Holding the NIFTY 500’s 30 least volatile stocks, rebalanced quarterly, passed all eight of our checks: about 15% a year after costs against about 13% for the index, with a −26% worst drawdown against the index’s −38%. The return edge came mostly before 2020.
Holding the NIFTY 500’s 15 strongest stocks, and selling only when they drop out of the top 30, passed all eight of our checks: CAGR of about 22% after costs, against about 13% for the index. The catch is a −49% drawdown, deeper than the index’s.
Selling a weekly NIFTY call and put 600 points away made money in all 13 quarters we tested, about 15% a year on capital. But losses are uncapped: on election-results day in 2024 the position was down about ₹60,000 per lot within hours.
A plain Supertrend traded on NIFTY synthetic futures returned about 38% a year on capital in our test, well paid for the risks, and held up in both halves. But its edge isn’t statistically proven yet, and the worst drawdown took about half the capital.
Buying the NIFTY 500’s 20 biggest losers of the past year and holding them for a year lost money: about −1% a year over 12½ years, against about +13% for the index, with an 80% fall along the way. Last year’s losers mostly kept losing.
It wins about two trades in three, but the average trade is too small to tell apart from luck, and since 2018 it has made nothing. Over 17½ years it earned under 2% a year, against about 12.6% for simply holding NIFTY.
The best opening-range setting on the NIFTY index made a thin profit; traded on futures with realistic costs, the same setting lost money. Across 18 settings, none was profitable beyond luck.