TightRope
Follows the Nasdaq-100's trend and steps back when it weakens.
Checked every trading day
Holds TQQQ + cash
Paper research — no track record yet
Two rule-based products. Pick the pace that suits you.
TightRope and Glide each say, in plain words, how much of an account to hold in TQQQ and how much to keep out of it — one decides daily, the other monthly.
Both products use TQQQ, a leveraged fund that resets daily. Leveraged funds can lose most of their value.
Glide
Holds more when markets are calm, less when they're choppy.
Set once a month
Holds TQQQ + a Treasury bill fund
Which one fits you?
| Question | TightRope | Glide |
|---|---|---|
| How often it changes | Can change on any trading day | Once a month |
| What it holds | TQQQ and cash | TQQQ and BIL, a Treasury bill fund |
| How hands-on | Needs attention near the close each trading day if you place the orders yourself. | Once a month, at the start of the month. |
| Ways to follow | Signals only. Not offered as Managed (no order that fills at the close on Robinhood). | Signals only. Managed is planned — not available yet. |
Hypothetical results over the last 5, 10 and 15 years
Hypothetical results, not actual trading. The rule was chosen by studying this same history, which makes past results look better than future ones are likely to be. No real money has followed this rule. Past performance, real or hypothetical, does not predict future results.
The figures in red are the worst fall: the most each one dropped below its own high point before recovering. Under it is the worst full calendar year.
5 years Oct 2021 – Oct 2026
- QQQ
-
+16.5% a year
worst fall −35.1% worst year 2022: −32.6% - TQQQ
-
+21.8% a year
worst fall −81.7% worst year 2022: −79.1% - TightRope
-
+24.4% a year
worst fall −38.7% worst year 2022: −28.7% Same exposure +19.5% a year
worst fall −59.2% worst year 2022: −56.1% - Glide
-
+20.4% a year
worst fall −28.5% worst year 2022: −24.4% Same exposure +15.7% a year
worst fall −40.0% worst year 2022: −37.3%
10 years Oct 2016 – Oct 2026
- QQQ
-
+21.1% a year
worst fall −35.1% worst year 2022: −32.6% - TQQQ
-
+41.5% a year
worst fall −81.7% worst year 2022: −79.1% - TightRope
-
+30.4% a year
worst fall −38.7% worst year 2022: −28.7% Same exposure +31.5% a year
worst fall −62.5% worst year 2022: −59.4% - Glide
-
+23.3% a year
worst fall −28.5% worst year 2022: −24.4% Same exposure +23.9% a year
worst fall −45.6% worst year 2022: −42.7%
15 years Oct 2011 – Oct 2026
- QQQ
-
+20.2% a year
worst fall −35.1% worst year 2022: −32.6% - TQQQ
-
+44.7% a year
worst fall −81.7% worst year 2022: −79.1% - TightRope
-
+26.9% a year
worst fall −38.7% worst year 2022: −28.7% Same exposure +32.5% a year
worst fall −63.4% worst year 2022: −60.3% - Glide
-
+22.4% a year
worst fall −28.5% worst year 2022: −24.4% Same exposure +24.7% a year
worst fall −48.1% worst year 2022: −45.2%
Adding money on a schedule
Start with $10,000, then add $500 on the first trading day of each month ($6,000 a year).
Each deposit is added at that day's close and invested the way the rule held the account that day, at the same trading costs as the table above.
The figures in red are the worst drop: the most the account fell below its own high point, in dollars and as a share of that high, with the month it bottomed. Adding money does not make a rule less risky. As the account grows, the same fall costs more dollars, and money added during a fall is not counted as a recovery.
5 years Oct 2021 – Oct 2026 · $40,000 put in
- QQQ
-
$75,879 · +21.0% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$10,405 23% below its high, Apr 2025 - TQQQ
-
$128,972 · +39.4% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$45,672 34% below its high, Jul 2026 - TightRope
-
$92,283 · +27.6% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$27,795 33% below its high, Mar 2026 - Glide
-
$82,119 · +23.7% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$10,684 21% below its high, Apr 2025
10 years Oct 2016 – Oct 2026 · $70,000 put in
- QQQ
-
$248,906 · +21.1% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$38,464 23% below its high, Apr 2025 - TQQQ
-
$792,318 · +40.2% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$295,586 81% below its high, Dec 2022 - TightRope
-
$420,568 · +29.7% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$133,099 33% below its high, Mar 2026 - Glide
-
$262,990 · +22.0% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$38,530 22% below its high, Apr 2025
15 years Oct 2011 – Oct 2026 · $100,000 put in
- QQQ
-
$637,643 · +20.2% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$108,258 35% below its high, Nov 2022 - TQQQ
-
$5,704,473 · +43.0% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$2,371,830 82% below its high, Dec 2022 - TightRope
-
$1,257,749 · +27.2% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$401,640 33% below its high, Mar 2026 - Glide
-
$740,055 · +21.7% a year on the money put in
worst drop −$111,977 22% below its high, Apr 2025
Ending value over 15 years when the same $6,000 a year is added on different schedules
Weekly: $115.38
QQQ $640,810 · TQQQ $5,746,422 · TightRope $1,262,393 · Glide $743,984
Every two weeks: $230.77
QQQ $641,590 · TQQQ $5,759,055 · TightRope $1,265,602 · Glide $745,154
Monthly: $500.00
QQQ $637,643 · TQQQ $5,704,473 · TightRope $1,257,749 · Glide $740,055
Over the 15 years, adding the same $6,000 a year weekly, every two weeks or monthly changed each ending value by at most 1.0%. Which product was followed mattered far more than how often money was added.
