📈 Ladder Backtester Ladder strategy vs. buy & hold

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AAPL · Apple Inc. #2

2023-05-30T00:00 → 2026-05-29T00:00 · fmp · 1d · scale · created 2026-05-30T06:26

Strategy return 36.64% $13,664
Buy & hold return 76.01% $17,601
Strategy − Buy&Hold -39.37 pp $-3,937
Trades 74 / 98 buys / sells
Start price (B)177.3000 Target (Z)350.0000 (not hit)
Capital (A)10,000 First step (C)7,000
Steps (N)10 Threshold (X)2.0%

Annualized & capital-efficiency metrics (3.00 yr)

Strategy CAGR 10.97% whole pot, annualized
Buy & hold CAGR 20.75% all-in at t0, annualized
Money-weighted IRR 23.37% on capital while deployed
Avg capital deployed 47.8% rest sat idle in cash

CAGR grows the whole pot A, so idle ladder cash dilutes it. IRR counts only dollars actually in the market over time, so it runs higher — the gap is the cash drag, which Avg capital deployed measures directly. IRR only "counts" if that idle cash earns its opportunity cost elsewhere.

Strategy vs benchmarks — returns & drawdown

Series XIRR Max drawdown Downside capture
Ladder strategy 23.37% -15.68%
Buy & hold 20.75% -33.43% 81%

Max drawdown is the bad-market headline — how deep each fell from its high. Downside capture is the bear-market analog to alpha: of a benchmark's loss in its down periods, the share the strategy absorbed (under 100% = protective, negative = the strategy gained while the benchmark fell).

Portfolio value: strategy vs. buy & hold

⬇ Equity CSV

Price & trades

Trade log (173)

