📈 Ladder Backtester Ladder strategy vs. buy & hold

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AAPL · Apple Inc. #25

2023-06-14T00:00 → 2026-06-12T00:00 · fmp · 1d · scale QQQ reserve · created 2026-06-14T20:32

Strategy return 84.77% $18,477
Buy & hold return 58.27% $15,827
S&P 500 (SPY) 69.67% $16,967
Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) 97.14% $19,714
Strategy − Buy&Hold +26.51 pp $+2,651
Trades 76 / 98 buys / sells
Start price (B)183.9500 Target (Z)none
Capital (A)10,000 First step (C)7,000
Steps (N)8 Threshold (X)2.0%

Annualized & capital-efficiency metrics (3.00 yr)

Strategy CAGR 22.75% whole pot, annualized
Buy & hold CAGR 16.57% all-in at t0, annualized
Money-weighted IRR 22.75% on capital while deployed
Avg capital deployed 39.0% 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 22.75% -26.24%
Buy & hold 16.57% -33.22% 90%
S&P 500 (SPY) 19.30% -18.81% 108%
Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) 25.43% -22.86% 99%

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 (175)

⬇ Trades CSV
# WhenActionPriceShares Amount Shares held Cash bal. Portfolio
1 2023-06-14T00:00 INITIAL 183.9500 38.0538 7,000.00 38.0538 3,000.00 10,000.00
2 2023-06-27T00:00 SELL 188.0600 1.9940 375.00 36.0598 3,358.03 10,139.43
3 2023-06-30T00:00 SELL 193.9700 1.9333 375.00 34.1265 3,784.62 10,404.14
4 2023-07-10T00:00 BUY 188.6100 1.9882 375.00 36.1147 3,378.27 10,189.87
5 2023-07-17T00:00 SELL 193.9900 1.9331 375.00 34.1816 3,903.12 10,534.01
6 2023-08-04T00:00 BUY 181.9900 2.0606 375.00 36.2422 3,420.29 10,016.00
7 2023-08-09T00:00 BUY 178.1900 2.1045 375.00 38.3467 3,007.32 9,840.31
8 2023-08-17T00:00 BUY 174.0000 2.1552 375.00 40.5018 2,556.06 9,603.38
9 2023-08-23T00:00 SELL 181.1200 2.0705 375.00 38.4314 3,006.12 9,966.81
10 2023-08-24T00:00 BUY 176.3800 2.1261 375.00 40.5575 2,566.86 9,720.39
11 2023-08-28T00:00 SELL 180.1900 2.0811 375.00 38.4764 2,981.23 9,914.28
12 2023-08-29T00:00 SELL 184.1200 2.0367 375.00 36.4396 3,421.34 10,130.60
13 2023-08-31T00:00 SELL 187.8700 1.9961 375.00 34.4436 3,825.73 10,296.65
14 2023-09-06T00:00 BUY 182.9100 2.0502 375.00 36.4938 3,417.84 10,092.91
15 2023-09-07T00:00 BUY 177.5600 2.1120 375.00 38.6057 3,018.40 9,873.23
16 2023-09-21T00:00 BUY 173.9300 2.1560 375.00 40.7618 2,528.20 9,617.89
17 2023-09-27T00:00 BUY 170.4300 2.2003 375.00 42.9621 2,133.27 9,455.30
18 2023-10-05T00:00 SELL 174.9100 2.1440 375.00 40.8181 2,530.20 9,669.70
19 2023-10-09T00:00 SELL 178.9900 2.0951 375.00 38.7230 2,960.72 9,891.76
20 2023-10-20T00:00 BUY 172.8800 2.1691 375.00 40.8922 2,489.12 9,558.56
21 2023-10-26T00:00 BUY 166.8900 2.2470 375.00 43.1392 2,037.32 9,236.82
22 2023-10-30T00:00 SELL 170.2900 2.2021 375.00 40.9370 2,445.17 9,416.33
23 2023-11-01T00:00 SELL 173.9700 2.1555 375.00 38.7815 2,874.50 9,621.32
