Iron Condor Spreadsheet - Signature Series

Hello again, I trust this weekend is exactly as restful as you’re needing. I’ve recently found myself learning more about Peter in the Bible and while there are a great many positive stories of his work with Jesus, one has stuck out and you’re probably familiar with it. The story of him denying Jesus 3 times. Exactly as Jesus told him would happen. I think deeply about this because I just don’t know how I would be able to respond any different. Jesus was facing death and if Peter acknowledged that he was a follower of Jesus, he would likely die also. It’s a difficult position, that’s for sure. And while literally the story smacks me in the face, it also reminds me that even at my worst, Jesus will forgive. He forgave Peter some 2000 years ago, and He will forgive us today!

With that, I wanted to introduce you to a new iron condor spreadsheet I’ve been working on. I’ve mostly gone away from the iron condor strategy in the past few years and for the life of me I’m not sure why. I think mostly because I enjoy the thrill of exciting new strategies but I do have to admit the strategy has certainly rekindled my interest.

Thus, in the next few sections I want to show you the new iron condor spreadsheet and walk through its functionality in detail. If you’re ever interested in the strategy yourself I hope you’ll consider supporting the site by purchasing it through the OptionBoxer Webstore or from the banner below. If you ever have any questions feel free to reach out anytime.

Signature Series - Iron Condor Spreadsheet Dashboard — Signature Series – Iron Condor Spreadsheet Dashboard

Iron Condor Spreadsheet Overview

Let me start by saying, I named it the signature series because it’s the first of several different spreadsheets I’ll be creating in the weeks ahead.

A few years ago, I created a free iron condor spreadsheet but using it was clunky and required more data entry than I ever preferred. The spreadsheet is still fully available for free but for me, I was beyond ready for something better. So, I overhauled the design and created a more robust option for anyone considering the strategy themselves.

With that said, the Signature Series – Iron Condor Spreadsheet is designed to not only track my trades but to also provide assistance while a trade is open or keep me out of a trade if certain conditions didn’t exist. The spreadsheet really focuses on three different aspects of the iron condor strategy.

Current Market Environment & Entry Evaluation
Managing Open Positions
Tracking & Visualizing Results

We’re likely familiar with number 3 but the first two are of equal importance. To be successful for any length of time I believe it’s good practice to only enter a position when conditions are favorable and an edge exists. Once that criteria is met and the trade is placed it also needs to be managed. Having the management section included on the dashboard means open positions can quickly be evaluated and action can be taken as needed.

Finally, and this is really more for aesthetics, I wanted something that was pleasant to view. I think the spreadsheet accomplishes that goal. However, if that ever becomes untrue, I also included a secret weapon so that visually, the look and feel always remain fresh. I won’t say what that is just yet but keep reading and I’ll share it with you below.

Dashboard Review

Now that I’ve briefly introduced the spreadsheet, let’s start zooming in to the different sections.

First, in the upper left corner you’ll see “Underlying Data Selection”. By adjusting the symbol in the drop down box the “Management”, “Environment”, and “Technical Indication” sections will each update to reflect that underlying. That is useful for considering when to implement a trade or when to adjust an existing trade.

Performance Statistics

Next is the “Performance Statistics” section. From here I can quickly see some pertinent information about all of my iron condor trades. I can see where my balance stands, if I’m profitable, what my win percentage is, and some average metrics. All of which are easy enough to calculate but that’s just another item on a long list of things to do. To me, it just makes sense to have it built in and easily viewable here.

Additionally, and I’m guilty of this myself, I didn’t want to provide every conceivable calculation I could dream up. There are likely a hundred different data points that I could be applied regarding performance but that becomes cumbersome and eventually completely unused day to day. These few pieces of data do a concise job of displaying a precise iron condor trading profile.

Settings

The “Settings” section allows for easy customization or personalization. Enter the roundtrip commission charge for opening and closing an iron condor and that will be calculated automatically on the transactions tab. The start date will impact the date ranges available throughout the spreadsheet and the dashboard graphs. The account value will create the official starting point for determining the performance graph and profit/loss metrics. And finally, the account goal is just something I like to see so I’m always working toward something.

Performance Graph

The performance graph is a simple visualization that displays the lifetime performance of every iron condor documented within the spreadsheet. From here drawdowns or run ups are crystal clear. Compare those periods to what the market was doing and that may help avoid unnecessary speed bumps in the future. Plus, it’s just nice to see the profit or loss as a graph.

Management & Environment

I grouped these two together because they generally go hand in hand, at least in my opinion. Although, the environment section is mostly for gauging the current market condition. They’re paired because of a common saying amongst options traders wanting to know when to close a position. “If you wouldn’t open a position today, it’s probably time to exit”.

