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WPM 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 2024-10-04 to 2026-10-02.

This page is a published historical simulation for WPM — two paired wheel runs, identical inputs, one managed at 21 DTE. On this simulation the 21-Day Rule finished +20.8 pp ahead of holding to expiry.

Arm-by-arm comparison

MetricStandard (hold to expiry)21-Day RuleDelta
Total return26.0%46.7%+20.8 pp
Annualized return12.3%21.2%+8.9 pp
Buy-and-hold return126.0%126.0%0.0 pp
Max drawdown (from peak equity)32.9%29.8%-3.1 pp
Assignment rate27.3%38.5%+11.2 pp
Call-away rate50.0%55.6%+5.6 pp
Average cycle return2.4%1.8%—
Entry fills priced from real option bars47%43%—
21-DTE buy-backs priced from real option bars—25%—

Drawdown

Standard max drawdown 32.9% vs rule 29.8% (-3.1 pp).

Assignment

Assignment rate 27.3% standard vs 38.5% rule; call-away 50.0% vs 55.6%.

Fallbacks

The rule arm held 0 of 44 short options to expiry because no 21 DTE price was available for the buy-back.

Data quality

Real option bars priced 47% of the standard arm's entry fills, 43% of the 21-Day arm's, and 25% of its 21 DTE buy-backs. The rest are modelled from implied or realized volatility.

Problem

A single ticker result is context, not a verdict

One ticker and one window cannot prove a rule works everywhere

Simulated fills can differ from what a real order would have gotten

The rule arm sometimes cannot exit at 21 DTE and falls back to expiry

A stale or failed refresh removes this page instead of updating it

Solution

What this paired simulation produced

Rule delta

On this simulation the 21-Day Rule finished +20.8 pp ahead of holding to expiry.

Drawdown

Standard max drawdown 32.9% vs rule 29.8% (-3.1 pp).

Assignment

Assignment rate 27.3% standard vs 38.5% rule; call-away 50.0% vs 55.6%.

Window and freshness

Period 2024-10-04 to 2026-10-02, refreshed 2026-10-04. This page disappears when the data goes stale.

How it works

Get started in 3 simple steps

1

Read the two arms side by side

The table below lists both arms metric by metric, with the rule delta signed — positive means the rule finished ahead.

2

Check the honesty block

Fallback counts, missing-pricing counts, and data-quality status come from the stored run and stay visible.

3

Run your own recipe

Open the gated wheel backtest for WPM and change DTE, OTM, dates, or the management rule itself.

Key Metrics

Standard total return

26.0%

21-Day total return

46.7%

Rule delta

+20.8 pp

Real-bar entry fills (21-Day arm)

43%

Limitations

Premiums may include model fills (BSM/IV) when market quotes were missing.
  • Simulated results of one fixed recipe over one historical window.
  • 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 43% (21-Day) of entry fills and 25% 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 WPM?

On this simulation the 21-Day Rule finished +20.8 pp ahead of holding to expiry. This is one fixed simulated recipe over one historical window — not a claim about future results.

What recipe was simulated?

A cash-secured wheel sized to equity, 35 DTE / 2% OTM puts and calls, manage at 21 DTE. Both arms run the same wheel on the same ticker, dates, strikes and market-data policy. The only difference is that the 21-Day arm buys every short put or call back at 21 DTE instead of holding it to expiry: a put that is in the money at that point takes the shares at that day's close, and a call that is in the money delivers them. Each put is sized to the account's cash, so neither arm uses leverage.

Is this income WPM or I would have collected?

No. These are simulated results of a mechanical recipe. Nothing here is collected premium, a live trade tape, or a prediction.

Why does this page sometimes 404?

The page exists only while a fresh, successful research run published this ticker. A failed or stale refresh, or a run below the publication thresholds, removes it.

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