⬇ Trades CSV
# WhenActionPriceShares Amount Shares held Cash bal. Portfolio
1 2023-05-30T00:00 INITIAL 177.3000 39.4811 7,000.00 39.4811 3,000.00 10,000.00
2 2023-06-02T00:00 SELL 180.9500 1.6579 300.00 37.8232 3,300.00 10,144.11
3 2023-06-15T00:00 SELL 186.0100 1.6128 300.00 36.2104 3,600.00 10,335.49
4 2023-06-30T00:00 SELL 193.9700 1.5466 300.00 34.6637 3,900.00 10,623.73
5 2023-07-10T00:00 BUY 188.6100 1.5906 300.00 36.2543 3,600.00 10,437.93
6 2023-07-17T00:00 SELL 193.9900 1.5465 300.00 34.7079 3,900.00 10,632.98
7 2023-08-04T00:00 BUY 181.9900 1.6484 300.00 36.3563 3,600.00 10,216.48
8 2023-08-09T00:00 BUY 178.1900 1.6836 300.00 38.0399 3,300.00 10,078.33
9 2023-08-17T00:00 BUY 174.0000 1.7241 300.00 39.7640 3,000.00 9,918.94
10 2023-08-23T00:00 SELL 181.1200 1.6564 300.00 38.1077 3,300.00 10,202.06
11 2023-08-24T00:00 BUY 176.3800 1.7009 300.00 39.8085 3,000.00 10,021.43
12 2023-08-28T00:00 SELL 180.1900 1.6649 300.00 38.1436 3,300.00 10,173.10
13 2023-08-29T00:00 SELL 184.1200 1.6294 300.00 36.5143 3,600.00 10,323.01
14 2023-08-31T00:00 SELL 187.8700 1.5968 300.00 34.9174 3,900.00 10,459.93
15 2023-09-06T00:00 BUY 182.9100 1.6402 300.00 36.5576 3,600.00 10,286.74
16 2023-09-07T00:00 BUY 177.5600 1.6896 300.00 38.2471 3,300.00 10,091.16
17 2023-09-21T00:00 BUY 173.9300 1.7248 300.00 39.9720 3,000.00 9,952.32
18 2023-09-27T00:00 BUY 170.4300 1.7603 300.00 41.7322 2,700.00 9,812.42
19 2023-10-05T00:00 SELL 174.9100 1.7152 300.00 40.0171 3,000.00 9,999.38
20 2023-10-09T00:00 SELL 178.9900 1.6761 300.00 38.3410 3,300.00 10,162.65
21 2023-10-20T00:00 BUY 172.8800 1.7353 300.00 40.0763 3,000.00 9,928.39
22 2023-10-26T00:00 BUY 166.8900 1.7976 300.00 41.8739 2,700.00 9,688.33
23 2023-10-30T00:00 SELL 170.2900 1.7617 300.00 40.1122 3,000.00 9,830.70
24 2023-11-01T00:00 SELL 173.9700 1.7244 300.00 38.3877 3,300.00 9,978.32
25 2023-11-02T00:00 SELL 177.5700 1.6895 300.00 36.6983 3,600.00 10,116.51
26 2023-11-07T00:00 SELL 181.8200 1.6500 300.00 35.0483 3,900.00 10,272.48
27 2023-11-10T00:00 SELL 186.4000 1.6094 300.00 33.4388 4,200.00 10,433.00
28 2023-11-20T00:00 SELL 191.4500 1.5670 300.00 31.8719 4,500.00 10,601.87
29 2023-12-08T00:00 SELL 195.7100 1.5329 300.00 30.3390 4,800.00 10,737.64
30 2024-01-02T00:00 BUY 185.6400 1.6160 300.00 31.9550 4,500.00 10,432.13
31 2024-01-04T00:00 BUY 181.9100 1.6492 300.00 33.6042 4,200.00 10,312.93
32 2024-01-08T00:00 SELL 185.5600 1.6167 300.00 31.9874 4,500.00 10,435.59
33 2024-01-19T00:00 SELL 191.5600 1.5661 300.00 30.4214 4,800.00 10,627.51
34 2024-01-31T00:00 BUY 184.4000 1.6269 300.00 32.0483 4,500.00 10,409.70
35 2024-02-06T00:00 SELL 189.3000 1.5848 300.00 30.4635 4,800.00 10,566.73
36 2024-02-13T00:00 BUY 185.0400 1.6213 300.00 32.0847 4,500.00 10,436.96
37 2024-02-26T00:00 BUY 181.1600 1.6560 300.00 33.7407 4,200.00 10,312.47
38 2024-03-04T00:00 BUY 175.1000 1.7133 300.00 35.4540 3,900.00 10,108.00
39 2024-03-05T00:00 BUY 170.1200 1.7635 300.00 37.2175 3,600.00 9,931.44
40 2024-03-18T00:00 SELL 173.7200 1.7269 300.00 35.4906 3,900.00 10,065.42
41 2024-03-20T00:00 SELL 178.6700 1.6791 300.00 33.8115 4,200.00 10,241.10
42 2024-03-21T00:00 BUY 171.3700 1.7506 300.00 35.5621 3,900.00 9,994.28
43 2024-04-10T00:00 BUY 167.7800 1.7881 300.00 37.3502 3,600.00 9,866.61
