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PG 21-Day Rule research

Public recipe: cash-secured wheel sized to equity, 35 DTE / 2% OTM puts and calls, manage at 21 DTE. Simulated window 2024-11-08 to 2026-11-06.

Two paired wheel simulations on PG, one managed at 21 DTE. On this simulation the 21-Day Rule finished +8.3 pp ahead of holding to expiry.

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Arm-by-arm comparison

MetricStandard (hold to expiry)21-Day RuleDelta
Total return9.0%17.3%+8.3 pp
Annualized return4.4%8.3%+3.9 pp
Buy-and-hold return-1.4%-1.4%0.0 pp
Max drawdown (from peak equity)12.4%8.6%-3.9 pp
Assignment rate75.0%42.1%-32.9 pp
Call-away rate23.1%25.0%+1.9 pp
Average cycle return2.3%0.9%—
Sample cycles419—
History days728728—
Entry fills1747—
Entry fills priced from real option bars47%49%—
21-DTE buy-backs priced from real option bars—49%—

How PG compares

Across the 37 published tickers, the 21-Day Rule finished ahead of holding to expiry on 21 and behind on 16. The PG total-return delta of +8.3 pp ranks 11th of 37 (1st is where managing early helped most); the median delta is +2.0 pp.

Without the rule, the standard arm returned 9.0% against -1.4% for buy-and-hold, so the plain wheel beat holding the shares by 10.4 percentage points in this simulation.

Among its defensive, healthcare and income peers COST, LLY, WMT and XLP, the rule finished ahead of holding to expiry on 1 of 4; PG itself came in at +8.3 pp.

The separate 10 DTE / 2% OTM wheel snapshot for PG shows a put assignment rate of 40.0% and wheel P&L of $1,311 against −$231 for buy-and-hold. That is a different recipe from the 35 DTE study on this page, so the two results are not additive.

MetricPGFamily medianRank (highest first unless noted)
Rule total-return delta+8.3 pp+2.0 pp11th of 37
Rule drawdown delta-3.9 pp-0.6 pp10th of 37 (lowest first)
21-Day total return17.3%16.0%18th of 37
21-Day annualized return8.3%7.7%18th of 37
Standard total return9.0%15.0%24th of 37
21-Day max drawdown8.6%19.0%4th of 37 (lowest first)
21-Day call-away rate25.0%42.1%33rd of 37
Standard annualized return4.4%7.2%24th of 37
Buy-and-hold return-1.4%26.4%33rd of 37
Standard max drawdown12.4%20.8%7th of 37 (lowest first)
Standard assignment rate75.0%36.4%1st of 37
21-Day assignment rate42.1%31.8%3rd of 37
21-Day sample cycles192837th of 37
21-Day average cycle return0.9%0.6%11th of 37
TickerStandard return21-Day returnRule deltaBuy-and-holdStandard drawdown21-Day drawdownStandard assignment21-Day assignment
PG9.0%17.3%+8.3 pp-1.4%12.4%8.6%75.0%42.1%
COST16.5%20.4%+4.0 pp11.6%14.1%14.9%57.1%31.8%
LLY65.6%17.7%-47.9 pp62.8%17.0%23.5%45.5%39.3%
WMT35.0%10.2%-24.8 pp48.0%16.2%18.3%30.0%35.7%
XLP18.3%17.8%-0.5 pp11.5%7.9%8.0%57.1%21.4%

PG wheel snapshot — the other published study on this ticker.

PG buy-and-hold path

Month-end P&L of holding 100 PG shares over the same window as this study, taken from the stored series of the 10 DTE wheel snapshot. The best month for holders was 2026-10 ($1,629) and the worst was 2026-03 (−$2,276).

MonthBuy-and-hold P&LChange in monthRunning highBelow its peakWorst fall so far
2024-11$1,155—$1,165$10$187
2024-12−$6−$1,161$1,199$1,205$1,261
2025-01−$172−$166$1,199$1,371$2,114
2025-02$613$785$1,199$586$2,114
2025-03$271−$342$1,199$928$2,114
2025-04−$514−$785$1,199$1,713$2,131
2025-05$218$732$1,199$981$2,204
2025-06−$839−$1,057$1,199$2,038$2,204
2025-07−$1,724−$885$1,199$2,923$2,923
2025-08−$1,067$657$1,199$2,266$2,923
2025-09−$1,406−$339$1,199$2,605$2,923
2025-10−$1,734−$328$1,199$2,933$3,228
2025-11−$1,955−$221$1,199$3,154$3,420
2025-12−$2,440−$485$1,199$3,639$4,136
2026-01−$1,594$846$1,199$2,793$4,166
2026-02−$51$1,543$1,199$1,250$4,166
2026-03−$2,327−$2,276$1,199$3,526$4,166
2026-04−$2,062$265$1,199$3,261$4,166
2026-05−$2,415−$353$1,199$3,614$4,166
2026-06−$2,107$308$1,199$3,306$4,166
2026-07−$2,322−$215$1,199$3,521$4,166
2026-08−$2,259$63$1,199$3,458$4,166
2026-09−$2,243$16$1,199$3,442$4,166
2026-10−$614$1,629$1,199$1,813$4,166
2026-11−$231$383$1,199$1,430$4,166
Problem

A single ticker result is context, not a verdict

One ticker and one window prove nothing general; the rule arm sometimes cannot exit at 21 DTE

Solution

What this paired simulation produced

Window and freshness

Period 2024-11-08 to 2026-11-06, refreshed 2026-11-08.

Limitations

Premiums may include model fills (BSM/IV) when market quotes were missing.
  • Simulated results of one fixed recipe over one historical window; not collected income and not a prediction.
  • The rule arm could not exit at 21 DTE on 0 short options and held those to expiry.
  • Modelled pricing: real option bars priced 47% (standard) and 49% (21-Day) of entry fills and 49% of 21 DTE buy-backs; the rest used implied or realized volatility where market quotes were missing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about getting started

Did the 21-Day Rule help on PG?

On this simulation the 21-Day Rule finished +8.3 pp ahead of holding to expiry.

What recipe was simulated?

Same wheel, but the 21-Day arm buys each short option back at 21 DTE; an in-the-money put then takes the shares at that day's close and an in-the-money call delivers them.

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