Quote from lolatency:
You are talking unleveraged, right? If I get 10x leverage, we're talking about 17k.
I will definitely check out your work.
I'm assuming 1.92:1 leverage, but with the double leverage, we're talking 4:1, but certainly viable with 1.92:1 leverage.
If you don't learn anything else from my crass self-promotion, just do some experimenting yourself, and for anyone else interested in pairs trading.
Plug in QID and QLD, and make that your watchlist to start developing. It is not that pair trading produces small returns, more than it is that finding the pair is the reason for the small returns.
You can do it on SDS, SSO
QID QLD
MVV MZZ
And I guarantee there's shell programs to start with that can be your guide into this.
Seriously, pair trading isn't technical analysis. Done correctly, and accounting for volatility as you would in an option pricing model, it's very effective, and that system is proof enough for me.
Anyway, if you don't subscribe, well, I guess it's no skin off my back, but experimenting by yourself with a shell program that's already out there might be something to try. And that's not just for the OP, but for anyone interested in real quantitative analysis.
Ex-Post Edit: There's one further than this, too. Using options gives a bit of a cushion through the time decay component of options pricing. Doing it this way, and certainly leveraging to 10:1 and beyond is possible, but don't forget, I drewdown 33%, so at 10:1 drawdown is greater than 100%, so keep your expectations tempered. 4:1 is absolutely the max anyone should trade, but only after years of trading. It's laughable people go straight to forex to trade at 100:1 or 20:1 or whatever stupid amount beyond 5:1 that will just nuke their account.