Short VIX Call 30 DTE s1 signal Options Backtest

Selling calls on VIX is a roundabout way to gain exposure to short /VX futures without having a futures account and without having to fiddle with SPAN margin requirements. If a trader has portfolio margin (PM) on their securities trading account, trading VIX options can offer administrative advantages in the form of margin-management and cash-management simplicity as well as potential margin relief through PM cross margining. Traders with a standard regulation-T (Reg-T) trading account won’t have the potential for cross margining as that’s a feature exclusive to PM accounts, but they can still benefit from the margin-management and cash-management administrative simplifications.
VIX options aren’t a 1:1 replacement for short /VX, but they can achieve reasonably-close performance characteristics. The farther in the money (ITM) the position at order entry, the more it’ll be have like the underlying (VIX options reference /VX as the underlying, not the VIX index) and the less it’ll be influenced by the greeks associated with option instruments. Traders can also make less /VX-like and more option-like trades by targeting lower deltas, expressing sentiment regarding volatility of /VX.
We’ll take a look at the backtest results of opening one short VIX call 30 DTE position each trading day from Jan 3 2007 through Apr 30 2023 and see if there are any discernible trends. Delta targets include 5, 10, 16, 30, 50 (at the money), and 90 (far ITM, short /VX proxy). We will also explore the performance of the s1 signal. The s1 signal is a boolean (TRUE / FALSE) daily indicator that attempts to identify the days in which short put and short vertical put positions on the S&P 500 are most likely to be profitable at expiration. s1 is based on data from Cboe and S&P Global.
The s1 signal has yielded material improvements in total return, risk-adjusted return, max drawdown, and capital efficiency when selling puts on the S&P 500 vs a “market-agnostic” daily-entry strategy. That is, it avoids opening positions on days in which the realized [downward] movement (RV) is anticipated to be greater at expiration than the expected [downward] movement (IV). When the S&P 500 experiences downward movements in excess of the market’s expectations, front-month /VX tends to experience material upward movements. If the s1 signal can help traders avoid these expectation-exceeding down days on S&P 500, could the same mechanic be applied to help traders avoid expectation-exceeding up days on /VX?
This study seeks to explore the following theses:
- if we open and hold-till-expiration a short VIX call 30-DTE position on the days in which s1 is TRUE, and take no action on the days in which s1 is FALSE, we will outperform, with regard to total return, risk-adjusted return, max drawdown, and max drawdown duration (and consequently capital efficiency), a strategy that opens and holds-till-expiration every trading day
- if we open and hold-till-expiration a short VIX call 30-DTE position on the days in which s1 is FALSE, and take no action on the days in which s1 is TRUE, we will underperform, with regard to total return, risk-adjusted return, max drawdown, and max drawdown duration (and consequently capital efficiency), a strategy that opens and holds-till-expiration every trading day
- if we open and hold till expiration a short VIX call 30-DTE position on the days in which s1 is TRUE, with a max margin utilization target of 100%, we will outperform, with regard to total return, risk-adjusted return, max drawdown, and max drawdown duration, a 100% SPY buy-and-hold portfolio with dividends reinvested (total return)
To test these theses we will:
- limit order entry to only the days in which s1 = TRUE to see if the strategy outperforms daily entry with regard to total return, risk-adjusted return, max drawdown, and max drawdown duration (and consequently capital efficiency)
- limit order entry to only the days in which s1 = FALSE to see if the strategy underperforms daily entry with regard to total return, risk-adjusted return, max drawdown, and max drawdown duration (and consequently capital efficiency)
- limit order entry to only the days in which s1 = TRUE, with a max margin utilization target of 100%, to see if the strategy outperforms a 100% SPY buy-and-hold portfolio with dividends reinvested (total return) with regard to total return, risk-adjusted return, max drawdown, and max drawdown duration
Performance of the s1 signal is explored in different contexts in other s1 signal studies.
There are 18 backtests in this study evaluating over 46,900 short VIX call 30 DTE trades.
The data used in this study was provided by ORATS via a professional license paid for by spintwig LLC.
Build the same ORATS trade logs used in this study with an individual license, discounted up to 66% for spintwig clients and readers (affiliate link) or download the finished product from our trade log store.
Let’s dive in!
Contents
Summary
Thesis 1


