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Project Artha — SPY Options Simulation

Live

Rules-based SPY options paper-trading pipeline that runs twice daily, recommends defined-risk setups, and maintains a structured learning journal. One contract, no real money.

Python yfinance launchd Black-Scholes pandas
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The Problem

❌ Learning SPY options by reading about them builds familiarity but not judgment. You need reps — but real money creates emotional noise that distorts learning.

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The Approach

💡 Simulate one contract daily. Rules-based recommender picks the setup. Human can override. Every decision and outcome is logged with a structured 4-step journal entry.

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The Solution

✅ Two automated runs daily (9 AM and 12:15 PM PT). Recommender handles IV rank, catalyst buffers, trend filters, and strike selection. Journal tracks system vs human decisions over time.

What

Project Artha is a paper-trading simulation for SPY options. In Vedic philosophy, Artha is one of the four Purusharthas — the fundamental aims of human life. Where Dharma is about duty and Moksha about liberation, Artha is about doing: building, earning, and creating the material foundation that makes everything else possible. It’s not wealth for its own sake — it’s the means. That framing fit perfectly for a project that’s entirely about building financial foundation through deliberate practice, not excitement. Not trading to win. Learning to understand.

It runs twice per day via launchd, fetches live market data, recommends one defined-risk options setup (or no trade), and records the decision in a structured learning journal.

One contract. No real money. Goal: build options intuition through systematic simulation and deliberate journaling.

The Recommender

A rules-based engine that gates every trade:

Filters (in order): 1. IV Rank < 25 → NO TRADE (options are cheap, not worth selling) 2. DTE outside 1–45 day window → NO TRADE 3. CPI / FOMC / NFP within 4 days → NO TRADE (catalyst buffer) 4. ATR elevated + SPY extended upward → Bear call spread 5. ATR elevated + SPY extended downward → Bull put spread 6. Default → Iron condor

Strike selection — the critical rule: - DTE > 7: use 16-delta (standard) - DTE ≤ 7: use 1.5× implied move from the ATM straddle price

At short DTE, 16-delta places strikes inside the expected range. The ATM straddle price (call_mid + put_mid) is the market’s honest assessment of the expected ±move. Multiplying by 1.5 places strikes safely outside it.

The Journal

Each trade gets a 4-step entry: 1. Evaluated setups — all candidates considered with metrics 2. Trade setup — legs, credit, max loss, visual range bar 3. Outcome — filled after expiry (actual P&L) 4. Lesson learned — manual entry (what this confirmed or challenged)

Human Override Tracker — records when the system recommended a trade but the human passed, and vice versa. Over time this surfaces where human judgment adds vs destroys value.

Technical Details

  • CPI calendar uses hardcoded BLS release dates (formula-based calculation was unreliable — BLS doesn’t always release on the 2nd Wednesday)
  • Same-day morning releases (CPI at 8:30 AM ET) are treated as already-past by the 9 AM PT pipeline run — no blocking
  • FOMC decisions (2 PM ET) still block on same-day runs since pipeline runs before them
  • Pre-close run (12:15 PM PT) evaluates positions expiring today against 50% profit target, breakeven breach, or gamma risk proximity
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