Core Iron Condor

Premise: Sell $5-wide, 50-70 DTE iron condors using only monthly expirations on a core set of tickers.

‍Features: The strategy here is to take advantage of theta decay as contracts leave the cone of feasibility (see part one of Options Theta Explained regarding when longer-dated options give up the bulk of their value). Trades SPY, DIA, QQQ, IWM, and TLT. Enter positions when VIX is between 10 and 40 (avoids extremes). Checks for a minimum rate of return. No more than two positions per ticker. 5 tickers = maximum of 10 positions. 50% profit target with a 10% trailer. Exit with 10 days to expiration if at a loss. Note - this strategy will not enter new positions in the week or two between monthly expirations (trades 50-70 DTE monthlies).

Ideas for Improvement: Enter trades with 45 days to expiration? Adjustments? Change profit target or adjust what happens when the full profit target is not met? Add a bid-ask spread filter? Adjust the number of positions that can be opened in one day (currently 5)?