24 2023-11-02T00:00 SELL 177.5700 2.1118 375.00 36.6696 3,301.69 9,813.12
25 2023-11-07T00:00 SELL 181.8200 2.0625 375.00 34.6072 3,760.81 10,053.08
26 2023-11-10T00:00 SELL 186.4000 2.0118 375.00 32.5954 4,193.23 10,269.00
27 2023-11-20T00:00 SELL 191.4500 1.9587 375.00 30.6366 4,705.09 10,570.47
28 2023-12-08T00:00 SELL 195.7100 1.9161 375.00 28.7205 5,097.30 10,718.20
29 2024-01-02T00:00 BUY 185.6400 2.0200 375.00 30.7406 4,857.74 10,564.42
30 2024-01-04T00:00 BUY 181.9100 2.0615 375.00 32.8020 4,406.60 10,373.62
31 2024-01-08T00:00 SELL 185.5600 2.0209 375.00 30.7811 4,878.01 10,589.76
32 2024-01-19T00:00 SELL 191.5600 1.9576 375.00 28.8235 5,448.52 10,969.95
33 2024-01-31T00:00 BUY 184.4000 2.0336 375.00 30.8571 5,019.06 10,709.11
34 2024-02-06T00:00 SELL 189.3000 1.9810 375.00 28.8761 5,521.89 10,988.14
35 2024-02-13T00:00 BUY 185.0400 2.0266 375.00 30.9027 5,159.29 10,877.53
36 2024-02-26T00:00 BUY 181.1600 2.0700 375.00 32.9727 4,880.60 10,853.94
37 2024-03-04T00:00 BUY 175.1000 2.1416 375.00 35.1144 4,589.11 10,737.64
38 2024-03-05T00:00 BUY 170.1200 2.2043 375.00 37.3187 4,131.74 10,480.39
39 2024-03-18T00:00 SELL 173.7200 2.1586 375.00 35.1600 4,520.29 10,628.29
40 2024-03-20T00:00 SELL 178.6700 2.0988 375.00 33.0612 4,960.28 10,867.32
41 2024-03-21T00:00 BUY 171.3700 2.1882 375.00 35.2494 4,608.75 10,649.45
42 2024-04-10T00:00 BUY 167.7800 2.2351 375.00 37.4845 4,156.23 10,445.38
43 2024-04-11T00:00 SELL 175.0400 2.1424 375.00 35.3421 4,597.60 10,783.89
44 2024-04-16T00:00 BUY 169.3800 2.2140 375.00 37.5561 4,075.29 10,436.54
45 2024-04-19T00:00 BUY 165.0000 2.2727 375.00 39.8288 3,544.78 10,116.54
46 2024-04-24T00:00 SELL 169.0200 2.2187 375.00 37.6102 4,021.17 10,378.04
47 2024-04-29T00:00 SELL 173.5000 2.1614 375.00 35.4488 4,455.00 10,605.36
48 2024-05-01T00:00 BUY 169.3000 2.2150 375.00 37.6638 3,964.39 10,340.87
49 2024-05-02T00:00 SELL 173.0300 2.1673 375.00 35.4965 4,389.99 10,531.96
50 2024-05-03T00:00 SELL 183.3800 2.0449 375.00 33.4516 4,853.22 10,987.58
51 2024-05-14T00:00 SELL 187.4300 2.0007 375.00 31.4508 5,344.68 11,239.52
52 2024-05-21T00:00 SELL 192.3500 1.9496 375.00 29.5013 5,837.98 11,512.55
53 2024-05-23T00:00 BUY 186.8800 2.0066 375.00 31.5079 5,435.57 11,323.77
54 2024-05-30T00:00 SELL 191.2900 1.9604 375.00 29.5475 5,785.29 11,437.44
55 2024-06-05T00:00 SELL 195.8700 1.9145 375.00 27.6330 6,313.78 11,726.25
56 2024-06-11T00:00 SELL 207.1500 1.8103 375.00 25.8227 6,749.94 12,099.11
57 2024-06-12T00:00 SELL 213.0700 1.7600 375.00 24.0627 7,213.35 12,340.39
58 2024-06-21T00:00 BUY 207.4900 1.8073 375.00 25.8700 6,930.08 12,297.86
59 2024-06-26T00:00 SELL 213.2500 1.7585 375.00 24.1115 7,307.82 12,449.61
60 2024-07-02T00:00 SELL 220.2700 1.7025 375.00 22.4091 7,783.38 12,719.43
61 2024-07-05T00:00 SELL 226.3400 1.6568 375.00 20.7523 8,305.10 13,002.18
62 2024-07-10T00:00 SELL 232.9800 1.6096 375.00 19.1427 8,793.93 13,253.80
