SPY Weekly Iron Butterfly Backtest Since 2024 | AI Velocity

Weekly Iron Butterfly SPY

Total P&L
+$24,280
2024-01-01 → 2026-09-01
Win Rate
64.3%
27 wins / 15 losses
Total Trades
42
Weekly entries (3 years)
Avg P&L / Trade
+$578
Per trade average
Avg P&L / Day
+$36
Across 669 trading days
Avg Annual Profit
+$9,146
Avg daily P&L × 252
Capital Required
$18,253
Avg max loss / trade
Avg Annual Return
50.1%
Annual profit / avg capital
Profit Factor
1.21
Gross wins / gross losses
Sharpe Ratio
0.55
Weekly × √52 annualised
Max Drawdown
$33,720
Peak-to-trough equity
Payoff Ratio
0.67x
Avg win / avg loss
Contracts / Leg
40
160 total contracts · 6720 across all trades

📈 Equity Curve

⚙️ Strategy Configuration

Ticker
SPY
Contracts
40
Structure
4-Leg IBF
Wing Width
$10
Max Credit %
62%
Max Prior Range
3.0%
Max Mon Gap
0.8%
Profit Target
50% of credit
Short Strikes
ATM × 2
Entry Day
Monday
Entry Time
9:40 AM ET
Exit Day
Thursday
Exit Time
3:45 PM ET
Expiry
Next Friday
ATM Rounding
$1
Pricing Model
OPRA Bars

Strike Construction

LegStrikeActionRole
Long PutATM − $10BuyLower wing — defines max loss on downside
Short PutATMSellATM body — highest premium collection
Short CallATMSellATM body — highest premium collection
Long CallATM + $10BuyUpper wing — defines max loss on upside

P&L Mechanics

Net credit at openMax profit = credit × 100 × 40 (SPY pins exactly at ATM)
SPY moves more than $10 from ATMMax loss = ($10 − credit) × 100 × 40
Avg net credit collected$5.4367 / share (54.4% of wing width)

📊 Win / Loss Analysis

Win Rate Breakdown

Winners (27)64.3%
64.3%
Losers (15)35.7%
35.7%

P&L Breakdown

Average winner+$5,166
Average loser$-7,680
Best trade+$11,880 (2025-10-06)
Worst trade$-17,280 (2024-12-16)
Total gross wins+$139,480
Total gross losses$-115,200

⚠️ Risk Assessment

Max Drawdown

$33,720

Worst Single Loss

$-17,280

Avg Max Loss / Trade

$18,253

Profit Factor

1.21

Sharpe (Annualised)

0.55

Payoff Ratio

0.67x

Strategy Risk Profile

MetricValueNotes
Avg max profit / trade$21,747Net credit × 100 × 40
Avg max loss / trade$18,253($10 wing − credit) × 100 × 40
Max drawdown$33,720Peak-to-trough cumulative equity
Best single trade+$11,8802025-10-06 open
Worst single trade$-17,2802024-12-16 open

💡 Key Insights

✅

Profitable Strategy

Total P&L of +$24,280 over 42 trades across 2024–2026. The iron butterfly's short ATM straddle collects maximum premium when SPY remains anchored near the opening price through Thursday.

✅

Win Rate 64.3%

Iron butterflies target 40–60% win rates (tighter than iron condors due to ATM placement). A 64.3% result over 42 trades reflects the strategy's sensitivity to weekly directional moves.

⚠️

ATM Placement — High Premium, High Risk

Unlike an iron condor, the iron butterfly sells the ATM straddle, collecting much higher premium but requiring SPY to pin near ATM to profit. Any Monday-to-Thursday move beyond ~$5.44/share erodes the position. The $10 wing creates a defined but limited buffer.

⚠️

SPY Trending Context (2024–2026)

The S&P 500 gained roughly 70% over this 3-year window. Strong weekly directional moves — particularly around Fed announcements, AI earnings, and macro events — repeatedly moved SPY beyond the ±$10 wing, turning large credits into large losses.

⚠️

Model Limitations

All pricing uses Black-Scholes (European) with 20-day trailing historical vol. No commissions, slippage, or pin risk modelled. The live script also triggers +90% profit target and −80% stop-loss auto-exits intraweek, which are not simulated here and would materially change results.

📋 Full Trade Log is not displayed on mobile devices to prevent page freezing. View this report on a desktop browser to see all 42 trades.

📋 Full Trade Log (42 trades)

