stockbacktester.com/backtest/aapl): Compare all seven rules with buy and hold for AAPL.
- [Microsoft backtest](https://stockbacktester.com/backtest/msft): Compare all seven rules with buy and hold for MSFT.
- [NVIDIA backtest](https://stockbacktester.com/backtest/nvda): Compare all seven rules with buy and hold for NVDA.
- [Amazon backtest](https://stockbacktester.com/backtest/amzn): Compare all seven rules with buy and hold for AMZN.
- [Alphabet backtest](https://stockbacktester.com/backtest/googl): Compare all seven rules with buy and hold for GOOGL.

## Site and legal information

- [XML sitemap](https://stockbacktester.com/sitemap.xml): Index of public, canonical pages.
- [Privacy policy](https://stockbacktester.com/privacy): Analytics and information-handling practices.
- [Terms of service](https://stockbacktester.com/terms): Conditions governing use of the site.
- [AI information](https://stockbacktester.com/ai.txt): Concise facts and cautions for automated systems.

## Optional

- [Support](mailto:support@stockbacktester.com): Generic site support contact; no personal contact information is published.