📈 Ladder Backtester Ladder strategy vs. buy & hold

← All runs

GOOG · Alphabet Inc. #30

2023-06-14T00:00 → 2026-06-12T00:00 · fmp · 1d · scale QQQ reserve · created 2026-06-14T20:34

Strategy return 108.88% $20,888
Buy & hold return 187.96% $28,796
S&P 500 (SPY) 69.67% $16,967
Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) 97.14% $19,714
Strategy − Buy&Hold -79.08 pp $-7,908
Trades 69 / 98 buys / sells
Start price (B)124.3800 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 27.88% whole pot, annualized
Buy & hold CAGR 42.35% all-in at t0, annualized
Money-weighted IRR 27.88% on capital while deployed
Avg capital deployed 29.4% 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 27.88% -21.64%
Buy & hold 42.35% -28.87% 90%
S&P 500 (SPY) 19.30% -17.52% 108%
Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) 25.43% -21.64% 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 (168)

⬇ Trades CSV
# WhenActionPriceShares Amount Shares held Cash bal. Portfolio
1 2023-06-14T00:00 INITIAL 124.3800 56.2791 7,000.00 56.2791 3,000.00 10,000.00
2 2023-06-21T00:00 BUY 121.2600 3.0925 375.00 59.3717 2,592.20 9,791.61
3 2023-06-22T00:00 SELL 123.8700 3.0274 375.00 56.3443 2,997.79 9,977.16
4 2023-06-26T00:00 BUY 119.0900 3.1489 375.00 59.4932 2,553.28 9,638.33
5 2023-07-05T00:00 SELL 122.6300 3.0580 375.00 56.4352 3,018.23 9,938.88
6 2023-07-07T00:00 BUY 120.1400 3.1214 375.00 59.5566 2,610.30 9,765.42
7 2023-07-10T00:00 BUY 116.8700 3.2087 375.00 62.7653 2,236.15 9,571.53
8 2023-07-12T00:00 SELL 119.6200 3.1349 375.00 59.6303 2,650.58 9,783.56
9 2023-07-13T00:00 SELL 124.8300 3.0041 375.00 56.6262 3,070.58 10,139.24
10 2023-07-20T00:00 BUY 119.5300 3.1373 375.00 59.7635 2,676.23 9,819.76
11 2023-07-25T00:00 SELL 122.7900 3.0540 375.00 56.7095 3,065.58 10,028.94
12 2023-07-26T00:00 SELL 129.6600 2.8922 375.00 53.8174 3,430.38 10,408.34
13 2023-07-28T00:00 SELL 133.0100 2.8193 375.00 50.9980 3,859.54 10,642.78
14 2023-08-02T00:00 BUY 128.6400 2.9151 375.00 53.9131 3,393.05 10,328.44
15 2023-08-07T00:00 SELL 131.9400 2.8422 375.00 51.0709 3,775.30 10,513.60
16 2023-08-16T00:00 BUY 129.1100 2.9045 375.00 53.9754 3,273.01 10,241.78
17 2023-08-23T00:00 SELL 133.2100 2.8151 375.00 51.1603 3,707.33 10,522.39
18 2023-08-24T00:00 BUY 130.4200 2.8753 375.00 54.0357 3,253.08 10,300.41
19 2023-08-29T00:00 SELL 135.4900 2.7677 375.00 51.2679 3,750.11 10,696.40
20 2023-09-14T00:00 SELL 138.9900 2.6980 375.00 48.5699 4,150.12 10,900.85
21 2023-09-20T00:00 BUY 134.5900 2.7862 375.00 51.3561 3,635.09 10,547.11
22 2023-09-21T00:00 BUY 131.3600 2.8548 375.00 54.2109 3,193.48 10,314.62
23 2023-10-02T00:00 SELL 135.1700 2.7743 375.00 51.4366 3,598.82 10,551.50