63 2024-07-11T00:00 BUY 227.5700 1.6478 375.00 20.7906 8,226.08 12,957.38
64 2024-07-15T00:00 SELL 234.4000 1.5998 375.00 19.1907 8,671.64 13,169.95
65 2024-07-17T00:00 BUY 228.8800 1.6384 375.00 20.8291 8,045.31 12,812.68
66 2024-07-18T00:00 BUY 224.1800 1.6728 375.00 22.5019 7,632.24 12,676.71
67 2024-07-24T00:00 BUY 218.5400 1.7159 375.00 24.2178 7,000.81 12,293.37
68 2024-08-05T00:00 BUY 209.2700 1.7919 375.00 26.0098 6,202.63 11,645.69
69 2024-08-09T00:00 SELL 216.2400 1.7342 375.00 24.2756 6,791.90 12,041.25
70 2024-08-13T00:00 SELL 221.2700 1.6948 375.00 22.5808 7,350.42 12,346.88
71 2024-08-16T00:00 SELL 226.0500 1.6589 375.00 20.9219 7,923.25 12,652.64
72 2024-09-04T00:00 BUY 220.8500 1.6980 375.00 22.6199 7,307.73 12,303.33
73 2024-09-16T00:00 BUY 216.3200 1.7335 375.00 24.3534 7,133.11 12,401.24
74 2024-09-18T00:00 SELL 220.6900 1.6992 375.00 22.6542 7,480.98 12,480.54
75 2024-09-19T00:00 SELL 228.8700 1.6385 375.00 21.0157 8,045.13 12,855.00
76 2024-10-07T00:00 BUY 221.6900 1.6916 375.00 22.7073 7,649.16 12,683.13
77 2024-10-09T00:00 SELL 229.5400 1.6337 375.00 21.0736 8,199.48 13,036.71
78 2024-10-18T00:00 SELL 235.0000 1.5957 375.00 19.4778 8,596.43 13,173.72
79 2024-10-30T00:00 BUY 230.1000 1.6297 375.00 21.1076 8,254.63 13,111.48
80 2024-11-01T00:00 BUY 222.9100 1.6823 375.00 22.7899 7,730.80 12,810.88
81 2024-11-07T00:00 SELL 227.4800 1.6485 375.00 21.1414 8,519.91 13,329.15
82 2024-11-25T00:00 SELL 232.8700 1.6103 375.00 19.5310 8,779.61 13,327.79
83 2024-12-02T00:00 SELL 239.5900 1.5652 375.00 17.9658 9,305.38 13,609.82
84 2024-12-09T00:00 SELL 246.7500 1.5198 375.00 16.4461 9,808.42 13,866.49
85 2024-12-17T00:00 SELL 253.4800 1.4794 375.00 14.9667 10,435.40 14,229.15
86 2024-12-18T00:00 BUY 248.0500 1.5118 375.00 16.4785 9,683.92 13,771.41
87 2024-12-20T00:00 SELL 254.4900 1.4735 375.00 15.0049 10,099.98 13,918.59
88 2025-01-02T00:00 BUY 243.8500 1.5378 375.00 16.5428 9,560.82 13,594.78
89 2025-01-10T00:00 BUY 236.8500 1.5833 375.00 18.1261 9,128.86 13,422.02
90 2025-01-16T00:00 BUY 228.2600 1.6429 375.00 19.7689 8,859.87 13,372.33
91 2025-01-21T00:00 BUY 222.6400 1.6843 375.00 21.4532 8,687.25 13,463.61
92 2025-01-27T00:00 SELL 229.8600 1.6314 375.00 19.8218 8,886.95 13,443.20
93 2025-01-28T00:00 SELL 238.2600 1.5739 375.00 18.2479 9,393.30 13,741.05
94 2025-02-03T00:00 BUY 228.0100 1.6447 375.00 19.8926 8,951.70 13,487.40
95 2025-02-04T00:00 SELL 232.8000 1.6108 375.00 18.2818 9,436.58 13,692.57
96 2025-02-07T00:00 BUY 227.6300 1.6474 375.00 19.9292 9,033.69 13,570.17
97 2025-02-11T00:00 SELL 232.6200 1.6121 375.00 18.3171 9,496.28 13,757.20
98 2025-02-13T00:00 SELL 241.5300 1.5526 375.00 16.7645 10,013.55 14,062.67
99 2025-02-24T00:00 SELL 247.1000 1.5176 375.00 15.2469 10,089.02 13,856.52
100 2025-02-26T00:00 BUY 240.3600 1.5602 375.00 16.8070 9,610.97 13,650.71
