Sentiment: 5 Backtests
We backtested 5 sentiment strategies across crypto, ETFs, US stocks. 0 beat buy-and-hold before correction; best −14.0 pts/yr.
Every result below is the strategy's annualized return minus buy-and-hold on the same assets and days, charged real trading costs and scored only on data up to the discovery cutoff. See the full family index, the full method and every result, or download the raw registry (JSON).
0 of these 5 strategies were significant at p < 0.05 before any correction for multiple testing, and 0 of 5 beat buy-and-hold on the raw excess-return number across crypto, ETFs, US stocks. Across the whole registry we ran 260 tests and applied one Benjamini-Hochberg correction; only 0 of those survived it, which is why a single significant p-value inside one family isn't treated as a working edge here — the correction is explained in full on the evidence page. This family was last re-scored on 2026-09-18, using only data up to the 2025-03-15 discovery cutoff — the same freeze point every family in the registry is held to, so none of them can see data the others couldn't. Sentiment is tested across 3 asset classes (crypto, ETFs, US stocks); a strategy only joins this family because of the signal it trades on, not the asset it's tested against.
- VIX spike mean reversion (fear-spike buy) (ETFs): −14.0 pts/yr, behind buy-and-hold, p=1.000. Source: Whaley 2000, Journal of Portfolio Management.
- VIX spike mean reversion (fear-spike buy) (wide US stocks) (US stocks): −15.7 pts/yr, behind buy-and-hold, p=1.000. Source: Whaley 2000, Journal of Portfolio Management.
- Crypto Fear & Greed Index (alternative.me) extreme buy/sell (crypto): −39.9 pts/yr, behind buy-and-hold, p=1.000. Source: alternative.me Crypto Fear & Greed Index API (free, keyless).
- Fear & Greed Index contrarian extreme (crypto): −43.2 pts/yr, behind buy-and-hold, p=1.000. Source: alternate.me Fear & Greed API + viral crypto-Twitter/YouTube 'buy the fear' threads.
- Fibonacci 61.8% retracement bounce in an uptrend (crypto): −66.6 pts/yr, behind buy-and-hold, p=1.000. Source: Instagram/TikTok 'Fibonacci golden pocket' trading content.
Related families: Event driven, Carry, Low vol regime + breakout.