The management section is focused only on the last position for the underlying selected in the “Underlying Data Selection”. That said, if I ever had more than one iron condor on in, IWM in this case, I’d have to view each trade on the transaction tab to get an idea if that specific iron condor was in need of management. Adding it to the homepage just allows for easier viewing of the last iron condor for that symbol, plus I don’t often trade multiple iron condors on the same underlying.

Gain/Loss Graphs

Another section that is often of interest is a breakdown of profit or loss by year, month, or symbol. It also aids in the visual appeal and minimizes combing through various data points that eventually go unnoticed. Additionally, the drop down year will update the “Gain/Loss by Month” graph so that no matter what year it is I can view the monthly performance.

Market Barometer

These sections indicate how the market is doing. From the various data points I can quickly and effortlessly see exactly what the prevailing sentiment is in the market or how the market looks fundamentally. The “Technical Indication” area is tied to the selected underlying from the “Underlying Data Selection” section, as mentioned earlier. All of which have a nice bullish or bearish tag so that there is absolutely no need to look at each data point individually.

Iron Condor Evaluation

Last but not least, the evaluation section. I like to enter any iron condor I’m considering into this section the see the reward to risk and whether or not the trade has a positive expected value. It is a little annoying but without paying for an extension getting this data automatically is mostly impossible. That said, it’s just another way to know if I’m giving myself the best possible chance to be profitable long term. I’d enter the values for each leg, the total premium received, and the delta for both short legs to return the criteria I prefer to see. If the expected value is positive, the reward to risk looks good, the environment is favorable, and the market looks peaceful, everything looks good to enter a trade.

Transactions Review

This section houses all the data entered for the positions I’ve traded. The data here is fictional from some backtesting I was doing when creating the sheet but it is pleasant to see it was profitable even during a strong bull market.

Transactions Page - Iron Condor Spreadsheet — Transactions Page

From here the only data that needs to be entered is; Symbol, Status, General, Entry, & when complete, Exit. The Profit/Loss, Risk, & Days sections will all be calculated accordingly. Admittedly, I don’t love entering 3 different dates but unless I decide to start trading iron condors daily this isn’t that big of an issue. It’s really annoying during backtesting where I enter them over and over and over and over, well, you get the point.

Regardless, this way of tracking iron condors sure beats my previous approach. Each iron condor is it’s own trade and even if I adjust I just close the initial trade and open the new trade on a new line.

To the right of this page in the “Risk” section, you can ignore the -38.92% & -35.53%. This area would generally show how far the short call or short put was to being in the money. When an iron condor gets too close to a short it’s usually time for an adjustment. In this case, since I was backtesting back in 2023 the price data being pulled from Google was suggesting I had already breached my short substantially.

That said, you can also see that the cells are highlighted. I have it set to highlight the cells any time the current price get’s too close to one of my short strikes. Just a visual indicator that something needs to be addressed.

Graph/Calculation Review

This page of the spreadsheet houses all of the background calculation necessary for complete functionality. It isn’t overwhelming so even a novice spreadsheet user could pick up the calculations I’ve completed here fairly easily.

From the image you can see exactly what I’m calculating and each column is used for displaying the dashboard. The only data here being pulled from somewhere else is the Open, High, Low, & Close data from Google. Everything else is calculated without really any need to ever dive into unless, like me, you love crunching numbers.

In either case, this page will likely be hidden from view if you decide to purchase the iron condor spreadsheet. I can be found by clicking the hamburger menu in the bottom left of Google sheets, should it ever be needed.

Jeff’s Iron Condor Strategy

Lastly, I wanted to share a quick overview of the strategy I’ve been testing. The results have been promising even when I discount my trades by a few dollars each time. What I mean is, if the backtest system shows I should receive a credit of $2.50, I usually lower that by about $.10 to $2.40, so I’m accounting for poor fills or slippage.

Here is the complete guide to the strategy I’m going to implement. If all goes well, I should be starting a video series on Youtube soon to document the strategy and the iron condor spreadsheet.

Final Thoughts

In all, I think the sheet is visually appealing and remarkably simple. At least compared to some of my other spreadsheet creations. I mean, it really is easy to get carried away with all you can do inside a good spreadsheet.

That said, for anyone new to the iron condor strategy here is a detailed guide to the strategy from OptionAlpha that goes into great detail about the strategy itself. From there you’ll be ready to get a copy of the iron condor spreadsheet here and begin trading the strategy and documenting it along the way.

And finally, the secret I mentioned to keep the spreadsheet looking fresh and modern. Simply navigate to the “Format” menu in Google Sheets and select “Theme”. The menu of various themes will appear and you can select one of the presets or create a custom theme anytime. That way, no matter how long the spreadsheet is being used, a new theme gives it a new coat of paint for visual relief. Here are a few samples.