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The Overfit Newsletter - a free algorithmic trading newsletter. Skip the hype. Trust the data.

The Overfit Newsletter is a free algorithmic trading newsletter with the numbers left in: one evidence-driven takeaway per issue - what was tested, what survived, and what didn't - pointing to the full study on the site. Practical takeaways you can implement. No fear-mongering or hype.

By Ali Casey·Founder, StatOasis

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9:41
statoasis.com/overfit

Overfit · Market structure

S&P 500 Drawdowns Since 1870

Ali Casey · StatOasis

The S&P 500 is a powerhouse of long-term growth. But that success doesn't come without setbacks: drawdowns - the painful stretches when your portfolio sits below its last peak - are the price of admission for long-term rewards.

0% - at the peak−50%1929 · −86%2000 · −49%2020 · −34%187019502025
Over 150 years of growth… and gut-wrenching crashes.

TL;DR

  • 13 major drawdowns over 30% since 1872.
  • Deep drawdowns take years to recover - the worst took 25.
  • Diversification and tactical allocation reduce the pain.

−86%

deepest fall (1929)

25 yrs

longest recovery

13

drawdowns > 30%

A 50% loss means you'll need a 100% gain just to get back to where you started.

Why history repeats itself

Market crashes are inevitable. The good news? They're also temporary. Markets recover - how you handle the crash determines whether you thrive or survive.

The full breakdown - recovery times, and what actually protects you - is on the site.

statoasis.com/overfit → new issues land in your inbox first

· · ·

Overfit · Market structure

S&P 500 Drawdowns Since 1870

Ali Casey · StatOasis

The S&P 500 is a powerhouse of long-term growth. But that success doesn't come without setbacks: drawdowns - the painful stretches when your portfolio sits below its last peak - are the price of admission for long-term rewards.

0% - at the peak−50%1929 · −86%2000 · −49%2020 · −34%187019502025
Over 150 years of growth… and gut-wrenching crashes.

TL;DR

  • 13 major drawdowns over 30% since 1872.
  • Deep drawdowns take years to recover - the worst took 25.
  • Diversification and tactical allocation reduce the pain.

−86%

deepest fall (1929)

25 yrs

longest recovery

13

drawdowns > 30%

A 50% loss means you'll need a 100% gain just to get back to where you started.

Why history repeats itself

Market crashes are inevitable. The good news? They're also temporary. Markets recover - how you handle the crash determines whether you thrive or survive.

The full breakdown - recovery times, and what actually protects you - is on the site.

statoasis.com/overfit → new issues land in your inbox first

· · ·

On screen: a real issue's study. Read “S&P 500 Drawdowns Since 1870” →

From readers

“99.9% of newsletters I receive are just a pitch for some sale. Ali's are something completely different - every time he picks a topic, he gives the complete analysis.”

- Vitaliy

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- Bruce H.

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More unedited reader words on the wall of love.

What you're signing up for

Overfitting is when a model memorizes noise instead of learning the real pattern - it looks accurate on past data and fails the moment it meets anything new. It's the most common way traders fool themselves. The name is a warning label, not a boast: this newsletter exists to help you spot overfitting - in strategies, in market narratives, in your own decision-making - before it costs you.

Each issue delivers one practical takeaway - a finding, a test result, a mistake worth naming - and points to the full article on the site. Topics range across strategy testing and backtests, portfolio construction and risk, market structure and historical data studies, trading psychology, and tactical asset allocation (momentum-based portfolios built from ETF universes).

Practical takeaways you can implement. No fear-mongering or hype. If that's what you're after, there are plenty of other newsletters. This one is for traders who want to understand how things behave, when they break, and why.

Written by Ali Casey, founder of StatOasis and AlgoChef, creator of the Algo Trading Masterclass (ATM), with over 10 years of experience building systematic trading tools - building algorithmic strategies, testing ideas with data, and teaching traders how to build structured, portfolio-based trading workflows.