24 2023-10-06T00:00 SELL 138.7300 2.7031 375.00 48.7335 4,008.09 10,768.89
25 2023-10-11T00:00 SELL 141.7000 2.6464 375.00 46.0871 4,454.74 10,985.28
26 2023-10-13T00:00 BUY 138.5800 2.7060 375.00 48.7931 4,008.46 10,770.21
27 2023-10-25T00:00 BUY 126.6700 2.9604 375.00 51.7535 3,469.51 10,025.13
28 2023-10-26T00:00 BUY 123.4400 3.0379 375.00 54.7914 3,028.36 9,791.82
29 2023-11-01T00:00 SELL 127.5700 2.9396 375.00 51.8519 3,520.56 10,135.31
30 2023-11-03T00:00 SELL 130.3700 2.8764 375.00 48.9755 4,001.58 10,386.51
31 2023-11-08T00:00 SELL 133.2600 2.8140 375.00 46.1614 4,433.50 10,584.97
32 2023-11-15T00:00 SELL 136.3800 2.7497 375.00 43.4117 4,959.24 10,879.73
33 2023-11-22T00:00 SELL 140.0200 2.6782 375.00 40.7335 5,391.34 11,094.85
34 2023-11-29T00:00 BUY 136.4000 2.7493 375.00 43.4828 5,012.88 10,943.94
35 2023-12-01T00:00 BUY 133.3200 2.8128 375.00 46.2956 4,639.56 10,811.68
36 2023-12-04T00:00 BUY 130.6300 2.8707 375.00 49.1663 4,221.48 10,644.08
37 2023-12-07T00:00 SELL 138.4500 2.7086 375.00 46.4577 4,641.40 11,073.47
38 2023-12-11T00:00 BUY 134.7000 2.7840 375.00 49.2417 4,326.91 10,959.76
39 2023-12-19T00:00 SELL 138.1000 2.7154 375.00 46.5263 4,851.12 11,276.40
40 2023-12-21T00:00 SELL 141.8000 2.6446 375.00 43.8817 5,209.64 11,432.07
41 2024-01-04T00:00 BUY 138.0400 2.7166 375.00 46.5983 4,687.85 11,120.28
42 2024-01-09T00:00 SELL 142.5600 2.6305 375.00 43.9678 5,174.87 11,442.93
43 2024-01-19T00:00 SELL 147.9700 2.5343 375.00 41.4335 5,746.67 11,877.59
44 2024-01-25T00:00 SELL 153.6400 2.4408 375.00 38.9928 6,192.21 12,183.06
45 2024-01-31T00:00 BUY 141.8000 2.6446 375.00 41.6373 5,680.97 11,585.15
46 2024-02-05T00:00 SELL 144.9300 2.5875 375.00 39.0499 6,212.38 11,871.88
47 2024-02-09T00:00 SELL 150.2200 2.4963 375.00 36.5535 6,712.08 12,203.15
48 2024-02-13T00:00 BUY 146.3700 2.5620 375.00 39.1155 6,206.54 11,931.88
49 2024-02-16T00:00 BUY 141.7600 2.6453 375.00 41.7609 5,860.79 11,780.81
50 2024-02-22T00:00 SELL 145.3200 2.5805 375.00 39.1804 6,337.88 12,031.57
51 2024-02-26T00:00 BUY 138.7500 2.7027 375.00 41.8831 5,940.89 11,752.17
52 2024-03-04T00:00 BUY 134.2000 2.7943 375.00 44.6774 5,667.55 11,663.25
53 2024-03-11T00:00 SELL 138.9400 2.6990 375.00 41.9784 5,957.92 11,790.40
54 2024-03-14T00:00 SELL 144.3400 2.5980 375.00 39.3804 6,356.76 12,040.92
55 2024-03-18T00:00 SELL 148.4800 2.5256 375.00 36.8548 6,707.73 12,179.93
56 2024-03-22T00:00 SELL 151.7700 2.4708 375.00 34.3839 7,219.19 12,437.64
57 2024-04-01T00:00 SELL 156.5000 2.3962 375.00 31.9878 7,571.06 12,577.15
58 2024-04-04T00:00 BUY 151.9400 2.4681 375.00 34.4558 7,032.54 12,267.76
59 2024-04-08T00:00 SELL 156.1400 2.4017 375.00 32.0541 7,492.52 12,497.45
60 2024-04-11T00:00 SELL 160.7900 2.3322 375.00 29.7219 7,948.63 12,727.62