44 2024-04-11T00:00 SELL 175.0400 1.7139 300.00 35.6363 3,900.00 10,137.77
45 2024-04-16T00:00 BUY 169.3800 1.7712 300.00 37.4074 3,600.00 9,936.07
46 2024-04-19T00:00 BUY 165.0000 1.8182 300.00 39.2256 3,300.00 9,772.23
47 2024-04-24T00:00 SELL 169.0200 1.7749 300.00 37.4507 3,600.00 9,929.91
48 2024-04-29T00:00 SELL 173.5000 1.7291 300.00 35.7216 3,900.00 10,097.69
49 2024-05-01T00:00 BUY 169.3000 1.7720 300.00 37.4936 3,600.00 9,947.66
50 2024-05-02T00:00 SELL 173.0300 1.7338 300.00 35.7598 3,900.00 10,087.51
51 2024-05-03T00:00 SELL 183.3800 1.6359 300.00 34.1238 4,200.00 10,457.63
52 2024-05-14T00:00 SELL 187.4300 1.6006 300.00 32.5232 4,500.00 10,595.83
53 2024-05-21T00:00 SELL 192.3500 1.5597 300.00 30.9636 4,800.00 10,755.84
54 2024-05-23T00:00 BUY 186.8800 1.6053 300.00 32.5689 4,500.00 10,586.47
55 2024-05-30T00:00 SELL 191.2900 1.5683 300.00 31.0006 4,800.00 10,730.10
56 2024-06-05T00:00 SELL 195.8700 1.5316 300.00 29.4690 5,100.00 10,872.08
57 2024-06-11T00:00 SELL 207.1500 1.4482 300.00 28.0207 5,400.00 11,204.49
58 2024-06-12T00:00 SELL 213.0700 1.4080 300.00 26.6127 5,700.00 11,370.38
59 2024-06-21T00:00 BUY 207.4900 1.4459 300.00 28.0586 5,400.00 11,221.88
60 2024-06-26T00:00 SELL 213.2500 1.4068 300.00 26.6518 5,700.00 11,383.49
61 2024-07-02T00:00 SELL 220.2700 1.3620 300.00 25.2898 6,000.00 11,570.59
62 2024-07-05T00:00 SELL 226.3400 1.3254 300.00 23.9644 6,300.00 11,724.10
63 2024-07-10T00:00 SELL 232.9800 1.2877 300.00 22.6767 6,600.00 11,883.22
64 2024-07-11T00:00 BUY 227.5700 1.3183 300.00 23.9950 6,300.00 11,760.54
65 2024-07-15T00:00 SELL 234.4000 1.2799 300.00 22.7151 6,600.00 11,924.43
66 2024-07-17T00:00 BUY 228.8800 1.3107 300.00 24.0259 6,300.00 11,799.04
67 2024-07-18T00:00 BUY 224.1800 1.3382 300.00 25.3641 6,000.00 11,686.12
68 2024-07-24T00:00 BUY 218.5400 1.3727 300.00 26.7368 5,700.00 11,543.06
69 2024-08-05T00:00 BUY 209.2700 1.4336 300.00 28.1704 5,400.00 11,295.21
70 2024-08-09T00:00 SELL 216.2400 1.3873 300.00 26.7830 5,700.00 11,491.56
71 2024-08-13T00:00 SELL 221.2700 1.3558 300.00 25.4272 6,000.00 11,626.28
72 2024-08-16T00:00 SELL 226.0500 1.3271 300.00 24.1001 6,300.00 11,747.82
73 2024-09-04T00:00 BUY 220.8500 1.3584 300.00 25.4585 6,000.00 11,622.50
74 2024-09-16T00:00 BUY 216.3200 1.3868 300.00 26.8453 5,700.00 11,507.18
75 2024-09-18T00:00 SELL 220.6900 1.3594 300.00 25.4859 6,000.00 11,624.49
76 2024-09-19T00:00 SELL 228.8700 1.3108 300.00 24.1751 6,300.00 11,832.96
77 2024-10-07T00:00 BUY 221.6900 1.3532 300.00 25.5284 6,000.00 11,659.39
78 2024-10-09T00:00 SELL 229.5400 1.3070 300.00 24.2214 6,300.00 11,859.78
79 2024-10-18T00:00 SELL 235.0000 1.2766 300.00 22.9448 6,600.00 11,992.03
80 2024-10-30T00:00 BUY 230.1000 1.3038 300.00 24.2486 6,300.00 11,879.60
81 2024-11-01T00:00 BUY 222.9100 1.3458 300.00 25.5944 6,000.00 11,705.26
82 2024-11-07T00:00 SELL 227.4800 1.3188 300.00 24.2756 6,300.00 11,822.22
83 2024-11-25T00:00 SELL 232.8700 1.2883 300.00 22.9874 6,600.00 11,953.07
84 2024-12-02T00:00 SELL 239.5900 1.2521 300.00 21.7352 6,900.00 12,107.54
85 2024-12-09T00:00 SELL 246.7500 1.2158 300.00 20.5194 7,200.00 12,263.17
86 2024-12-17T00:00 SELL 253.4800 1.1835 300.00 19.3359 7,500.00 12,401.26
87 2024-12-18T00:00 BUY 248.0500 1.2094 300.00 20.5453 7,200.00 12,296.27