Recent issues

The last 10 that went out, newest first. Every one is free to read in full on the site.

  • Issue 140Can AI Build a Profitable Trading Strategy? I Backtested 5 LLM-Generated Rules on SPY to Find OutAugust 22, 2026
  • Issue 139Coin Flip Trading: What Randomness Tells Us About Market BiasOctober 11, 2025 · updated October 11, 2025
  • Issue 138Dollar Cost Averaging vs Moving Averages: Why Risk Management Wins Every TimeAugust 17, 2025 · updated September 14, 2025
  • Issue 137Keltner Channels vs Bollinger Bands: 116,640 Backtests (and the Third Band I Built)August 2, 2025 · updated August 20, 2026
  • Issue 136Larry Connors R3 Strategy — Rebuilt for Index Futures (With a Smarter Filter)July 26, 2025 · updated September 14, 2025
  • Issue 134Same Breakout Strategy, Different Results: Nasdaq vs. SP500 vs. DowJune 20, 2025 · updated June 20, 2025
  • Issue 133📚 How to Build Profitable Strategies with the CCI IndicatorJune 13, 2025 · updated June 18, 2025
  • Issue 132Donchian Channel Strategy: I Backtested '40 In, 20 Out' 1,188 Ways on 33 Years of SPYJune 6, 2025 · updated August 22, 2026
  • Issue 131StrategyQuant X Review: The No-Code Way to Build Trading StrategiesMay 30, 2025 · updated August 20, 2026
  • Issue 130Cumulative RSI Strategy: A Smarter Twist on RSI(2) for S&P 500May 23, 2025 · updated June 17, 2025

Browse every issue in the archive - searchable, filterable by topic, sortable.

Inside past issues

Every issue is a study, and every study earns its chart. A few from the archive:

Overfit

Skip the hype. Trust the data.

Market structure

S&P 500 Drawdowns Since 1870

13 falls over 30% in 150 years - and what recovery actually took.

Read the full study →

Overfit

Skip the hype. Trust the data.

Strategy testing

Boost Your RSI2 Strategy for the S&P 500 by 48% with This Volume Filter

The same entry, filtered by volume - tested, not guessed.

Read the full study →

Overfit

Skip the hype. Trust the data.

Mean reversion

Trade the S&P 500 Like a Pro with Mean Reversion

Buying weakness with rules, not vibes - and when it breaks.

Read the full study →

Overfit

Skip the hype. Trust the data.

Volatility

What Is the VIX Index? A Beginner's Guide to Market Volatility

Spikes hit nearly every year - what they mean, and what to do.

Read the full study →

Overfit

Skip the hype. Trust the data.

Market edge

Market Edge: Why Markets Are Not Random

50,000 random strategies say the S&P 500 has a long bias.

Read the full study →

All of these are free to read in the Overfit research archive. Subscribing just means the next one finds you.

Before you subscribe

The six things readers ask most, answered without the marketing hedge.

How often does it arrive?⌄

Two or more issues a month. There is no fixed day - an issue goes out when the study behind it is finished, which is the only answer that stays true.

What do I get?⌄

One evidence-driven takeaway per issue, with the numbers left in: what was tested, what survived, and what didn't - plus a link to the full study on the site and its dataset where the study has one.

Is it free?⌄

Yes. There is no paid tier of the newsletter, and every issue's full study is free to read on the site.

Can I read past issues?⌄

Yes. The list above links the ten most recent, and the Overfit research archive holds every one of them - no subscription needed to read.

How do I unsubscribe?⌄

One click in any issue. No confirmation loop, no exit survey.

Is it market commentary or trade signals?⌄

Neither. It is research: what was tested and what the data said. Issues are educational and historical, and nothing in them is investment advice.

StatOasis is calm, evidence-based algorithmic-trading education, founded by Ali Casey. Ali builds systematic trading strategies and teaches the workflow behind them: research, build, test, combine, deploy. He writes the Overfit newsletter, published since 2024, and runs the Algo Trading Masterclass.

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