61 2024-04-15T00:00 BUY 156.3300 2.3988 375.00 32.1207 7,318.24 12,339.66
62 2024-04-23T00:00 SELL 159.9200 2.3449 375.00 29.7758 7,591.54 12,353.28
63 2024-04-26T00:00 SELL 173.6900 2.1590 375.00 27.6167 8,072.45 12,869.20
64 2024-04-29T00:00 BUY 167.9000 2.2335 375.00 29.8502 7,730.23 12,742.08
65 2024-05-07T00:00 SELL 172.9800 2.1679 375.00 27.6823 8,240.45 13,028.94
66 2024-05-17T00:00 SELL 177.2900 2.1152 375.00 25.5671 8,829.55 13,362.34
67 2024-05-30T00:00 BUY 173.5600 2.1606 375.00 27.7278 8,450.44 13,262.88
68 2024-06-05T00:00 SELL 177.0700 2.1178 375.00 25.6100 9,049.64 13,584.40
69 2024-06-24T00:00 SELL 180.7900 2.0742 375.00 23.5357 9,628.27 13,883.29
70 2024-06-25T00:00 SELL 185.5800 2.0207 375.00 21.5151 10,113.37 14,106.13
71 2024-07-05T00:00 SELL 191.9600 1.9535 375.00 19.5615 10,842.37 14,597.40
72 2024-07-11T00:00 BUY 187.3000 2.0021 375.00 21.5637 10,374.94 14,413.81
73 2024-07-17T00:00 BUY 182.6200 2.0534 375.00 23.6171 9,785.66 14,098.62
74 2024-07-24T00:00 BUY 174.3700 2.1506 375.00 25.7677 9,037.13 13,530.24
75 2024-07-25T00:00 BUY 169.1600 2.2168 375.00 27.9845 8,562.47 13,296.33
76 2024-07-31T00:00 SELL 173.1500 2.1658 375.00 25.8188 9,176.63 13,647.15
77 2024-08-02T00:00 BUY 168.4000 2.2268 375.00 28.0456 8,366.82 13,089.71
78 2024-08-05T00:00 BUY 160.6400 2.3344 375.00 30.3800 7,742.36 12,622.61
79 2024-08-09T00:00 SELL 165.3900 2.2674 375.00 28.1127 8,384.82 13,034.37
80 2024-08-14T00:00 BUY 162.0300 2.3144 375.00 30.4271 8,239.17 13,169.26
81 2024-08-19T00:00 SELL 168.4000 2.2268 375.00 28.2002 8,944.28 13,693.20
82 2024-08-28T00:00 BUY 164.5000 2.2796 375.00 30.4799 8,384.92 13,398.86
83 2024-09-03T00:00 BUY 158.6100 2.3643 375.00 32.8441 7,840.21 13,049.62
84 2024-09-06T00:00 BUY 152.1300 2.4650 375.00 35.3091 7,242.47 12,614.05
85 2024-09-12T00:00 SELL 155.5400 2.4110 375.00 32.8982 8,013.42 13,130.41
86 2024-09-16T00:00 SELL 158.9900 2.3586 375.00 30.5395 8,388.76 13,244.24
87 2024-09-19T00:00 SELL 163.2400 2.2972 375.00 28.2423 8,943.15 13,553.43
88 2024-09-30T00:00 SELL 167.1900 2.2430 375.00 25.9994 9,405.30 13,752.13
89 2024-10-09T00:00 BUY 163.0600 2.2998 375.00 28.2991 9,128.19 13,742.64
90 2024-10-14T00:00 SELL 166.3500 2.2543 375.00 26.0448 9,583.71 13,916.27
91 2024-10-29T00:00 SELL 171.1400 2.1912 375.00 23.8537 10,009.95 14,092.26
92 2024-10-30T00:00 SELL 176.1400 2.1290 375.00 21.7247 10,309.30 14,135.88
93 2024-11-04T00:00 BUY 170.6800 2.1971 375.00 23.9218 9,718.92 13,801.89
94 2024-11-06T00:00 SELL 178.3300 2.1028 375.00 21.8189 10,485.27 14,376.24
95 2024-11-07T00:00 SELL 182.2800 2.0573 375.00 19.7616 11,025.36 14,627.51
96 2024-11-14T00:00 BUY 177.3500 2.1145 375.00 21.8761 10,546.23 14,425.96
