PPO Divergence Strategy: backtest results after fees, and how the rule works

PPO Divergence Strategy at a glance

Kind of rule	Joining a move (trend following)
Buys or sells	It can buy, and it can bet on falling prices.
Built on	EMA, Pivot points, pivot low
Where it was published	TradingView, by its author, as a Pine Script strategy
Tested on	42 cells: 13 coins on 4 chart speeds (15m, 30m, 1h, 4h), October 2021 to June 2026
Fee in the test	0.12 percent per side, buys only
Middle result after fees, every cell	−0.6%
Cells above zero	11 of 42
Cells that cleared the quality check	0 of 42
Middle drawdown, every cell	1.0%
Page updated	2026-11-08

PPO Divergence Strategy backtest results, every cell

Every cell is in the picture, not only the strongest. To the right of the black line is above zero. The orange line, when you see one, is the middle.

Each bar is the middle result for that chart speed. The number in parentheses is how many cells. The black line is zero.

Across is the deepest fall along the way. Up is the result. Dots above the black line finished above zero. The middle result is −0.59.

How PPO Divergence Strategy works

Rules in this group usually work like this. It waits until price is already moving, then joins that move. It is wrong in small ways many times, and right in a large way a few times. The hard part is the stretch where price chops around and every entry is a fake. The next paragraph is this particular rule, which can be narrower than the group.

It can buy, and it can bet on falling prices. It buys when last price low is below previous price low and last ppo low is above previous ppo low. It can also enter the other way. That condition is in the list below. When it enters, it also sets a stop or a target, so a trade can close without a new signal.

Each trade uses 10 percent of the account. It holds one trade at a time.

The exact condition, from the code

Same rule, translated from the code, in the author's names. You can skip this list if the paragraph above was enough.

Enters long when last price low is below previous price low and last ppo low is above previous ppo low.
Enters short when last price high is above previous price high and last ppo high is below previous ppo high.
On entry, places a stop at (the close × (1 − (Stop Loss % (2) / 100))), a target at (the close × (1 + (Take Profit % (4) / 100))).
On entry, places a stop at (the close × (1 + (Stop Loss % (2) / 100))), a target at (the close × (1 − (Take Profit % (4) / 100))).

Buys or sells	It can buy, and it can bet on falling prices.
Tools it calculates	EMA, Pivot points, pivot low
A second chart speed	No. It uses one chart speed only.
Only at certain hours	No.
Adding to a trade	It holds one trade at a time.
How much it trades	Each trade uses 10 percent of the account.
Cost the author assumed	The author assumed no trading cost.

Default settings

The test used the defaults in the middle column. Nothing was turned to help a coin.

Setting	Default	Group
Fast EMA Length	12
Slow EMA Length	26
Signal Length	9
Pivot Lookback	5
Stop Loss %	2
Take Profit %	4

How the backtest was run

Every strategy was tried the same way, on the settings the author published.

The years are October 2021 to June 2026. The prices are from Bybit, for 13 widely traded coins, mostly on hourly, 4-hour and daily charts, with some faster charts. That was 47,242 tries. The window stored in the files is 2021-09..2026-06.

599 rules produced a finished try. A rule that finished above zero on at least 12 cells, before any fee, was tried again with a fee of 0.12 percent per side. Only buys are counted in that second try. 273 rules got it.

The method, the aggregate results and a downloadable table are on the study page. What the desk does with the results beyond these pages is its own.

This is the second pass. A fee of 0.12 percent per side is taken on the buy and again on the sell. Only buys are counted. If the rule also bets on falling prices, those trades are not in these numbers.

After fees, 11 of 42 cells finished above zero (26.2%). The median of every cell was −0.6%.

0 of the cells cleared a quality check: at least 50 trades, gains that are not one lucky trade, and a drawdown that is real without taking the whole account.

Finished above zero by chart speed: 15-minute chart, 15m 3 of 13; hourly chart, 1h 1 of 13; 30-minute chart, 30m 4 of 13; 4-hour chart, 4h 2 of 3.