Open Date Close Date S Open S Close ATM LP / SP / SC / LC Credit Open Credit Close P&L Cum P&L
2024-01-22 2024-01-26 $484.00 $488.02 484 474/484/484/494 $4.2500 $4.2100 +$160 +$160
2024-01-29 2024-02-02 $487.70 $489.22 488 478/488/488/498 $5.5600 $3.8300 +$6,920 +$7,080
2024-02-05 2024-02-09 $493.69 $498.47 494 484/494/494/504 $4.8100 $4.6100 +$800 +$7,880
2024-02-12 2024-02-16 $501.23 $501.97 501 491/501/501/511 $4.9200 $2.8300 +$8,360 +$16,240
2024-03-04 2024-03-08 $512.19 $515.12 512 502/512/512/522 $5.1200 $3.9700 +$4,600 +$20,840
2024-03-18 2024-03-22 $513.26 $522.08 513 503/513/513/523 $6.2000 $8.7500 $-10,200 +$10,640
2024-03-25 2024-04-05 $519.78 $523.13 520 510/520/520/530 $5.9900 $5.7700 +$880 +$11,520
2024-04-01 2024-04-05 $523.71 $513.12 524 514/524/524/534 $4.7900 $8.0400 $-13,000 $-1,480
2024-04-08 2024-04-12 $519.24 $518.05 519 509/519/519/529 $5.9100 $3.1400 +$11,080 +$9,600
2024-04-29 2024-05-03 $510.26 $505.03 510 500/510/510/520 $6.1300 $5.3700 +$3,040 +$12,640
2024-05-06 2024-05-10 $513.77 $520.16 514 504/514/514/524 $4.8800 $6.6500 $-7,080 +$5,560
2024-05-13 2024-05-17 $522.62 $528.83 523 513/523/523/533 $5.6400 $5.6800 $-160 +$5,400
2024-05-20 2024-05-24 $529.56 $525.96 530 520/530/530/540 $4.9500 $4.2100 +$2,960 +$8,360
2024-06-03 2024-06-07 $529.05 $534.63 529 519/529/529/539 $5.4400 $5.7200 $-1,120 +$7,240
2024-06-17 2024-06-21 $542.08 $547.03 542 532/542/542/552 $4.8800 $5.1300 $-1,000 +$6,240
2024-06-24 2024-06-28 $544.37 $546.37 544 534/544/544/554 $5.4500 $3.7400 +$6,840 +$13,080
2024-07-01 2024-07-05 $545.54 $554.73 546 536/546/546/556 $4.7200 $8.4000 $-14,720 $-1,640
2024-07-08 2024-07-12 $555.35 $556.42 555 545/555/555/565 $5.0700 $3.1400 +$7,720 +$6,080
2024-07-15 2024-07-19 $562.18 $552.80 562 552/562/562/572 $4.9400 $7.7400 $-11,200 $-5,120
2024-08-26 2024-08-30 $563.43 $558.31 563 553/563/563/573 $6.0800 $4.0900 +$7,960 +$2,840
2024-09-23 2024-09-27 $569.27 $572.17 569 559/569/569/579 $5.5100 $4.2000 +$5,240 +$8,080
2024-10-14 2024-10-18 $581.22 $582.32 581 571/581/581/591 $5.6000 $3.2000 +$9,600 +$17,680
2024-10-21 2024-10-25 $583.91 $579.23 584 574/584/584/594 $5.3600 $4.1300 +$4,920 +$22,600
2024-11-25 2024-11-29 $599.49 $602.49 599 589/599/599/609 $4.7100 $2.2600 +$9,800 +$32,400
2024-12-02 2024-12-06 $603.00 $606.69 603 593/603/603/613 $5.3300 $4.2900 +$4,160 +$36,560
2024-12-09 2024-12-13 $607.59 $604.39 608 598/608/608/618 $4.7400 $4.0600 +$2,720 +$39,280
2024-12-16 2024-12-20 $606.00 $586.12 606 596/606/606/616 $5.4900 $9.8100 $-17,280 +$22,000
2025-07-14 2025-07-18 $623.13 $627.98 623 613/623/623/633 $6.0900 $5.7400 +$1,400 +$23,400
2025-07-21 2025-07-25 $628.76 $634.49 629 619/629/629/639 $5.4300 $6.1600 $-2,920 +$20,480
2025-08-11 2025-08-15 $637.51 $644.90 638 628/638/638/648 $6.0100 $7.1300 $-4,480 +$16,000
2025-08-18 2025-08-22 $642.86 $635.63 643 633/643/643/653 $5.8800 $6.1800 $-1,200 +$14,800
2025-08-25 2025-08-29 $644.01 $648.94 644 634/644/644/654 $6.0700 $5.7500 +$1,280 +$16,080
2025-09-08 2025-09-12 $648.64 $657.55 649 639/649/649/659 $5.8400 $8.4700 $-10,520 +$5,560
2025-09-15 2025-09-19 $659.58 $662.26 660 650/660/660/670 $5.6900 $3.6000 +$8,360 +$13,920
2025-09-22 2025-09-26 $662.21 $657.79 662 652/662/662/672 $5.6700 $4.2300 +$5,760 +$19,680
2025-09-29 2025-10-03 $664.38 $669.15 664 654/664/664/674 $5.9900 $5.9800 +$40 +$19,720
2025-10-06 2025-10-10 $671.62 $671.19 672 662/672/672/682 $5.5200 $2.5500 +$11,880 +$31,600
2025-12-22 2025-12-26 $683.92 $690.26 684 674/684/684/694 $4.7900 $6.0700 $-5,120 +$26,480
2025-12-29 2026-01-02 $687.57 $683.33 688 678/688/688/698 $5.0700 $4.6400 +$1,720 +$28,200
2026-01-05 2026-01-09 $686.51 $689.44 687 677/687/687/697 $5.9900 $5.1400 +$3,400 +$31,600
2026-07-13 2026-07-17 $752.62 $750.87 753 743/753/753/763 $6.1500 $4.1800 +$7,880 +$39,480
2026-08-17 2026-08-21 $776.26 $762.62 776 766/776/776/786 $5.6800 $9.4800 $-15,200 +$24,280
P&L calculated using real OPRA options bar prices from Alpaca data API (feed=opra). Entry = Monday bar open; Exit = Thursday bar close