IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v63y2022ics0275531922001659.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technical trading rule profitability in currencies: It’s all about momentum

Author

Listed:
  • Hutchinson, Mark C.
  • Kyziropoulos, Panagiotis E.
  • O’Brien, John
  • O’Reilly, Philip
  • Sharma, Tripti

Abstract

Recent academic and practitioner attention has focused on currency momentum. In this paper we replicate technical trading rules to assess their relationship with momentum. We find the effectiveness of technical trading rules falls significantly over time, with the mean Sharpe Ratio of our sample of portfolios falling from 0.66 in our in-sample period to 0.06 out-of-sample. Further, the returns do not survive modest transaction costs out-of-sample. We identify time series momentum as the single common factor driving returns across the range of strategies. Any abnormal return generated by technical trading rules is fully explained by time series momentum.

Suggested Citation

  • Hutchinson, Mark C. & Kyziropoulos, Panagiotis E. & O’Brien, John & O’Reilly, Philip & Sharma, Tripti, 2022. "Technical trading rule profitability in currencies: It’s all about momentum," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:63:y:2022:i:c:s0275531922001659
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2022.101779
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531922001659
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2022.101779?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hutchinson, Mark C. & Kyziropoulos, Panagiotis E. & O'Brien, John & O'Reilly, Philip & Sharma, Tripti, 2022. "Are carry, momentum and value still there in currencies?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. He, Xue-Zhong & Li, Kai, 2015. "Profitability of time series momentum," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 140-157.
    3. Craig Burnside & Martin Eichenbaum & Sergio Rebelo, 2011. "Carry Trade and Momentum in Currency Markets," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 511-535, December.
    4. Athina Georgopoulou & Jiaguo (George) Wang, 2017. "The Trend Is Your Friend: Time-Series Momentum Strategies across Equity and Commodity Markets," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 21(4), pages 1557-1592.
    5. Neely, Christopher & Weller, Paul & Dittmar, Rob, 1997. "Is Technical Analysis in the Foreign Exchange Market Profitable? A Genetic Programming Approach," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(4), pages 405-426, December.
    6. Neely, Christopher J. & Weller, Paul A. & Ulrich, Joshua M., 2009. "The Adaptive Markets Hypothesis: Evidence from the Foreign Exchange Market," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 467-488, April.
    7. Ivanova, Yuliya & Neely, Christopher J. & Weller, Paul & Famiglietti, Matthew T., 2021. "Can risk explain the profitability of technical trading in currency markets?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    8. K. J. Hong & S. Satchell, 2015. "Time series momentum trading strategy and autocorrelation amplification," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(9), pages 1471-1487, September.
    9. Craig Burnside & Martin Eichenbaum & Isaac Kleshchelski & Sergio Rebelo, 2011. "Do Peso Problems Explain the Returns to the Carry Trade?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(3), pages 853-891.
    10. Menkhoff, Lukas & Sarno, Lucio & Schmeling, Maik & Schrimpf, Andreas, 2012. "Currency momentum strategies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(3), pages 660-684.
    11. Zhang, Shaojun, 2022. "Dissecting currency momentum," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(1), pages 154-173.
    12. Lukas Menkhoff & Lucio Sarno & Maik Schmeling & Andreas Schrimpf, 2012. "Carry Trades and Global Foreign Exchange Volatility," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(2), pages 681-718, April.
    13. John H. Cochrane, 1999. "Portfolio advice of a multifactor world," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 23(Q III), pages 59-78.
    14. Nicolas P. B. Bollen & Mark C. Hutchinson & John O'Brien, 2021. "When it pays to follow the crowd: Strategy conformity and CTA performance," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(6), pages 875-894, June.
    15. Jacobs, Heiko & Müller, Sebastian, 2020. "Anomalies across the globe: Once public, no longer existent?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 213-230.
    16. Savva Shanaev & Binam Ghimire, 2021. "Efficient scholars: academic attention and the disappearance of anomalies," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 278-304, February.
    17. Hutchinson, Mark C. & O'Brien, John, 2020. "Time series momentum and macroeconomic risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Campbell R. Harvey, 2017. "Presidential Address: The Scientific Outlook in Financial Economics," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1399-1440, August.
    19. Olson, Dennis, 2004. "Have trading rule profits in the currency markets declined over time?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 85-105, January.
    20. Liu, Zhenya & Lu, Shanglin & Wang, Shixuan, 2021. "Asymmetry, tail risk and time series momentum," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    21. Barroso, Pedro & Santa-Clara, Pedro, 2015. "Beyond the Carry Trade: Optimal Currency Portfolios," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(5), pages 1037-1056, October.
    22. Harrison Hong & Jeremy C. Stein, 1999. "A Unified Theory of Underreaction, Momentum Trading, and Overreaction in Asset Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 2143-2184, December.
    23. Lim, Bryan Y. & Wang, Jiaguo (George) & Yao, Yaqiong, 2018. "Time-series momentum in nearly 100 years of stock returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 283-296.
    24. R. David Mclean & Jeffrey Pontiff, 2016. "Does Academic Research Destroy Stock Return Predictability?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(1), pages 5-32, February.
