RSI(2) Mean Reversion: does it work?

Connors' RSI(2) rule, buy when the 2-period RSI drops to an extreme low and sell on the bounce, is repeated across trading blogs as a proven pullback edge.

The rule we tested. The 2-period RSI dropping to an extreme oversold level to enter long, exiting on a bounce back above the midline, Connors' published version of the rule, not a looser or tighter threshold.

No. US stocks −16.6 pts/yr vs buy-and-hold (p=1.000, q=1.000); crypto pair −43.2 pts/yr vs buy-and-hold (p=1.000, q=1.000). None cleared Tickfloor's Benjamini-Hochberg q<0.10 bar once weighed against every other rule tested alongside it.

This is one line in a wider check: Tickfloor's research desk has run 401 strategies against buy-and-hold, and after correcting for how many were tested (Benjamini-Hochberg, 444 tests), 0 survived. A single win-rate claim like this one is exactly the kind of result that check exists to catch before anyone trades on it.

General information only. It doesn't consider your objectives, finances or needs. Tickfloor holds no financial services licence and never places trades.

Does the Connors RSI(2) strategy work?

No. US stocks −16.6 pts/yr vs buy-and-hold (p=1.000, q=1.000); crypto pair −43.2 pts/yr vs buy-and-hold (p=1.000, q=1.000). None cleared Tickfloor's Benjamini-Hochberg q<0.10 bar once weighed against every other rule tested alongside it.

What exact rule did Tickfloor test?

The 2-period RSI dropping to an extreme oversold level to enter long, exiting on a bounce back above the midline, Connors' published version of the rule, not a looser or tighter threshold.

Is this the same as a classic RSI 30/70 overbought or oversold rule?

No. Connors' RSI(2) uses a much shorter 2-period RSI with more extreme thresholds on a specific pullback-and-exit rule, and that exact version is what we tested. A slower 14-period RSI crossing 30/70 has no matching row in the registry yet.

Is this financial advice?

No. This measures a publicly claimed strategy rule, not a recommendation. General information only, not personal advice.

See the full numbers on the Trading books, Mean reversion family pages, or the full method and every result.

Other rules we've tested: MACD Crossover, Bollinger Band Bounce, Donchian / Turtle Breakout.

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