DIS Short Put 0 DTE Cash-Secured Options Backtest

In this post we’ll take a look at the backtest results of opening one DIS short put 0 DTE cash-secured position each trading day from Jan 3 2007 through Dec 27 2019 and see if there are any discernible trends. We’ll also explore the profitable strategies to see if any outperform buy-and-hold DIS.
There are 10 backtests in this study evaluating over 9,400 DIS short put 0 DTE cash-secured trades.
Let’s dive in!
Contents
Summary
Systematically opening DIS short put 0 DTE cash-secured positions was profitable for 6 out of 10 strategies.
None of the DIS short put 0 DTE cash-secured strategies outperformed buy-and-hold DIS with regard to total return.
Methodology
Strategy Details
- Symbol: DIS
- Strategy: Short Put
- Days Till Expiration: 0 +/- 3, closest to 0
- Start Date: 2007-01-03
- End Date: 2019-12-27
- Positions opened per trade: 1
- Entry Days: daily
- Entry Signal: N/A
- Timing 3:46pm ET
- Strike Selection
- 5 delta +/- 4.5 delta, closest to 5
- 10 delta +/- 5 delta, closest to 10
- 16 delta +/- 6 delta, closest to 16
- 30 delta +/- 8 delta, closest to 30
- 50 delta +/- 8 delta, closest to 50
- Trade Entry
- 5D short put
- 10D short put
- 16D short put
- 30D short put
- 50D short put
- Trade Exit
- 50% max profit or expiration, whichever occurs first
- Hold till expiration
- Max Margin Utilization Target (short option strats only): 20% | 1x leverage
- Max Drawdown Target: 99% | account value shall not go negative
Assumptions
- Margin requirements are always satisfied
- Margin calls never occur
- Margin requirement for short CALL and PUT positions is 20% of notional
- Margin requirement for short STRADDLE and STRANGLE positions is 20% of the larger strike
- Margin requirement for short VERTICAL SPREAD positions is the difference between the strikes
- Early assignment never occurs
Mechanics
- Prices are in USD
- Prices are nominal (not adjusted for inflation)
- All statistics are pre-tax, where applicable
- Margin collateral is held as cash and earns no interest
- Assignment P/L is calculated by closing the ITM position at 3:46pm ET the day of expiration / position exit
- Commission to open, close early, or expire ITM is 1.00 USD per contract
- Commission to expire worthless is 0.00 USD per contract
- Commission to open or close non-option positions, if applicable, is 0.00 USD
- Slippage is calculated according to the slippage table
- For comprehensive details, visit the methodology page
Results
Win Rate


Managing trades early outperformed holding till expiration with regard to win rate. 5D is an exception due to commission drag.
The higher the delta the lower the win rate.
Annual Volatility
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Worst Monthly Return
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Average P/L Per Day
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Average Trade Duration


Managing trades at 50% max profit improved the efficiency of capital and shortened the average trade duration.
Time in Market


Not depicted in the chart and table above, the majority of the time spent out of the market was between January 3 2007 through September 30 2013.
Compound Annual Growth Rate
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Sharpe Ratio
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Profit Spent on Commission


18.6% – the blended average percent of profits spent on commission across profitable strategies.
Total P/L
Early management underperformed holding till expiration with regard to total P/L. 50D was an exception.
The higher the delta the higher the total P/L. 10D was an exception.
Overall
Six out of 10 option strategies were profitable.
Discussion
The combination of order-entry mechanics and available CBOE options products (only monthlies existed for several of the early years of the backtest duration) caused the strategy to experience:
- ~42% of time in the market
- material amounts of timing luck
As highlighted in the methodology section, the “ultra short” 0 DTE strategy calls for options with 0-3 DTE horizons. 0 DTE would equate to a position opened and expiring same day whereas a 3 DTE position would equate to a position opened on Friday and closed on a Monday (Fri = 0 DTE, Sat = 1, Sun = 2, Mon = 3).
DIS, unlike SPY, does not have Monday-expiring or Wednesday-expiring options. Therefore, positions are opened Tues (3 DTE), Wed (2 DTE), Thurs (1 DTE) and Fri (0 DTE) so long as a delta exists in the respective range.
Additional Resources
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