101 2025-03-06T00:00 BUY 235.3300 1.5935 375.00 18.4005 8,743.62 13,073.82
102 2025-03-10T00:00 BUY 227.4800 1.6485 375.00 20.0490 8,091.55 12,652.31
103 2025-03-11T00:00 BUY 220.8400 1.6981 375.00 21.7471 7,697.21 12,499.84
104 2025-03-13T00:00 BUY 209.6800 1.7884 375.00 23.5355 7,269.00 12,203.93
105 2025-03-17T00:00 SELL 214.0000 1.7523 375.00 21.7832 7,867.97 12,529.57
106 2025-03-24T00:00 SELL 220.7300 1.6989 375.00 20.0843 8,371.55 12,804.76
107 2025-04-03T00:00 BUY 203.1900 1.8456 375.00 21.9299 7,314.08 11,770.01
108 2025-04-04T00:00 BUY 188.3800 1.9907 375.00 23.9205 6,484.81 10,990.96
109 2025-04-07T00:00 BUY 181.4600 2.0666 375.00 25.9871 6,125.46 10,841.08
110 2025-04-08T00:00 BUY 172.4200 2.1749 375.00 28.1620 5,640.15 10,495.84
111 2025-04-09T00:00 SELL 198.8500 1.8858 375.00 26.2762 6,692.14 11,917.16
112 2025-04-10T00:00 BUY 190.4200 1.9693 375.00 28.2455 6,032.51 11,411.02
113 2025-04-11T00:00 SELL 198.1500 1.8925 375.00 26.3530 6,518.65 11,740.49
114 2025-04-14T00:00 SELL 202.5200 1.8517 375.00 24.5013 6,937.83 11,899.84
115 2025-04-16T00:00 BUY 194.2700 1.9303 375.00 26.4316 6,361.13 11,496.01
116 2025-04-22T00:00 SELL 199.7400 1.8774 375.00 24.5542 6,740.43 11,644.88
117 2025-04-23T00:00 SELL 204.6000 1.8328 375.00 22.7213 7,268.29 11,917.08
118 2025-04-25T00:00 SELL 209.2800 1.7919 375.00 20.9295 7,931.11 12,311.23
119 2025-05-05T00:00 BUY 198.8900 1.8855 375.00 22.8150 7,780.50 12,318.16
120 2025-05-12T00:00 SELL 210.7900 1.7790 375.00 21.0359 8,506.47 12,940.63
121 2025-05-21T00:00 BUY 202.0900 1.8556 375.00 22.8915 8,218.40 12,844.55
122 2025-05-23T00:00 BUY 195.2700 1.9204 375.00 24.8120 7,782.53 12,627.56
123 2025-05-27T00:00 SELL 200.2100 1.8730 375.00 22.9389 8,340.62 12,933.22
124 2025-06-17T00:00 BUY 195.6400 1.9168 375.00 24.8557 8,091.39 12,954.16
125 2025-06-20T00:00 SELL 201.0000 1.8657 375.00 22.9900 8,431.98 13,052.98
126 2025-06-30T00:00 SELL 205.1700 1.8278 375.00 21.1623 9,204.07 13,545.94
127 2025-07-02T00:00 SELL 212.4400 1.7652 375.00 19.3971 9,565.06 13,685.77
128 2025-07-31T00:00 BUY 207.5700 1.8066 375.00 21.2037 9,436.82 13,838.08
129 2025-08-01T00:00 BUY 202.3800 1.8529 375.00 23.0567 8,875.93 13,542.13
130 2025-08-06T00:00 SELL 213.2500 1.7585 375.00 21.2982 9,466.31 14,008.14
131 2025-08-07T00:00 SELL 220.0300 1.7043 375.00 19.5938 9,873.34 14,184.57
132 2025-08-08T00:00 SELL 229.3500 1.6351 375.00 17.9588 10,340.44 14,459.29
133 2025-09-03T00:00 SELL 238.4700 1.5725 375.00 16.3863 10,634.81 14,542.45
134 2025-09-10T00:00 BUY 226.7900 1.6535 375.00 18.0398 10,458.12 14,549.36
135 2025-09-12T00:00 SELL 234.0700 1.6021 375.00 16.4377 10,940.46 14,788.03
136 2025-09-17T00:00 SELL 238.9900 1.5691 375.00 14.8686 11,377.74 14,931.19
137 2025-09-19T00:00 SELL 245.5000 1.5275 375.00 13.3411 11,933.05 15,208.29
