Dear Tribe,
After ParaKoopa 200, we kept asking one thing:
“Can we build a version that still makes money… even if the market goes nowhere?”
That’s how ZebraKoopa was born —
a new twist on ParaKoopa that solves the biggest weakness of long-term call strategies: time decay.
🐢 From ParaKoopa → ZebraKoopa
ParaKoopa used LEAPS calls to ride the S&P 500 trend with less capital.
It worked — until the market went sideways.
When price stalls, options lose value over time (called time decay).
So the goal was clear: remove the drag of time.
🦓 The Idea Behind “Zebra”
“Zebra” actually comes from TastyTrade — it stands for:
Zero Extrinsic Back Ratio Alternative.
In plain English:
It’s a special 3-leg options setup designed to cancel out time decay.
Here’s the structure 👇
Leg | Action | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
1️⃣ | Buy 2 deep in-the-money calls | Build strong long exposure |
2️⃣ | Sell 1 at-the-money call | Collect premium to offset time value |
That’s it — 3 legs working together.
The sold call’s premium pays for the “rent” of time decay,
so even if the price doesn’t move, you don’t lose value.
💡 Why It’s Powerful
Market Condition | ParaKoopa 200 | ZebraKoopa |
|---|---|---|
Trending Up | ✅ Profits well | ✅ Profits strongly |
Trending Down | ❌ Sits out (SMA-200 filter) | ❌ Sits out (SMA-200 filter) |
Sideways Market | ⚠️ Loses to time decay | ✅ Still makes money |
By combining two deep-in-the-money calls with one short call,
you create a position that behaves like stock ownership —
but with far lower capital and almost no time decay.
⚙️ Why We Love It
Capital Efficient: behaves like owning shares with a fraction of the cost.
No Time Decay: the short call neutralises the bleed.
Flexible: can be layered with trend filters like SMA-200.
Smooth P&L: less noise, more predictability.
It’s the next step in the evolution of ParaKoopa —
designed to perform not just when markets rise,
but also when they pause.
🎓 Want to see how we backtest and optimise strategies like this from scratch?
Join our free Quant X Accelerator Masterclass — a 90-minute live class where we will walk through:
✅ How we design, test & deploy strategies like ZebraKoopa
✅ The 3 core frameworks behind every Quant X model
✅ What most traders miss when copying others’ setups
✅ How to build repeatable rules that remove emotion from trading
To your growth,
Team Quant X
Backtest. Optimise. Trade.
Editor: Dareen Tan
Disclaimer:
The views shared here are for educational purposes only and reflect our team’s opinions. They should not be taken as financial, investment, or legal advice. Please do your own due diligence before making any financial decisions.
