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sell-window Backtest: Every Suggested Trade on SPY, QQQ and IWM, 2018 to 2026
More than 5 million backtests led to the sell-window endpoint. We replayed every trade it suggests on SPY, QQQ and IWM from 2018 to 2026: 20,883 trades in seven strategies. Following it cut the deepest drawdown from $958,924 to $255,105 against selling the same trades every day. Pick one strategy or all of them, size it in contracts or by target volatility, and see every result.
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Does DEX Predict QQQ? A 9,216-Strategy Options Backtest
We backtested 9,216 QQQ option strategies on dealer delta exposure (DEX) and the opening gap, 2022 to 2026. None beat random timing; the best Sharpe was 1.01.
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Are Covered Calls Worth It? A SPY & QQQ Backtest
SPY and QQQ covered calls at 6 deltas and 4 expiries, 2022–2026: every setup made less than holding the shares. Weekly calls timed with net gamma beat holding in all 12 weekly setups.
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Does Expiring Gamma Move the Market? 4 Years of SPY & QQQ Data
FlashAlpha's study of 2,002 SPY and QQQ symbol-sessions (2022-2025): larger nearest-expiry gamma shares preceded smaller ranges, with calendar-sensitive results. Covered calls beat shares more often but had lower mean returns.
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Covered calls and cash-secured puts: SPY and QQQ backtest research pack
Four 2025 income simulations with zero cash interest, bid/ask costs, daily drawdowns and buy-and-hold comparisons. Inspect the assumptions and why QQQ results spanning 2024 are withheld.
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Which endpoint signals helped? 30 light backtests across six options strategies
Thirty endpoint-derived signal rules tested across six options strategies on SPY, QQQ and IWM, 2020 to 2025: a ranked matrix with Sharpe, drawdown and controls, a selected-versus-rejected test for every rule and 30 research profiles.
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Options strategies ranked: a reference guide with 50 light-backtest profiles
All 50 options strategy profiles ranked by light-backtest results on SPY, QQQ and IWM, 2020 to 2025, with constructions, what each sample showed, what to test next and a downloadable trade ledger for every profile.
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Dealer Hedge Flow in the August 2024 Carry Unwind: Minute Replay
We replayed six flow and exposure endpoints at 5-minute resolution through all seven sessions of the August 2024 yen carry unwind: 553 stamps, three pre-registered questions. Hedge-flow impulse led returns only weakly on event days, the pin score (37/100) never flashed before the -3.9% weekend gap, and all 7 sessions opened short-gamma. Artifacts downloadable.
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Earnings VRP Harvesting: 70 Events of Selling the Implied Move
Across all 70 unique earnings events in FlashAlpha's covered universe (2025-2026), the median event harvested 32% of the implied move with a 67.1% win rate and a fat left tail. The striking result is the gradient: the largest implied moves were overpriced 93% of the time, while small implied moves on megacaps were breached repeatedly. Every number traces to downloadable artifacts.
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Are 0DTE Straddles Overpriced? We Tested 193 SPY Sessions (2022-2026)
A data study of 193 SPY 0DTE sessions from July 2022 to April 2026 using minute-level historical data. The 10:00 ET implied move contained the close 71.0% of the time (68.3% if fairly priced), realized moves ran about 13% below what the straddle implied, and the worst single miss was a +8.72% day against a 3.51% implied move. Full method, tables, and the tail-risk caveat.
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SPY 25-Delta Skew History: What Skew Actually Does Around Selloffs (2018-2026)
413 weeks of SPY 25-delta put-call skew from 2018 to 2026, rebuilt from point-in-time options data. Yearly medians, the ten most extreme skew readings ever printed, and a finding that contradicts the folklore: the highest-skew weeks were followed by better-than-average returns, because skew spikes mark capitulation, not warnings. Full tables and method.
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The SPY Volatility Cone: 8 Years of Realized Vol Percentiles (2018-2026)
A SPY volatility cone built from 8 years of historical closes (2018-2026): realized volatility percentiles at 1-month, 3-month, 6-month and 1-year windows, with ATM implied vol percentiles alongside. Median 1-month realized vol is 11.8% while median ATM IV is 14.0% - the volatility risk premium, visible in one table. Includes the method and API calls to rebuild it.
Run your own backtests
The studies on this page use FlashAlpha historical options data. The Historical API gives you the same data to test your own question.