    25. Markus K. Brunnermeier & Stefan Nagel & Lasse H. Pedersen, 2009. "Carry Trades and Currency Crashes," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2008, Volume 23, pages 313-347, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Lukas Menkhoff & Mark P. Taylor, 2007. "The Obstinate Passion of Foreign Exchange Professionals: Technical Analysis," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(4), pages 936-972, December.
    27. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    28. Zaremba, Adam & Umutlu, Mehmet & Maydybura, Alina, 2020. "Where have the profits gone? Market efficiency and the disappearing equity anomalies in country and industry returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    29. Kim, Abby Y. & Tse, Yiuman & Wald, John K., 2016. "Time series momentum and volatility scaling," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 103-124.
    30. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    31. Clifford S. Asness & Tobias J. Moskowitz & Lasse Heje Pedersen, 2013. "Value and Momentum Everywhere," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(3), pages 929-985, June.
    32. Ben R. Marshall & Nhut H. Nguyen & Nuttawat Visaltanachoti, 2017. "Time series momentum and moving average trading rules," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 405-421, March.
    33. Lustig, Hanno & Roussanov, Nikolai & Verdelhan, Adrien, 2014. "Countercyclical currency risk premia," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(3), pages 527-553.
    34. repec:oup:rfinst:v:21:y:2017:i:4:p:1557-1592. is not listed on IDEAS
    35. Moskowitz, Tobias J. & Ooi, Yao Hua & Pedersen, Lasse Heje, 2012. "Time series momentum," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 228-250.
    36. Brock, William & Lakonishok, Josef & LeBaron, Blake, 1992. "Simple Technical Trading Rules and the Stochastic Properties of Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(5), pages 1731-1764, December.
    37. Amit Goyal & Narasimhan Jegadeesh, 2018. "Cross-Sectional and Time-Series Tests of Return Predictability: What Is the Difference?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 1784-1824.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hutchinson, Mark C. & Kyziropoulos, Panagiotis E. & O'Brien, John & O'Reilly, Philip & Sharma, Tripti, 2022. "Are carry, momentum and value still there in currencies?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Stephen A. Gorman & Frank J. Fabozzi, 2021. "The ABC’s of the alternative risk premium: academic roots," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(6), pages 405-436, October.
    3. Menkhoff, Lukas & Sarno, Lucio & Schmeling, Maik & Schrimpf, Andreas, 2012. "Currency momentum strategies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(3), pages 660-684.
    4. Adam Zaremba & Jacob Koby Shemer, 2018. "Price-Based Investment Strategies," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-91530-2, June.
    5. Yamani, Ehab, 2019. "Diversification role of currency momentum for carry trade: Evidence from financial crises," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-19.
    6. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Taylor, Mark P. & Wang, Zigan & Li, Yan, 2024. "The out-of-sample performance of carry trades," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    7. Bartram, Söhnke & Djuranovik, Leslie & Garratt, Anthony, 2021. "Currency Anomalies," CEPR Discussion Papers 15653, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Dahlquist, Magnus & Hasseltoft, Henrik, 2020. "Economic momentum and currency returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 152-167.
    9. Zhang, Shaojun, 2022. "Dissecting currency momentum," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(1), pages 154-173.
    10. Colacito, Riccardo & Riddiough, Steven J. & Sarno, Lucio, 2020. "Business cycles and currency returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(3), pages 659-678.
    11. Opie, Wei & Riddiough, Steven J., 2020. "Global currency hedging with common risk factors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(3), pages 780-805.
    12. Neely, Christopher J. & Weller, Paul A., 2013. "Lessons from the evolution of foreign exchange trading strategies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 3783-3798.
    13. Iwanaga, Yasuhiro & Sakemoto, Ryuta, 2024. "Cross-momentum strategies in the equity futures and currency markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    14. Byrne, Joseph P. & Sakemoto, Ryuta, 2021. "The conditional volatility premium on currency portfolios," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    15. Jamali, Ibrahim & Yamani, Ehab, 2019. "Out-of-sample exchange rate predictability in emerging markets: Fundamentals versus technical analysis," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 241-263.
    16. Ben R. Marshall & Nhut H. Nguyen & Nuttawat Visaltanachoti, 2017. "Time series momentum and moving average trading rules," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 405-421, March.
    17. Grobys, Klaus & Heinonen, Jari-Pekka & Kolari, James, 2018. "Return dispersion risk in FX and global equity markets: Does it explain currency momentum?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 264-280.
    18. Baltussen, Guido & Swinkels, Laurens & Van Vliet, Pim, 2021. "Global factor premiums," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(3), pages 1128-1154.
    19. Li, Zeming & Sakkas, Athanasios & Urquhart, Andrew, 2022. "Intraday time series momentum: Global evidence and links to market characteristics," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    20. Yufeng Han & Lingfei Kong, 2022. "A trend factor in commodity futures markets: Any economic gains from using information over investment horizons?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(5), pages 803-822, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Currency; Technical trading; Time series momentum;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G19 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Other

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:63:y:2022:i:c:s0275531922001659. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.