138 2025-09-22T00:00 SELL 256.0800 1.4644 375.00 11.8767 12,364.80 15,406.18
139 2025-10-10T00:00 BUY 245.2700 1.5289 375.00 13.4056 11,729.03 15,017.03
140 2025-10-17T00:00 SELL 252.2900 1.4864 375.00 11.9192 12,391.14 15,398.24
141 2025-10-20T00:00 SELL 262.2400 1.4300 375.00 10.4893 12,922.28 15,672.98
142 2025-10-27T00:00 SELL 268.8100 1.3950 375.00 9.0942 13,646.99 16,091.61
143 2025-11-11T00:00 SELL 275.2500 1.3624 375.00 7.7318 13,880.32 16,008.51
144 2025-11-17T00:00 BUY 267.4600 1.4021 375.00 9.1339 13,105.37 15,548.33
145 2025-11-24T00:00 SELL 275.9200 1.3591 375.00 7.7748 13,512.94 15,658.16
146 2025-12-01T00:00 SELL 283.1000 1.3246 375.00 6.4502 14,156.12 15,982.17
147 2025-12-09T00:00 BUY 277.1800 1.3529 375.00 7.8031 13,961.86 16,124.73
148 2025-12-22T00:00 BUY 270.9700 1.3839 375.00 9.1870 13,456.41 15,945.82
149 2026-01-06T00:00 BUY 262.3600 1.4293 375.00 10.6164 13,172.90 15,958.21
150 2026-01-16T00:00 BUY 255.5300 1.4675 375.00 12.0839 12,752.26 15,840.06
151 2026-01-20T00:00 BUY 246.7000 1.5201 375.00 13.6040 12,106.31 15,462.41
152 2026-01-26T00:00 SELL 255.4100 1.4682 375.00 12.1357 12,827.74 15,927.33
153 2026-02-02T00:00 SELL 270.0100 1.3888 375.00 10.7469 13,216.69 16,118.46
154 2026-02-04T00:00 SELL 276.4900 1.3563 375.00 9.3906 13,161.29 15,757.70
155 2026-02-12T00:00 BUY 261.7300 1.4328 375.00 10.8234 12,675.27 15,508.07
156 2026-02-13T00:00 BUY 255.7800 1.4661 375.00 12.2895 12,327.28 15,470.68
157 2026-02-17T00:00 SELL 263.8800 1.4211 375.00 10.8684 12,689.58 15,557.53
158 2026-02-24T00:00 SELL 272.1400 1.3780 375.00 9.4904 13,203.23 15,785.95
159 2026-02-27T00:00 BUY 264.1800 1.4195 375.00 10.9099 12,815.63 15,697.81
160 2026-03-06T00:00 BUY 257.4600 1.4565 375.00 12.3664 12,281.52 15,465.38
161 2026-03-13T00:00 BUY 250.1200 1.4993 375.00 13.8657 11,783.03 15,251.13
162 2026-04-01T00:00 SELL 255.6300 1.4670 375.00 12.3988 11,971.28 15,140.78
163 2026-04-15T00:00 SELL 266.4300 1.4075 375.00 10.9913 13,433.99 16,362.39
164 2026-04-20T00:00 SELL 273.0500 1.3734 375.00 9.6179 14,006.89 16,633.05
165 2026-04-21T00:00 BUY 266.1700 1.4089 375.00 11.0268 13,578.62 16,513.61
166 2026-04-22T00:00 SELL 273.1700 1.3728 375.00 9.6540 14,180.80 16,817.97
167 2026-04-27T00:00 BUY 267.6100 1.4013 375.00 11.0553 14,003.21 16,961.71
168 2026-05-01T00:00 SELL 280.1400 1.3386 375.00 9.7167 14,587.34 17,309.37
169 2026-05-06T00:00 SELL 287.5100 1.3043 375.00 8.4124 15,430.16 17,848.80
170 2026-05-08T00:00 SELL 293.3200 1.2785 375.00 7.1339 16,148.02 18,240.53
171 2026-05-15T00:00 SELL 300.2300 1.2490 375.00 5.8848 16,470.80 18,237.60
172 2026-05-22T00:00 SELL 308.8200 1.2143 375.00 4.6705 17,045.84 18,488.19
173 2026-06-02T00:00 SELL 315.2000 1.1897 375.00 3.4808 18,100.73 19,197.89
174 2026-06-05T00:00 BUY 307.3400 1.2201 375.00 4.7010 16,728.71 18,173.50
175 2026-06-09T00:00 BUY 290.5500 1.2907 375.00 5.9916 16,419.43 18,160.30