Raschke Holy Grail (ADX pullback to EMA 20)¶
What it does: Buys the first pullback to the 20-candle average in a strong trend (Raschke's Holy Grail). When ADX, a gauge of trend strength, is above 30 with buyers in control, this waits for the price to pull back and touch the 20-candle average, then buys once the price turns up a little.
Style: Pullback · Difficulty: Intermediate · Risk: medium · Ready: 2 of 2 variants
When people use it: It tends to work in strong trends with orderly pullbacks.
Where it struggles: It struggles when the trend ends right at the pullback; ADX reacts late, so it can still read 'strong' as a trend fades.
Markets it was written for: BTC, ETH, majors. Timeframes: 1h (1h-1d).
Open it in the Strategy Library (on the Strategies page), pick a variant, adjust the settings and press Add to my strategies. It becomes your own strategy: edit, backtest or trade it like any other.
Long¶
Buys the first pullback to the 20-candle average in a strong trend (Raschke's Holy Grail).
Labels: Pullback, Long, Spot, Intermediate, Medium
- Direction: Buy (long) · Market: spot
- Trigger: On candle touch · Main timeframe: Auto (1h)
Entry
- IF ADX(14) > 30 (1h) and ADX(14) +DI > ADX(14) −DI (1h) and Price touches EMA(20) (1h)
- Trailing entry %: 0.3%
Exit: Standard Exit
- Take-profit %: 3%
- Loss controls: Stop-loss % 1.5%, Break-even stop after % 0.8%
Settings
| Setting | Default | Editable | What changing it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADX minimum | 30 | Yes | How strong the trend must be. Higher only trades the strongest trends (fewer trades); lower trades more, including weaker trends where pullbacks fail more often. |
| Pullback average | 20 | Yes | The average the price must pull back to. Shorter means shallower pullbacks (more trades); longer waits for deeper pullbacks (fewer trades). |
| Bounce before entry % | 0.3 | Yes | How far the price must turn back after touching the average before it enters. Higher waits for more proof but enters later; lower enters sooner, with more risk the pullback keeps going. |
How it works (as shown in the app)
- When ADX, a gauge of trend strength, is above 30 with buyers in control, this waits for the price to pull back and touch the 20-candle average, then buys once the price turns up a little.
- It exits at a 3% profit target or a 1.5% stop-loss; after a 0.8% gain the stop moves to your entry price.
- It tends to work in strong trends with orderly pullbacks.
- It struggles when the trend ends right at the pullback; ADX reacts late, so it can still read 'strong' as a trend fades.
- Trades on 1-hour candles with a tight stop, so fees and small price jumps matter. The backtest estimates touches inside a candle, so live fills may differ.
- The original sets the target at the last swing high and the stop under the pullback low; fixed % levels are used here instead.
Short (perp)¶
Shorts the first rally back to the 20-candle average in a strong downtrend.
Labels: Pullback, Short, Futures, Medium, Backtest Only
- Direction: Sell (short) · Market: swap
- Trigger: On candle touch · Main timeframe: Auto (1h)
Entry
- IF ADX(14) > 30 (1h) and ADX(14) −DI > ADX(14) +DI (1h) and Price touches EMA(20) (1h)
- Trailing entry %: 0.3%
Exit: Standard Exit
- Take-profit %: 3%
- Loss controls: Stop-loss % 1.5%, Break-even stop after % 0.8%
Settings
| Setting | Default | Editable | What changing it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADX minimum | 30 | Yes | How strong the trend must be. Higher only trades the strongest trends (fewer trades); lower trades more, including weaker trends where pullbacks fail more often. |
| Pullback average | 20 | Yes | The average the price must pull back to. Shorter means shallower pullbacks (more trades); longer waits for deeper pullbacks (fewer trades). |
| Bounce before entry % | 0.3 | Yes | How far the price must turn back after touching the average before it enters. Higher waits for more proof but enters later; lower enters sooner, with more risk the pullback keeps going. |
How it works (as shown in the app)
- When ADX, a gauge of trend strength, is above 30 with sellers in control, this waits for the price to bounce back up and touch the 20-candle average, then shorts once the price turns down a little.
- It closes at a 3% profit target (price 3% below entry) or a 1.5% stop-loss; after a 0.8% gain the stop moves to your entry price.
- It tends to work in strong downtrends with orderly bounces.
- It struggles when the downtrend ends right at the bounce; ADX reacts late, so it can still read 'strong' as a trend fades.
- Trades on 1-hour candles with a tight stop, so fees and small price jumps matter. The backtest estimates touches inside a candle, so live fills may differ.
- The original sets the target at the last swing high and the stop under the pullback low; fixed % levels are used here instead.
- Shorting means you profit if the price falls and lose if it rises.
- Suggested leverage is at most 5x. On isolated margin, at 5x the exchange closes the position (liquidation) if the price moves about 19.6% against you, and you lose the margin you put into it. Keep your stop well inside that.
- For now this version runs in backtests only; paper and live futures trading are coming later.
Warnings¶
- "Backtest only for now: paper and live trading of shorts are coming later.": shown on short variants. They need perpetual or futures pairs.
- Variants on On candle touch act while the candle is still forming. The backtest estimates touches inside a candle, so live fills can differ, and a signal can repaint if price turns back before the close.
- Some variants suggest leverage. On isolated margin a liquidation loses the margin in that position; keep any stop well inside the liquidation distance (the Trade Builder warns you when it isn't).
- Once added, the strategy's conditions get the usual condition checks. Messages show under each condition on the entry / exit conditions screen; setting errors start with the indicator's short name (for example "MACD: Fast must be between 1 and 1000") and block saving, while the other warnings never block saving and repeat in the strategy's Entry or Exit section. See the indicator pages below for each one.
- "You already have this strategy with these settings (…). Change a setting to add another copy.": shown on the variant's page in the Strategy Library when you already added this variant with the same settings.
Good to know¶
- After you add it, the strategy keeps the library's trigger and an Auto main timeframe; you can change both in the builder. Nothing links it back to the library, except that the builder still shows the library's explanations in the info bubbles.
- Changing a setting before adding it also changes the saved name, so you can tell copies apart.
- Past results don't predict future ones. Try it in a backtest and on paper before using real money.
- Indicators used: ADX, EMA.