Thesis 2

Thesis 3

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Methodology
Strategy Details
- Symbol: VIX
- Strategy: Short Call
- Days Till Expiration: 30 DTE +/- 14, closest to 30
- Start Date: 2007-01-03
- End Date: 2023-04-30
- Positions opened per trade: 1
- Entry Days:
- each trading day
- each trading day in which the s1 signal = TRUE
- each trading day in which the s1 signal = FALSE
- Entry Signal: s1 signal
- Timing 3:46pm ET
- Strike Selection
- 5 delta +/- 4.5, closest to 5
- 10 delta +/- 5, closest to 10
- 16 delta +/- 6, closest to 16
- 30 delta +/- 8, closest to 30
- 50 delta +/- 8, closest to 50
- 90 delta +/-8, closest to 90
- Trade Entry
- 5-delta short call
- 10-delta short call
- 16-delta short call
- 30-delta short call
- 50-delta short call
- 90-delta short call
- Trade Exit
- Hold till expiration
- Max Margin Utilization Target (short option strats only): 100% | 5x leverage
- Max Drawdown Target: 99% | account value shall not go negative
Assumptions
- 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
- Margin requirement for short CALENDAR SPREAD positions, where the short option expires after the long option, is 20% of the short option
- Margin requirement for long CALENDAR SPREAD positions, where the short option expires before the long option, is the net cost of the spread
- Margin requirement for short IRON CONDOR positions is the difference between the call-side strikes if both sides are the same width, otherwise margin requirement is the width of the wider side
- Early assignment never occurs
- There is ample liquidity at all times
- Margin calls never occur (starting capital is set using hindsight bias so that max margin utilization never exceeds 100%)
- Apply a 20% discount to displayed results. For example, if a strat depicts a CAGR of 10%, assume that it’ll yield 8% in practice.
Mechanics
- Prices are in USD
- Prices are nominal (not adjusted for inflation)
- All statistics are pre-tax, where applicable
- Margin collateral is invested in 3mo US treasuries and earns interest daily
- Option positions are opened at 3:46pm ET
- Option positions are closed at 3:46pm ET (4:00pm if closed on the date of expiration)
- Commission to open, close early, or expire ITM is 1.00 USD per non-index underlying (eg: SPY, IWM, AAPL, etc.) contract
- Commission to open, close early, or expire ITM is 1.32 USD per index underlying (eg: SPX, RUT, etc.) contract
- Commission to expire worthless is 0.00 USD per contract (non-index and index)
- Commission to open or close non-option positions, if applicable, is 0.00 USD
- Slippage is calculated according to the slippage table
- Starting capital for short option backtests is adjusted in $1000 increments such that max margin utilization is between 80-100%, closest to 100%, of max margin utilization target
- Starting capital for long option backtests is adjusted in $1000 increments such that max drawdown is between 80-100%, closest to 100%, of max drawdown target
- Positions that have an exit date beyond the backtest end date are excluded
- For comprehensive details, visit the methodology page
Results
Overall



Starting Capital
Margin Utilization
Hindsight bias was used to maximize Reg-T margin utilization for each strategy. This allows a “best case” scenario for the option strategy to outperform the benchmark by identifying the minimum amount of starting capital necessary to successfully (eg: avoid margin calls) complete the backtest.
Capital Efficiency
Win Rate
Premium Capture
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Monthly Returns
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Max Drawdown
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Max Drawdown Duration
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Average Trade Duration
Average Trade Delta
Compound Annual Growth Rate
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Annual Volatility
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Sharpe Ratio
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Profit Spent on Commission
Total PnL
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Discussion
Short volatility strats have a tendency to generate small and consistent profits with occasional outsized losses that can wipe out months or years of profits in a single trade. Rather than trying to completely avoid these losing trades (the s1 signal does a great job of avoiding several of them), which is an impossible task, a better approach would be to make the trade less asymmetric.
VIX options are notably asymmetric relative to SPX options. When a short VIX call expires ITM, it’s usually far ITM. Selling far out-of-the-money (OTM) calls on VIX only exacerbates the issue due to effects of vega. We can see this when looking at the average win and average loss across delta targets.
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The ratio of average loss to average win can be used as a proxy for [a]symmetry. The 5-delta strats experience ratios in the 25-53x range. That is, a loss is 25-53x greater in magnitude than a win. As we work our way closer to the money and in the money, the ratio decreases all the way down to the 0.2-2x range. That is, a loss is only 20%-2x greater than a win.
Let’s take a closer look at the short VIX call 30-DTE 90-delta trade. We’ll look at opening a position daily, opening a position only on days when s1 = TRUE, opening a position only on days when s1 = FALSE, then benchmark everything against buy-and-hold SPY with dividends reinvested (total return).
Starting Capital and Leverage
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Win Rate Stats
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Profit and Loss Stats
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Performance Stats
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Risk Management
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Distribution of s1 signals
The s1 = TRUE signal, while suggesting order entry on roughly half the trading days since 2007, is not evenly distributed throughout time. Here’s a breakdown of participation rate by year:
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Ohad Osterreicher
July 23, 2023 @ 4:47 pm
Hi, I’m looking at the starting capital req and something doesn’t add up, hope you could clarify. Taking the 90d for example, it says starting capital of 37K. However, if I try to open such a position (short 30 lot of 90d, 30 DTE VIX calls or equivalently 30 short VXM futs), IBKR with portfolio margin asks me to put down around 70K as collateral. What am I missing? To be sure, I don’t have any significant long beta positions on currently. Thanks
spintwig.com
July 23, 2023 @ 5:44 pm
The backtest and starting-capital requirements are based on a _single_ short VIX call option.
If opening a 30-lot of short VIX calls (notionally comparable to -3 /VX futures positions or -30 /VXM futures positions), then the suggested starting capital requirement would be 30x what’s displayed.
Ohad Osterreicher
July 24, 2023 @ 2:23 am
Thanks. But isn’t the suggested starting capital holds for a strategy that eventually has -30 concurrent open contracts? I would think then that it would have to be large enough to support at a minimum a -30 position. Is the issue here that the backtest had time to book some profits until a run 30 consecutive TRUE signals happened? Thanks again.
spintwig.com
July 24, 2023 @ 4:38 pm
Yes, that is correct on both accounts.
By the time 32 short VIX call positions were open (eg: s1 was “true” for at least 45 consecutive calendar days – a month of “true” would yield only 20 positions due to weekends), the portfolio generated enough profit and interest income, with the particular sequence of returns associated with a Jan 3 2007 start date, to support laddering into that position size.