SteadyOptions is an options trading forum where you can find solutions from top options traders. Join Us!

We’ve all been there… researching options strategies and unable to find the answers we’re looking for. SteadyOptions has your solution.

How Anchor Survived the 2020 Crash


We are often asked how the Anchor strategy performed during the market crash of 2020. The monthly performance can be seen on the performance page, but it shows the End of Month values and doesn't tell the whole picture. This article will shows a detailed analysis of the Anchor portfolio during the crash.

This is how the Anchor portfolio looked like on Feb.6 2020, two weeks before the start of the decline:

image.png

SPY was at 334, total portfolio value around $143k. This is how the P/L chart looked like:

 

image.png

With 8 SPY contracts, this translates to x1.85 leverage. This setup obviously should perform very well on the upside (the portfolio should easily outperform SPY on any upside move), but the downside doesn't look that great on this P/L chart.

Lets see how things developed.
 

Feb.28 2020, SPY at 290 (down 13%), Anchor down $15k (~10%):

image.png

With SPY down 13%, the Anchor portfolio was down only 10%. This is normal and expected. The strategy is not designed to provide a total protection, especially in smaller declines. 

It is worth mentioning that the puts are typically 5% OTM when opened. It’s entirely possible for Anchor to be up 7%, then the market drops, and we end up down 12% peak to trough (or even a bit more). The Downside of Anchor discusses it in more details.


Two weeks later, March 12, SPY at 251 (down 25%), Anchor down only $4k (~3%):

image.png

Now you can see how the protection kicks in after a bigger decline.

 
Fast forward to March 19 2020, SPY at 234 (down 30%), Anchor UP $5k (~3%):

 

image.png

Now, this is pretty amazing. How this was possible?

Few factors contributed to this major outperformance:

  1. We used deep ITM calls instead of the stock. As the underlying declines, the delta of the calls decreases and they lose less value. In this case SPY declined $100, while the calls declined only $68.
     
  2. We have more long puts than short puts, so the gains of the long puts far outpace the losses of the short puts.
     
  3. During market crashes, IV jumps to the roof (in this case, VIX jumped from 16 to 80+). This caused the long puts to increase in value much more than expected. In addition, we got much more premium from the short puts when rolling.

The bottom line: in the last 30 months, the strategy produced 36.6% CAGR, significantly outperforming the S&P 500, but at the same time provided a full protection during the market crash. To me, this is as close as it gets to the holly grail of investing.
 

Related articles

Edited by Kim

What Is SteadyOptions?

12 Years CAGR of 129.0%

Full Trading Plan

Complete Portfolio Approach

Real-time trade sharing: entry, exit, and adjustments

Diversified Options Strategies

Exclusive Community Forum

Steady And Consistent Gains

High Quality Education

Risk Management, Portfolio Size

Performance based on real fills

Subscribe to SteadyOptions now and experience the full power of options trading!
Subscribe

Non-directional Options Strategies

10-15 trade Ideas Per Month

Targets 5-7% Monthly Net Return

Visit our Education Center

Recent Articles

Articles

  • The 7 Most Popular Cryptocurrencies Right Now

    There are thought to be 20,000 cryptocurrencies currently in existence. While a lot of these are inactive or discontinued, a lot of them are still being traded on a daily basis. But just which cryptocurrencies are most popular? This post takes a look at the top 7 most traded cryptocurrencies.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 5,044 views
  • Harnessing Monte Carlo Simulations for Options Trading: A Strategic Approach

    In the world of options trading, one of the greatest challenges is determining future price ranges with enough accuracy to structure profitable trades. One method traders can leverage to enhance these predictions is Monte Carlo simulations, a powerful statistical tool that allows for the projection of a stock or ETF's future price distribution based on historical data.

    By Romuald,

    • 10 comments
    • 7,767 views
  • Is There Such A Thing As Risk-Management Within Crypto Trading?

    Any trader looking to build reliable long-term wealth is best off avoiding cryptocurrency. At least, this is a message that the experts have been touting since crypto entered the trading sphere and, in many ways, they aren’t wrong. The volatile nature of cryptocurrencies alone places them very much in the red danger zone of high-risk investments.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 3,902 views
  • Is There A ‘Free Lunch’ In Options?

     

    In olden times, alchemists would search for the philosopher’s stone, the material that would turn other materials into gold. Option traders likewise sometimes overtly, sometimes secretly hope to find something which is even sweeter than being able to play video games for money with Moincoins, that most elusive of all option positions: the risk free trade with guaranteed positive outcome.

    By TrustyJules,

    • 1 comment
    • 17,797 views
  • What Are Covered Calls And How Do They Work?

    A covered call is an options trading strategy where an investor holds a long position in an asset (most usually an equity) and sells call options on that same asset. This strategy can generate additional income from the premium received for selling the call options.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 3,128 views
  • SPX Options vs. SPY Options: Which Should I Trade?

    Trading options on the S&P 500 is a popular way to make money on the index. There are several ways traders use this index, but two of the most popular are to trade options on SPX or SPY. One key difference between the two is that SPX options are based on the index, while SPY options are based on an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the index.

    By Mark Wolfinger,

    • 0 comments
    • 7,975 views
  • Yes, We Are Playing Not to Lose!

    There are many trading quotes from different traders/investors, but this one is one of my favorites: “In trading/investing it's not about how much you make, but how much you don't lose" - Bernard Baruch. At SteadyOptions, this has been one of our major goals in the last 12 years.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 4,474 views
  • The Impact of Implied Volatility (IV) on Popular Options Trades

    You’ll often read that a given option trade is either vega positive (meaning that IV rising will help it and IV falling will hurt it) or vega negative (meaning IV falling will help and IV rising will hurt).   However, in fact many popular options spreads can be either vega positive or vega negative depending where where the stock price is relative to the spread strikes.  

    By Yowster,

    • 0 comments
    • 6,942 views
  • Please Follow Me Inside The Insiders

    The greatest joy in investing in options is when you are right on direction. It’s really hard to beat any return that is based on a correct options bet on the direction of a stock, which is why we spend much of our time poring over charts, historical analysis, Elliot waves, RSI and what not.

    By TrustyJules,

    • 0 comments
    • 4,023 views
  • Trading Earnings With Ratio Spread

    A 1x2 ratio spread with call options is created by selling one lower-strike call and buying two higher-strike calls. This strategy can be established for either a net credit or for a net debit, depending on the time to expiration, the percentage distance between the strike prices and the level of volatility.

    By TrustyJules,

    • 0 comments
    • 5,187 views

  • Like 1
  Report Article

We want to hear from you!


What's your take on using similar strategy on high risk stocks (e.g. Tesla)? risk can be limited and reward would not be compromised. It would be great to see how it behaves on individual stocks. 

Share this comment


Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had a very detailed discussion on this on the Anchor forums.

The short answer is that it won't work because the hedge would be too expensive. 

Share this comment


Link to comment
Share on other sites


Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account. It's easy and free!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now

Options Trading Blogs