97 2024-11-21T00:00 BUY 169.2400 2.2158 375.00 24.0919 10,094.31 14,171.62
98 2024-12-02T00:00 SELL 172.9800 2.1679 375.00 21.9240 10,675.40 14,467.82
99 2024-12-06T00:00 SELL 176.4900 2.1248 375.00 19.7992 11,282.23 14,776.60
100 2024-12-10T00:00 SELL 186.5300 2.0104 375.00 17.7888 11,531.23 14,849.38
101 2024-12-11T00:00 SELL 196.7100 1.9064 375.00 15.8825 12,112.66 15,236.91
102 2024-12-13T00:00 BUY 191.3800 1.9595 375.00 17.8419 11,751.61 15,166.20
103 2024-12-16T00:00 SELL 198.1600 1.8924 375.00 15.9495 12,295.84 15,456.39
104 2024-12-18T00:00 BUY 190.1500 1.9721 375.00 17.9217 11,425.05 14,832.85
105 2024-12-23T00:00 SELL 195.9900 1.9134 375.00 16.0083 11,941.62 15,079.09
106 2024-12-31T00:00 BUY 190.4400 1.9691 375.00 17.9774 11,300.78 14,724.40
107 2025-01-06T00:00 SELL 197.9600 1.8943 375.00 16.0831 11,970.00 15,153.81
108 2025-01-10T00:00 BUY 193.1700 1.9413 375.00 18.0244 11,199.07 14,680.84
109 2025-01-17T00:00 SELL 197.5500 1.8983 375.00 16.1261 11,895.35 15,081.06
110 2025-01-24T00:00 SELL 201.9000 1.8574 375.00 14.2688 12,450.23 15,331.10
111 2025-01-27T00:00 BUY 193.7700 1.9353 375.00 16.2041 11,712.75 14,852.61
112 2025-01-30T00:00 SELL 202.6300 1.8507 375.00 14.3534 12,289.11 15,197.54
113 2025-02-04T00:00 SELL 207.7100 1.8054 375.00 12.5480 12,697.47 15,303.82
114 2025-02-05T00:00 BUY 193.3000 1.9400 375.00 14.4880 12,380.09 15,180.62
115 2025-02-07T00:00 BUY 187.1400 2.0038 375.00 16.4918 11,912.74 14,999.02
116 2025-02-21T00:00 BUY 181.5800 2.0652 375.00 18.5570 11,609.73 14,979.32
117 2025-02-25T00:00 BUY 177.3700 2.1142 375.00 20.6713 10,953.14 14,619.60
118 2025-02-27T00:00 BUY 170.2100 2.2032 375.00 22.8744 10,299.68 14,193.14
119 2025-03-05T00:00 SELL 174.9900 2.1430 375.00 20.7314 10,710.50 14,338.30
120 2025-03-10T00:00 BUY 167.8100 2.2347 375.00 22.9661 9,710.81 13,564.75
121 2025-03-18T00:00 BUY 162.6700 2.3053 375.00 25.2714 9,372.99 13,483.89
122 2025-03-19T00:00 SELL 166.2800 2.2552 375.00 23.0162 9,873.41 13,700.54
123 2025-03-24T00:00 SELL 169.9300 2.2068 375.00 20.8094 10,449.01 13,985.14
124 2025-03-27T00:00 BUY 164.0800 2.2855 375.00 23.0948 9,881.49 13,670.89
125 2025-03-28T00:00 BUY 156.0600 2.4029 375.00 25.4978 9,246.33 13,225.51
126 2025-04-03T00:00 BUY 152.6300 2.4569 375.00 27.9547 8,510.90 12,777.62
127 2025-04-04T00:00 BUY 147.7400 2.5382 375.00 30.4929 7,607.29 12,112.32
128 2025-04-09T00:00 SELL 161.0600 2.3283 375.00 28.1646 8,762.16 13,298.35
129 2025-04-10T00:00 BUY 155.3700 2.4136 375.00 30.5782 8,014.48 12,765.42
130 2025-04-11T00:00 SELL 159.4000 2.3526 375.00 28.2256 8,537.13 13,036.30
131 2025-04-16T00:00 BUY 155.5000 2.4116 375.00 30.6372 7,970.12 12,734.21
132 2025-04-21T00:00 BUY 149.8600 2.5023 375.00 33.1395 7,396.49 12,362.78
