Strategy pattern · Trend
A Bollinger mid-band strategy with an hourly gate, tested before you trade it.
The Bollinger mid-band strategy is a Super Algo Kit pattern card from a real build. It buys an at-the-money weekly option when price closes through the 20-bar average. The hourly trend and two of three intraday checks must agree first. It is graded C and was never tested, so treat it as a hypothesis, not a recommendation.
strategy facts
Bollinger mid-band cross with an hourly trend gate
- Family
- Trend, from a real build that was generalised and anonymised
- Markets
- Futures and options; the trade is an at-the-money weekly option
- Timeframes
- 3 or 5 minute bars for the trigger, hourly bars for the trend gate
- Evidence grade
- C: weak or anecdotal evidence. The real build recorded no validated edge
- Status
- Untested: built, but no completed test is on record
- Data needed
- Short and hourly bars from one source, weekly option premiums with bid-ask history, a holiday calendar
- First check
- Signals must match the original chart on frozen bars before any backtest
From the kit's own card. Not investment advice.
Paper first
Test it before you trade it.
Super Algo Kit runs inside the coding agent you already use. It interviews you, writes the spec with pass marks set first, then builds, backtests and paper-tests. Real money starts only when you type the authorize command.
The plan, step by step
Tick them off as you go.
How does the Bollinger mid-band strategy work?
Bollinger bands sit around a 20-bar simple average called the mid-band. A close through that line is read as a shift in short-term direction.
The original builder stacked two gates on that trigger: the hourly trend and a vote of three quick checks. The trade was a weekly option, managed by its premium, the option's price. Stacked gates cut the number of trades, but they do not necessarily add information.
Bollinger band trading bot rules in plain words
This is a summary of the card's sketch, not its exact rules. The values are the original builder's, and you declare each one before any test.
- Trigger: the first close on the other side of the mid-band since the last cross.
- Hourly gate: the last completed hourly trend must point the same way.
- Vote gate: two of three agree, using VWAP, a short EMA and the opening candle's close.
- Trade: buy the at-the-money weekly call or put, managed on premium.
- Exits: a premium stop, a partial exit, a trail on the band, a daily entry cap and flat by the close.
Where the Bollinger mid-band strategy breaks
The kit's judgement, not a measured result, is that ranges produce frequent whipsaws. The three votes all follow price, so they add little independent information.
The real build also failed on engineering. Its output was never matched to the chart it came from, and its holiday calendar was hard-coded for one year. Paper fills had no slippage or fees, and no stop rested at the exchange.
How Super Algo Kit tests it before any money
Pass marks are declared before the first run, and every parameter change is logged as a trial. The backtest uses real premium history and the market pack's costs, spreads included.
An ablation tests the trigger alone, then with the hourly gate, then with the votes. Each gate must earn its place out of sample in walk-forward checks, with results deflated for the number of trials. The paper run must include an exchange holiday.
Before you rely on it
Where it fails.
- Mid-band crosses are frequent in ranges; the gates cut trades, not whipsaws.
- VWAP, the EMA and the opening close all follow price, so two of three adds little.
- An hourly gate read from completed bars updates once an hour and lags by design.
- A tight premium stop and target on a cheap option can sit inside its bid-ask spread.
- Reading the still-forming hourly bar leaks that hour's close into the backtest.
FAQ
Bollinger mid-band gate: questions.
Does the Bollinger mid-band strategy work?
Super Algo Kit makes no claim that it does. The card grades it C because it comes from one real build with no validated edge and no completed test. The kit's job is to test it with costs, out-of-sample checks and a paper run before you risk money.
Why test each Bollinger filter separately?
Stacked filters cut the number of trades, which can make a backtest look cleaner without adding information. Super Algo Kit runs the trigger alone, then adds the hourly gate, then the votes. A gate stays only if it improves results out of sample.
Can Super Algo Kit match my TradingView Bollinger script?
Yes, and that is the first check for this card. The kit freezes bars, exports the reference values from the original chart and compares both versions to a stated tolerance. Any unexplained difference blocks the backtest, and the pine-builder skill covers parity for Pine Script.
What data does a Bollinger band options backtest need?
It needs short and hourly bars from one source, plus the session open and the opening-candle rule. It also needs weekly option premiums with bid-ask history, the expiry calendar and lot sizes. Holidays must come from a calendar stored as data, not a hard-coded list.
Does Super Algo Kit place the trades?
No. Super Algo Kit is development software inside your own coding agent, not a signal service or investment advice. It builds and paper-tests the bot, and live trading starts only when you type the authorize command.
Keep reading
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United States · Broker APIInteractive BrokersSuper Algo Kit helps you build an Interactive Brokers trading bot inside your own AI coding agent.Sources the kit's card cites
- Bollinger, J. (2001). Bollinger on Bollinger Bands. McGraw-Hill.
- Super Algo Kit owner-lesson card: Bollinger mid-band cross gated by an hourly trend, generalised and anonymised from a real build
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Super Algo Kit is development software. It is not investment advice, a signal service or a promise of performance. Trading involves substantial risk, including the loss of all capital you trade with.