Which timeframe keeps WaveTrend's two parameters profitable, and where does the default 10/21 rank?
WaveTrend Settings and Timeframes: 30 Settings Tested
Finding
The hourly and four-hour charts. All 30 settings were profitable on hourly bars in 2025 with 24 profitable in both years, and 29 of 30 were profitable in both years on four-hour bars; on 15-minute bars none were, and that version trades about 3,600 times a year. On hourly bars in 2025 the 20/15 setting produced +3,496.9 pips from 747 trades and the default 10/21 produced +3,283.4 pips from 867 trades, a 213.5-pip difference. In 2024 the order reversed: the default produced +1,076.6 pips and 20/15 produced +606.9. Hourly win rates in 2025 spanned only 5.97 points, from 33.48% to 39.45%, while annual net ran from +1,339.6 to +3,496.9 pips.
Key results
- Profitable in both years
- 24 of 30 hourly, 29 of 30 four-hour, 0 of 30 on 15-minute
- Hourly 2025 leader and the default
- 20/15 at 747 trades and +3,496.9 pips; 10/21 at 867 trades and +3,283.4 pips
- Hourly 2025 win-rate and net ranges
- 33.48% to 39.45%; +1,339.6 to +3,496.9 pips
Scope
- USDJPY, 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31, with 2024 run identically for comparison
- 15-minute, hourly and four-hour bars; 6,226 hourly bars in 2025, 24,903 on 15-minute, 1,610 on four-hour
- 6 channel periods (5 to 30) x 5 average periods (10 to 45) = 30 combinations
- 0.3 pip spread, 0.1 lots, zero slippage
Method
Measured with Formiq's backtester. A long fills at the close of the bar where wt1 crosses above wt2 and a short where it crosses below; the only exit is the opposite crossover. No stop, no target, no time exit, and no overbought or oversold band such as ±60.
Limitations
- One pair, two years.
- WaveTrend implementations differ in the constants used to standardise the deviation and the smoothing type. These figures come from Formiq's.
- Only the two-line crossover is tested; overbought and oversold bands such as ±60 are not.
- Entries and exits both fill at bar closes, and the spread is modelled as a flat 0.3 pips; the 15-minute result depends heavily on that.
- Four-hour settings trade 147 to 325 times a year.