- TightRope: At the trading costs measured in paper trading, most of the rule's difference from a fixed holding is used up by costs. Trading costs assumed: 0.25% of every dollar traded — about the slippage measured when this rule was paper traded. Cash is assumed to earn what a Treasury bill fund (BIL) earned.
- Glide: A pre-registered test found Glide's lead over QQQ came from holding more exposure, not from timing; compare it with the same-exposure column. Trading costs assumed: 0.10% of every dollar traded. The rest of the account earns what the Treasury bill fund (BIL) earned.
- QQQ and TQQQ: bought once and held. Same exposure: TQQQ and BIL, rebalanced every day to that product's own average TQQQ share over the same period, charged the same trading costs. Each cell shows the yearly return, the worst fall from a peak and the worst full calendar year.
- QQQ and TQQQ: every deposit buys the fund and holds it, with no trading cost. The return on the money put in is the yearly rate that, earned by each deposit from the day it was added, gives the ending value.
- Figures to the close of October 9, 2026, from split- and dividend-adjusted daily prices of QQQ, TQQQ and BIL. Taxes and fees other than trading costs are not included.
- Both products use TQQQ, a leveraged fund that resets daily. Leveraged funds can lose most of their value.
How following works
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01
Read the rule
Each product's rule is described below in plain words, with its risks and full disclosures.
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02
Sign up for Signals only
Choose a product. Nothing is connected to your brokerage account.
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03
See each target
After each close you see the product's target — how much TQQQ, how much out of it — and place your own orders.
Coming soon
Managed
Managed: coming — not available yet. When it opens, the product will be sized to an amount you choose in your own brokerage account. Planned for Glide only. TightRope stays Signals only: it trades near the close, and Robinhood, the brokerage Managed would use, has no order that fills at the closing price.
Pricing
Pricing is not set yet. Join the waitlist and we'll tell you what it costs, and what you get, before anything is offered.
TightRope
A daily trend-following allocation to a 3× Nasdaq-100 fund that steps back as trends weaken or markets get rough.
How it works
- 01 Reads the trend of QQQ, the plain Nasdaq-100 fund — never the leveraged one.
- 02 Combines several trend and momentum checks: the more of them agree the market is rising, the larger the position.
- 03 Holds less when the market has been turbulent, and never more than the trend checks allow.
- 04 Holds that share in TQQQ and the rest in cash. Never short.
Holds: TQQQ (3× daily Nasdaq-100 fund), Cash. When: Checked every trading day near the close; very small changes are skipped.
TightRope's own risks
- The rule can be partly invested through a long, slow decline and lose a large share of the account.
- The rule trades often, so trading costs matter.
Plus the leveraged-fund risk both products share — read it below.
Glide
A monthly allocation to a 3× Nasdaq-100 fund, sized down when it is volatile, with the rest in a Treasury bill fund.
How it works
- 01 Once a month, measures how turbulent TQQQ has been recently.
- 02 Holds more TQQQ when it has been calm and less when it has been choppy, never more than the whole account.
- 03 Puts the rest in BIL, a Treasury bill fund.
- 04 Holds that mix until the next month.
Holds: TQQQ (3× daily Nasdaq-100 fund), BIL (1–3 month Treasury bill fund). When: Set once a month, at month end, and held through the next month.
Glide's own risks
- The position is set once a month, so a sharp fall within the month is not reacted to.
- Sizing by volatility does not prevent large losses when a fall starts from a calm market.
Plus the leveraged-fund risk both products share — read it below.
The risk both products share
TQQQ is a leveraged fund that resets daily. Leveraged funds can lose most of their value, and they lose value in choppy markets even when the index ends flat.
These are published rules, not personal advice. Nothing here says the rules will make money.
Questions
Is this advice?
No. These are published rules, not personal advice. Nothing here says the rules will make money. Whether a leveraged fund suits you is your decision.
Can I lose money?
Yes. Both products hold TQQQ, which can lose most of its value. The hypothetical results on this page include years with large falls, and real results can be worse than anything shown.
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