88 2024-12-20T00:00 SELL 254.4900 1.1788 300.00 19.3665 7,500.00 12,428.58
89 2025-01-02T00:00 BUY 243.8500 1.2303 300.00 20.5968 7,200.00 12,222.52
90 2025-01-10T00:00 BUY 236.8500 1.2666 300.00 21.8634 6,900.00 12,078.34
91 2025-01-16T00:00 BUY 228.2600 1.3143 300.00 23.1777 6,600.00 11,890.54
92 2025-01-21T00:00 BUY 222.6400 1.3475 300.00 24.5252 6,300.00 11,760.28
93 2025-01-27T00:00 SELL 229.8600 1.3051 300.00 23.2200 6,600.00 11,937.35
94 2025-01-28T00:00 SELL 238.2600 1.2591 300.00 21.9609 6,900.00 12,132.40
95 2025-02-03T00:00 BUY 228.0100 1.3157 300.00 23.2766 6,600.00 11,907.30
96 2025-02-04T00:00 SELL 232.8000 1.2887 300.00 21.9880 6,900.00 12,018.80
97 2025-02-07T00:00 BUY 227.6300 1.3179 300.00 23.3059 6,600.00 11,905.12
98 2025-02-11T00:00 SELL 232.6200 1.2897 300.00 22.0162 6,900.00 12,021.41
99 2025-02-13T00:00 SELL 241.5300 1.2421 300.00 20.7741 7,200.00 12,217.58
100 2025-02-24T00:00 SELL 247.1000 1.2141 300.00 19.5601 7,500.00 12,333.29
101 2025-02-26T00:00 BUY 240.3600 1.2481 300.00 20.8082 7,200.00 12,201.46
102 2025-03-06T00:00 BUY 235.3300 1.2748 300.00 22.0830 6,900.00 12,096.79
103 2025-03-10T00:00 BUY 227.4800 1.3188 300.00 23.4018 6,600.00 11,923.44
104 2025-03-11T00:00 BUY 220.8400 1.3584 300.00 24.7602 6,300.00 11,768.05
105 2025-03-13T00:00 BUY 209.6800 1.4308 300.00 26.1910 6,000.00 11,491.73
106 2025-03-17T00:00 SELL 214.0000 1.4019 300.00 24.7891 6,300.00 11,604.87
107 2025-03-24T00:00 SELL 220.7300 1.3591 300.00 23.4300 6,600.00 11,771.70
108 2025-04-03T00:00 BUY 203.1900 1.4765 300.00 24.9064 6,300.00 11,360.74
109 2025-04-04T00:00 BUY 188.3800 1.5925 300.00 26.4990 6,000.00 10,991.88
110 2025-04-07T00:00 BUY 181.4600 1.6533 300.00 28.1522 5,700.00 10,808.50
111 2025-04-08T00:00 BUY 172.4200 1.7399 300.00 29.8922 5,400.00 10,554.01
112 2025-04-09T00:00 SELL 198.8500 1.5087 300.00 28.3835 5,700.00 11,344.06
113 2025-04-10T00:00 BUY 190.4200 1.5755 300.00 29.9590 5,400.00 11,104.78
114 2025-04-11T00:00 SELL 198.1500 1.5140 300.00 28.4450 5,700.00 11,336.37
115 2025-04-14T00:00 SELL 202.5200 1.4813 300.00 26.9636 6,000.00 11,460.67
116 2025-04-16T00:00 BUY 194.2700 1.5442 300.00 28.5079 5,700.00 11,238.22
117 2025-04-22T00:00 SELL 199.7400 1.5020 300.00 27.0059 6,000.00 11,394.16
118 2025-04-23T00:00 SELL 204.6000 1.4663 300.00 25.5396 6,300.00 11,525.41
119 2025-04-25T00:00 SELL 209.2800 1.4335 300.00 24.1061 6,600.00 11,644.93
120 2025-05-05T00:00 BUY 198.8900 1.5084 300.00 25.6145 6,300.00 11,394.47
121 2025-05-12T00:00 SELL 210.7900 1.4232 300.00 24.1913 6,600.00 11,699.28
122 2025-05-21T00:00 BUY 202.0900 1.4845 300.00 25.6758 6,300.00 11,488.82
123 2025-05-23T00:00 BUY 195.2700 1.5363 300.00 27.2121 6,000.00 11,313.71
124 2025-05-27T00:00 SELL 200.2100 1.4984 300.00 25.7137 6,300.00 11,448.14
125 2025-06-17T00:00 BUY 195.6400 1.5334 300.00 27.2471 6,000.00 11,330.63
126 2025-06-20T00:00 SELL 201.0000 1.4925 300.00 25.7546 6,300.00 11,476.67
127 2025-06-30T00:00 SELL 205.1700 1.4622 300.00 24.2924 6,600.00 11,584.07
128 2025-07-02T00:00 SELL 212.4400 1.4122 300.00 22.8802 6,900.00 11,760.67
129 2025-07-31T00:00 BUY 207.5700 1.4453 300.00 24.3255 6,600.00 11,649.25
130 2025-08-01T00:00 BUY 202.3800 1.4824 300.00 25.8079 6,300.00 11,523.00