133 2025-04-22T00:00 SELL 153.9000 2.4366 375.00 30.7029 7,965.66 12,690.84
134 2025-04-23T00:00 SELL 157.7200 2.3776 375.00 28.3253 8,521.31 12,988.77
135 2025-04-24T00:00 SELL 161.4700 2.3224 375.00 26.0028 9,136.07 13,334.75
136 2025-05-02T00:00 SELL 165.8100 2.2616 375.00 23.7412 9,930.98 13,867.51
137 2025-05-07T00:00 BUY 152.8000 2.4542 375.00 26.1954 9,443.63 13,446.29
138 2025-05-12T00:00 SELL 159.5800 2.3499 375.00 23.8455 10,298.34 14,103.60
139 2025-05-14T00:00 SELL 166.8100 2.2481 375.00 21.5974 10,892.95 14,495.62
140 2025-05-22T00:00 SELL 171.9800 2.1805 375.00 19.4169 11,169.66 14,508.99
141 2025-06-03T00:00 BUY 167.7100 2.2360 375.00 21.6529 11,083.69 14,715.10
142 2025-06-06T00:00 SELL 174.9200 2.1438 375.00 19.5091 11,513.76 14,926.29
143 2025-06-10T00:00 SELL 180.0100 2.0832 375.00 17.4259 11,981.97 15,118.80
144 2025-06-13T00:00 BUY 175.8800 2.1321 375.00 19.5580 11,444.35 14,884.22
145 2025-06-20T00:00 BUY 167.7300 2.2357 375.00 21.7938 11,066.53 14,722.00
146 2025-06-25T00:00 SELL 171.4900 2.1867 375.00 19.6070 11,742.55 15,104.96
147 2025-06-27T00:00 SELL 178.2700 2.1036 375.00 17.5035 12,267.92 15,388.27
148 2025-07-14T00:00 SELL 182.8100 2.0513 375.00 15.4522 12,824.67 15,649.48
149 2025-07-21T00:00 SELL 191.1500 1.9618 375.00 13.4904 13,383.20 15,961.89
150 2025-07-29T00:00 SELL 196.4300 1.9091 375.00 11.5813 13,831.51 16,106.42
151 2025-08-01T00:00 BUY 189.9500 1.9742 375.00 13.5555 13,130.26 15,705.13
152 2025-08-04T00:00 SELL 195.7500 1.9157 375.00 11.6398 13,747.54 16,026.02
153 2025-08-08T00:00 SELL 202.0900 1.8556 375.00 9.7842 14,377.21 16,354.50
154 2025-08-22T00:00 SELL 206.7200 1.8140 375.00 7.9701 14,687.65 16,335.24
155 2025-08-28T00:00 SELL 212.3700 1.7658 375.00 6.2043 15,193.87 16,511.49
156 2025-09-03T00:00 SELL 231.1000 1.6227 375.00 4.5817 15,384.30 16,443.13
157 2025-09-09T00:00 SELL 239.9400 1.5629 375.00 3.0188 16,041.05 16,765.37
158 2025-09-15T00:00 SELL 251.7600 1.4895 375.00 1.5293 16,724.70 17,109.71
159 2025-09-25T00:00 BUY 246.5700 1.5209 375.00 3.0501 16,402.00 17,154.07
160 2025-10-06T00:00 SELL 251.5100 1.4910 375.00 1.5591 17,168.85 17,560.99
161 2025-10-08T00:00 BUY 245.4600 1.5277 375.00 3.0869 16,899.23 17,656.94
162 2025-10-10T00:00 BUY 237.4900 1.5790 375.00 4.6659 15,917.85 17,025.95
163 2025-10-13T00:00 SELL 244.6400 1.5329 375.00 3.1330 16,630.65 17,397.11
164 2025-10-15T00:00 SELL 251.7100 1.4898 375.00 1.6432 17,011.45 17,425.06
165 2025-10-20T00:00 SELL 257.0200 1.4590 375.00 0.1842 17,649.72 17,697.06
166 2025-10-21T00:00 BUY 251.3400 1.4920 375.00 1.6762 17,270.10 17,691.39
167 2025-10-24T00:00 SELL 260.5100 1.4395 375.00 0.2367 17,806.68 17,868.34
168 2025-10-27T00:00 SELL 269.9300 0.2367 63.90 0.0000 18,187.69 18,187.69