SPY wheel at 45 DTE
Sell cash-secured SPY puts about 45 days out; if assigned, sell covered calls until called away, then repeat.
What they did
spintwig backtested the SPY wheel at 45 DTE from January 2007 to March 2024 across several deltas (5–50). Each delta was run two ways: held to expiration, or managed at 50% max profit or 21 DTE. A widely shared r/thetagang guide describes common practical rules: 30–60 DTE, about 25–30 delta, close around 50% profit or roll at 21 DTE, and only wheel stocks you'd hold long-term.
How it went
spintwig's claims: the long SPY shares held during the covered-call phase accounted for about 94–99% of the strategy's total return, and the option management choices were 'inconsequential' to total return.
Sources:
Worth knowing
- The wheel is mostly long-stock exposure with extra steps. Compare it against simply holding SPY.
- It needs cash for 100 shares per contract (about $[strike × 100] per put).
- Robinhood agent accounts support selling-to-open cash-secured puts and covered calls with the right options level. Stock and option combo orders aren't supported, so buy shares and sell the call as separate orders (Confirmed via Robinhood's official MCP connector, Oct 17 2026).
The prompt
Run the wheel on [SPY] in my paper account with $[cash] reserved.
Phase 1 (no shares): sell [1] cash-secured put about [45] DTE at about [0.30] delta. Close it at [50]% of max profit, or at [21] DTE (whichever comes first), then sell a new one.
If assigned: Phase 2, sell [1] covered call about [45] DTE at about [0.30] delta, above my cost basis [yes/no]. Same 50% / 21-DTE management.
If called away: go back to Phase 1.
Weekly report: premium collected, current phase, and total return versus holding SPY.
SAFETY DEFAULTS (keep unless you deliberately change them):
- Use the PAPER trading account only. Never touch a live account.
- Before every order, show me: symbol, side, size, order type, limit price, stop, and the rule that triggered it. Then WAIT for my "approve".
- Hard limits: max [$500] per trade, max [3] open positions, stop all trading for the day after a loss of [$300].
- Log every signal, decision and fill to [a running log / spreadsheet] with timestamps.To go fully autonomous: (1) run on paper for at least [4–8 weeks] or [30+ trades]; (2) delete the 'WAIT for my approve' line and keep the hard limits; (3) switch to live keys or account. On Robinhood, turn off trade approvals in your agent settings, but note that some orders can still require in-app approval or acknowledging a pre-trade alert, so unattended execution isn't guaranteed for every order. IBKR's AI connector always asks for approval; use its regular API for unattended trading. Never remove the daily loss limit.