Strategy of the Month – July 2026: A DAX Futures Trend-Following Strategy Takes the Win

In this article, we’ll review the results of our July 2026 “Strategy of the Month” contest. Once again, we received numerous well-designed strategies with compelling historical performance.

Of the strategies approved by the Unger Academy coaches, we selected two to feature: the DAX futures trend-following strategy that won the contest edition and a reversal strategy for Feeder Cattle futures (FC).

We’ll examine the logic behind both trading systems, the characteristics of their respective markets, and their key performance results since 2010. Our goal is to provide useful insights into how very different trading approaches can be applied to systematic trading.

How the Strategy of the Month Contest Works

The Strategy of the Month is a monthly contest exclusively reserved for Unger Academy® students. Every month, we reward the best trading strategy developed using the Unger Method™.

By participating in the contest, students can test their trading ideas on real markets while competing for a €1,000 Amazon gift card.

The winning strategies are also shared inside the Unger Strategy Club, our exclusive service dedicated to systematic trading education and strategy development. Members receive the open-source code for the winning strategies, gain access to monthly live Masterclasses, and learn the trading logic behind many of the systems included in our portfolio.

The VIP version of the service also provides exclusive access to the open-source code of every contest strategy approved by the Unger Academy® coaching team.

Let’s now take a closer look at the best strategies submitted during July 2026.

Feeder Cattle (FC) Reversal Trading Strategy

Among the strategies submitted this month that did not win the award, we selected one developed by Sergio, whom we would still like to congratulate on his work.

This Feeder Cattle reversal strategy is designed to enter the market against the short-term trend. The goal of this type of approach is to identify potentially overextended conditions in which a particularly strong price move may be followed by a reversal or a temporary reversion toward the mean.

The system identifies two separate entry levels, one for long trades and one for short trades. These levels are calculated relative to the session’s opening price, using standard deviation to determine how far away each entry threshold should be placed.

Standard deviation is a statistical measure of how widely prices are dispersed around their mean. In this strategy, it is used to identify moves large enough to signal a potential short-term overextension. When the market reaches one of the calculated thresholds, the system may enter a position in the opposite direction of the preceding move.

The strategy also includes specific position exit rules, along with a $650 stop loss and a $2,500 profit target.

This risk-reward ratio allows the system to pursue profits that are potentially much larger than its predefined maximum loss. At the same time, the relatively distant profit target may result in trades remaining open for extended periods.

Feeder Cattle: Volatility, Liquidity, and Trading Hours

Feeder Cattle is a livestock futures market with characteristics that differ significantly from those of the major equity index futures.

One of its main advantages is its high volatility, which can produce price moves large enough to create attractive opportunities for trading systems. On the other hand, the market is less liquid and has a considerably shorter daily trading session than many commodity and equity index futures markets, running from 8:30 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. Chicago time.

These characteristics can increase the difference between the theoretical fill price generated by the system and the price actually obtained in live trading. When evaluating a strategy for this market, it is therefore especially important to account for commissions, slippage, and average trade size.

Since 2010, Sergio’s strategy has generated an average trade of approximately $190. This provides a reasonable cushion to absorb both commissions and potential adverse price movement relative to the system’s theoretical entry price.

July 2026 Strategy of the Month: Giuseppe’s DAX Futures Trend-Following Strategy

Let’s now turn to the winning strategy, developed by Giuseppe, whom we would like to congratulate on winning the EUR1,000 Amazon gift card.

This is a trend-following strategy for DAX futures, designed to enter in the direction of the market’s prevailing move. Its logic is the opposite of the reversal approach discussed in the previous section. While a reversal strategy looks for potential turning points after an overextended move, a trend-following system waits for confirmation of a directional move and then attempts to capitalize on its continuation.

The entry triggers are calculated using prices recorded during the first two hours of the traditional trading session, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.:

• Long entries are triggered using the high recorded during this two-hour window.
• Short entries are triggered using the low recorded over the same period.

Giuseppe also added several trading filters to the entry logic, including filters based on the day of the week and the month of the year. The system uses specific price patterns as well, reducing the overall number of trades and selecting only the setups considered statistically more favorable.

Positions are closed at the end of the session or when either the stop loss or profit target is reached. Because the strategy does not hold positions overnight, it can be classified as a fully intraday trading system.

Trading the DAX with FDAX, Mini-DAX, and Micro-DAX Futures

The DAX is one of Europe’s leading stock indexes and tracks the largest companies listed on the German stock market. The standard FDAX futures contract has a value of EUR25 per index point, meaning that even relatively small moves in the underlying index can result in significant changes in the position’s value.

Traders can also access the same market through smaller contracts:

• The Mini-DAX futures contract is worth EUR5 per point, or one-fifth the size of the standard contract.
• The Micro-DAX futures contract is worth EUR1 per point, or one-twenty-fifth the size of the standard contract.

These smaller contracts allow traders to reduce their market exposure proportionally and tailor their risk management more easily to the amount of capital available.

Performance of the DAX Futures Trend-Following Strategy

Looking at the historical performance metrics, the system has generated a total net profit of more than EUR 600,000 since 2010.

This is certainly a noteworthy result, although it should be interpreted in light of the EUR 25 point value of the standard FDAX contract used in the backtest.

The maximum historical drawdown of approximately EUR 25,600 is also compelling relative to the total profit generated over the same period. Comparing profit and drawdown helps assess not only a system’s ability to generate returns, but also the losing periods a trader would have had to withstand to achieve them.

Conclusions: Two Different Approaches to Systematic Futures Trading

Congratulations once again to Giuseppe, whose DAX trend-following strategy earned him the EUR1,000 Amazon gift card awarded to the winner of the July 2026 Strategy of the Month contest.

The two strategies analyzed in this article show how systematic traders can approach the markets using very different types of logic.

Sergio’s Feeder Cattle strategy looks for potential reversals after overextended short-term moves. Giuseppe’s DAX futures trend-following system, on the other hand, attempts to capitalize on directional moves confirmed by breakouts of the levels established during the first few hours of the trading session.

No single approach works equally well in every market or market environment. When building a portfolio of trading systems, it is therefore important to evaluate the robustness of the rules, trading costs, risk, the liquidity of the underlying market, and the potential benefits of diversifying across strategies with different characteristics.

If your goal is to learn how to develop systematic trading strategies like the ones analyzed in this article, you can take part in our exclusive contest for Unger Academy students during your training and compete each month for a EUR 1,000 Amazon gift card.

If you would like access to the open-source code for the winning strategy and the other approved entries, you can learn more about everything included in the Unger Strategy Club at www.ungerclub.com .

That’s all for today! We look forward to seeing you in the next edition of “Strategy of the Month,” featuring new strategies and fresh trading insights.

Curious about our “Strategy of the Month” competition? This exciting monthly competition is open exclusively to Unger Academy students and rewards the best strategy developed using the Unger Method with a 1,000-euro Amazon gift card. Interested? Click here to learn more!

Want to see the champions from previous months? Click here to check them out!