131 2025-08-06T00:00 SELL 213.2500 1.4068 300.00 24.4011 6,600.00 11,803.53
132 2025-08-07T00:00 SELL 220.0300 1.3635 300.00 23.0376 6,900.00 11,968.97
133 2025-08-08T00:00 SELL 229.3500 1.3080 300.00 21.7296 7,200.00 12,183.68
134 2025-09-03T00:00 SELL 238.4700 1.2580 300.00 20.4716 7,500.00 12,381.85
135 2025-09-10T00:00 BUY 226.7900 1.3228 300.00 21.7944 7,200.00 12,142.75
136 2025-09-12T00:00 SELL 234.0700 1.2817 300.00 20.5127 7,500.00 12,301.41
137 2025-09-17T00:00 SELL 238.9900 1.2553 300.00 19.2574 7,800.00 12,402.33
138 2025-09-19T00:00 SELL 245.5000 1.2220 300.00 18.0354 8,100.00 12,527.70
139 2025-09-22T00:00 SELL 256.0800 1.1715 300.00 16.8639 8,400.00 12,718.51
140 2025-10-10T00:00 BUY 245.2700 1.2231 300.00 18.0871 8,100.00 12,536.21
141 2025-10-17T00:00 SELL 252.2900 1.1891 300.00 16.8979 8,400.00 12,663.18
142 2025-10-20T00:00 SELL 262.2400 1.1440 300.00 15.7540 8,700.00 12,831.32
143 2025-10-27T00:00 SELL 268.8100 1.1160 300.00 14.6379 9,000.00 12,934.82
144 2025-11-11T00:00 SELL 275.2500 1.0899 300.00 13.5480 9,300.00 13,029.09
145 2025-11-17T00:00 BUY 267.4600 1.1217 300.00 14.6697 9,000.00 12,923.55
146 2025-11-24T00:00 SELL 275.9200 1.0873 300.00 13.5824 9,300.00 13,047.66
147 2025-12-01T00:00 SELL 283.1000 1.0597 300.00 12.5227 9,600.00 13,145.18
148 2025-12-09T00:00 BUY 277.1800 1.0823 300.00 13.6050 9,300.00 13,071.04
149 2025-12-22T00:00 BUY 270.9700 1.1071 300.00 14.7122 9,000.00 12,986.56
150 2026-01-06T00:00 BUY 262.3600 1.1435 300.00 15.8556 8,700.00 12,859.88
151 2026-01-16T00:00 BUY 255.5300 1.1740 300.00 17.0297 8,400.00 12,751.59
152 2026-01-20T00:00 BUY 246.7000 1.2161 300.00 18.2457 8,100.00 12,601.22
153 2026-01-26T00:00 SELL 255.4100 1.1746 300.00 17.0711 8,400.00 12,760.14
154 2026-02-02T00:00 SELL 270.0100 1.1111 300.00 15.9601 8,700.00 13,009.38
155 2026-02-04T00:00 SELL 276.4900 1.0850 300.00 14.8750 9,000.00 13,112.80
156 2026-02-12T00:00 BUY 261.7300 1.1462 300.00 16.0213 8,700.00 12,893.24
157 2026-02-13T00:00 BUY 255.7800 1.1729 300.00 17.1941 8,400.00 12,797.92
158 2026-02-17T00:00 SELL 263.8800 1.1369 300.00 16.0573 8,700.00 12,937.19
159 2026-02-24T00:00 SELL 272.1400 1.1024 300.00 14.9549 9,000.00 13,069.82
160 2026-02-27T00:00 BUY 264.1800 1.1356 300.00 16.0905 8,700.00 12,950.78
161 2026-03-06T00:00 BUY 257.4600 1.1652 300.00 17.2557 8,400.00 12,842.65
162 2026-03-13T00:00 BUY 250.1200 1.1994 300.00 18.4551 8,100.00 12,716.00
163 2026-04-01T00:00 SELL 255.6300 1.1736 300.00 17.2816 8,400.00 12,817.68
164 2026-04-15T00:00 SELL 266.4300 1.1260 300.00 16.1556 8,700.00 13,004.32
165 2026-04-20T00:00 SELL 273.0500 1.0987 300.00 15.0569 9,000.00 13,111.27
166 2026-04-21T00:00 BUY 266.1700 1.1271 300.00 16.1840 8,700.00 13,007.68
167 2026-04-22T00:00 SELL 273.1700 1.0982 300.00 15.0857 9,000.00 13,120.97
168 2026-04-27T00:00 BUY 267.6100 1.1210 300.00 16.2068 8,700.00 13,037.09
169 2026-05-01T00:00 SELL 280.1400 1.0709 300.00 15.1359 9,000.00 13,240.17
170 2026-05-06T00:00 SELL 287.5100 1.0434 300.00 14.0924 9,300.00 13,351.72
171 2026-05-08T00:00 SELL 293.3200 1.0228 300.00 13.0697 9,600.00 13,433.59
172 2026-05-15T00:00 SELL 300.2300 0.9992 300.00 12.0704 9,900.00 13,523.91
173 2026-05-22T00:00 SELL 308.8200 0.9714 300.00 11.0990 10,200.00 13,627.59