Cells tried after the fee	42
Finished above zero	11 (26.2%)
Middle result, the median of every cell	−0.6%
Middle drawdown, every cell	1.0%
Cells that cleared the quality check	0
Middle result, over the cells above zero	+0.7%
Extra, Calmar on the rows above zero. Result divided by the deepest fall	0.00
Extra, Sharpe on the rows above zero. Result divided by how bumpy the path was	0.02
Middle drawdown, the rows above zero	0.7%
Deepest fall, the rows above zero	1.4%
Middle number of trades, the rows above zero	11

Label: backtest · old prices, buys only, a fee of 0.12 percent per side, every cell · Oct 2021 – Jun 2026. Hypothetical results; see the risk disclosure.

How to read the result

How to read the number

The median of every cell is the result of the rule. The author's settings were not changed to help any coin. The weakest and the strongest cells are not a result on their own.

What the number leaves out

The table also shows +0.7%, taken only over the cells that finished above zero. Cells that finished down are left out of that figure, which is why it stands away from the median of every cell. It describes those rows only.

The middle cell closed only 13 trades. With so few trades, the size of the median moves when the years change. How many cells finished above zero is the more settled fact.

0 of 42 cells cleared a quality check: at least 50 trades, a profit factor that is not one lucky trade, and a drawdown that is real without taking the whole account. Profit factor means the gains divided by the losses. Clearing the check describes this sample. It says nothing about the next set of years.

The count above is also split by chart speed. A speed that finished higher, in these years, is one slice of the same rule. It is not a separate strategy.

What this does not show

The useful question, for a rule that joins a move already underway, is what it gave back in the choppy months when there was no trend to join.

Nothing on this page was fit to the cell that finished highest. One coin, one chart speed, or one strong stretch is a single row. It is not the rule. Other years, another exchange, or another fee would be a different measurement.

Questions about PPO Divergence Strategy

What is PPO Divergence Strategy?

PPO Divergence Strategy is a trend following trading strategy published on TradingView as a Pine Script. In plain terms it is a rule of the kind this site calls joining a move. It can buy, and it can bet on falling prices. It is built on EMA, Pivot points, pivot low. This page reads the rules from the code and reports what they did on old crypto prices.

How does PPO Divergence Strategy work?

Is PPO Divergence Strategy profitable in a backtest?

In this backtest, more cells lost than gained. After a fee of 0.12 percent per side, 11 of 42 cells finished above zero and the median of every cell was −0.6%. A backtest is a replay on old prices, so it describes these coins and these years, not a future result.

What was the drawdown of PPO Divergence Strategy?

The median drawdown across every cell was 1.0%, and the deepest fall in any cell was 4.3%. Drawdown is the deepest fall from a high point along the way, as a percent of the account at that high.

Which timeframe suited PPO Divergence Strategy?

Counted by cells above zero: 15-minute (15m) 3 of 13; 30-minute (30m) 4 of 13; hourly (1h) 1 of 13; 4-hour (4h) 2 of 3. The 4-hour chart had the largest share above zero in these years. A chart speed that did better here is one slice of the same rule, not a separate strategy.

Where can I find the PPO Divergence Strategy script?

It is published on TradingView by its author. Search TradingView for the title to find the original script. This page is an independent reading and is not affiliated with the author.

What does backtest mean on this page?

Backtest means the rule was replayed on old prices from Bybit. No real money moved. Every number on this page carries that label, and old prices do not promise anything about new ones.

Words used on this page

Backtest: The rule was tried on old prices. No real money moved.
Cell: One coin on one chart speed. Bitcoin every 4 hours is one cell. Bitcoin once a day is another.
Chart speed: How often a new price bar is drawn. 15m means every 15 minutes, 1h means hourly, 4h means every 4 hours, 1D means once a day.
Fee, per side: A cost taken each time the rule trades. Per side means once on the way in and once on the way out.
Median: Line the cells up from the biggest loss to the biggest gain. The median is the middle one. Half the cells did better and half did worse.
Drawdown: The deepest fall from a high point along the way, as a percent of the account at that high.
Above zero: The account finished with more than it started.

The indicators PPO Divergence Strategy uses

Each has its own page: what it measures, how it is read, where it misleads.

"PPO Divergence Strategy" was published on TradingView by its author, under the author's own license. This page is an independent reading of those rules and of what they did on these old prices. It is not written with the author, and it is not a recommendation. Not every detail survives the translation onto this page, so read the original before you rely on it.

PPO Divergence Strategy