The Performance Page Portfolio (PPP) is Beating the Market
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Many months ago, I set out to create an automated portfolio that I could "set and forget".
I'd been slowly beaten down over the years about the efficacy of trading systems over the long-term.
It seemed more and more like creating a trading system was a losing proposition.
Why?
Because it breaks.
Or because systems constantly need tweaks.
The question always bothered me: if I have to constantly worry about and fix my portfolio, what's the point of having automated systems in the first place?
Index-funders, despite the inherent flaws in the strategy, just do what they do.
An index-funder doesn't worry about out-of-sample data. An index-funder doesn't worry about having more than 4 variables in a given strategy. A passive indexer doesn't spend all of his/her time running Monte Carlo simulations and comparing walk-forward equity curves.
And there's a real advantage to that.
Not having to worry about an accidentally poorly-designed strategy falling apart is a life-changer.
So I tried to create something that had all of the maintenance of a long-term VOO investor: none.
I created four different strategies that seemed to complement each other. The combination of the S&P 500 and Gold is something that's been around for a long time.
That portfolio is the Performance Page Portfolio. I call it PPP and I track it every month on my website here.
Again, this portfolio was designed to never be changed, just like index-funding.
How has it done?
Like any trading methodology, it's been good and bad. Sometimes it thrives and sometimes it goes into a drawdown.
Would you have to have this running 24 hours a day on your laptop computer? Yes.
Could you use it on a VPS? No, I would not recommend that (unless you find something super reliable).
Do you have to have Tradestation? Not necessarily, but it's far easier to do it on Tradestation (unless you take the code and adapt it to something else).
As I mention all the time, 2025 has been a pretty bad year for trend following and trading in general. My proxy for trend following and automated systems is 40in20out. It's a real-time, trend following Futures portfolio that does incredibly well when there are actual trends.
How has the 40in20out portfolio done this year?
It's down over 12%.
While many people are worried about the hot stock market being grossly overvalued, automated trend following is getting smashed. Just keep that in mind.
So, here is how the PPP has done in 2025. These hypothetical results assume we use 1 contract each time with no compounding. And we're assuming a $57,000 account to trade all four strategies.
Here's the Report from 2016-now via Portfolio Architect:
It's hypothetically done quite well over the years, as you can see.
And it's up $15,158.50 this year, which is a 26.5% return. The hot and frothy SPY has only returned 11%.
Here is the Equity Curve followed by the Annual Returns:
This portfolio has doubled the return of SPY since 2016 and has no losing years.
I haven't optimized this portfolio in a long time and I don't plan to ever re-optimize it.
And if you want the details on these systems, they're on my YouTube page here and here.
Does this portfolio have the predictable income stream of a high-yield income portfolio? No.
No trading system I've ever seen does.
But this portfolio is performing very well.
Much better than an index fund.
Talk to you soon.
DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice.
It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these presentations will be profitable or that they will not result in losses. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. Examples presented are for educational purposes only. These set-ups are not solicitations of any order to buy or sell. The authors, the publisher, and all affiliates assume no responsibility for your trading results. There is a high degree of risk in trading. HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN INHERENT LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT ACTUALLY BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER- OR OVER-COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.
