Iron Flies are popular in 0DTE options trading. But they require discipline and good risk management to be successful. In this interview, Doc Severson walks us through his approach, built around structure, market selection, and short exposure times rather than adrenaline and guesswork.

0DTE Iron Fly has been consistently profitable for Doc (see the results later in the article) – and the average trade only lasts for 18 minutes.

Learn about 0DTE Iron Fly in this interview

Doc Severson

Doc Severson is a full-time trader and educator with decades of experience in options trading. A former engineer, he has spent years refining systematic, risk-managed strategies and helping other traders develop disciplined, repeatable processes. His work focuses on consistency, capital preservation, and treating trading like a business rather than a gamble.

• Doc Seversen can be contacted at ReadySetTrade
• He is also part of 12MinutesTrading

0DTE Iron Fly

A 0DTE Iron Fly is a variation of the Iron Condor where both short options are placed at the same strike, typically near the current price of the underlying. With zero days to expiration, the strategy relies heavily on time decay and intraday volatility behavior.

Unlike traditional wide iron condors, the iron fly is intentionally narrow. While this may sound counterintuitive, narrowing the structure fundamentally changes how the trade behaves, especially when combined with strict rules for entries and exits.

• Other 0DTE butterfly strategies on Theta Profits:
• Dale Perryman: 0DTE Iron Fly on SPX
• Maria & Robert Helmick: The Maria Shoe Trade
• Azhar Pasha: Adaptive 0DTE Butterfly Strategy

Why narrowing the structure can improve results

One of the key insights Doc shares is that bringing the wings closer can actually improve the trade’s efficiency. Wide iron condors often require traders to stay in positions for most of the trading day to realize relatively small profits.

By tightening the structure, the 0DTE Iron Fly generates higher upfront credit and much faster time decay. This allows the trade to work more quickly, reducing both market exposure and decision fatigue.

Rather than trying to capture every dollar of potential profit, Doc focuses on consistency and repeatability.

Average hold time for 0DTE Iron Fly: about 18 minutes

Speed is central to this strategy. Based on Doc’s own statistics, the average hold time for his 0DTE Iron Fly trades is around 18 minutes, with some trades closing even faster during volatility crushes.

In 0DTE trading, time itself is a form of risk. The longer a trader stays in a short gamma position, the more opportunity the market has to move unexpectedly. Shorter hold times significantly reduce that exposure, argues Doc.

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Market selection: only trade range days

The 0DTE Iron Fly is not designed for every market environment. Doc is very clear that market selection is critical.

He looks specifically for range-bound days, where price action remains relatively calm. Trend days and corrective markets are avoided entirely.

To identify favorable conditions, he combines:

• A macro view that avoids corrective or highly volatile environments
• A micro view using the opening range of the first 30 minutes after the market opens. For him to place a trade, this opening range must be within the estimated moves for the day.

If price remains inside that opening range and market conditions are calm, the odds favor the trade.

How the 0DTE Iron Fly is structured

In the interview, Doc walks through a detailed SPX example:

• The trade is placed just after 10 AM EST. That is 30 minutes after the market has opened.
• The short call and short put placed at or just above the current price (the next strike up)
• Long wings set based on the expected move for the day. Example: If the estimated move when the market is opened is +- 30 points, the wings of his Iron Fly will be 30 points.

Using the expected move allows the structure to adapt to current market conditions rather than relying on fixed distances or deltas.

Profit targets and loss management

This is a fully mechanical approach. Once the trade is entered, Doc immediately defines both profit targets and stop levels.

He wants to gain at least $50 in profit per contract, but will sometimes set the profit level as high as $100.

The stop levels are set at when the market price touches or gets near his longs in either direction. In Doc’s experience, this will typically mean a loss of about $350.

Doc does not set a stop loss order, though. Rather, he prefers to close the Iron Fly manually when the stop level is hit. He will not try to roll or manage the trade in other ways. Doc’s goal is to be out of the trade after no more than an hour.

Risk profile: lower than most traders expect

Despite being an at-the-money 0DTE strategy, Doc rates the 0DTE Iron Fly as a moderate-risk approach, roughly a 4 to 5 on a 10-point scale.

Defined risk through long wings, short exposure time, strict market selection, and disciplined exits all contribute to that assessment. According to Doc, the most damaging trades are not small losses, but trades that are allowed to spiral out of control.

Financial results with 0DTE Iron Fly

Over the past few years, Doc has tracked the financial results of his 0DTE Iron Fly trades in detail. In 2023, he executed 121 trades using this approach, with a win rate of approximately 95% and a profit factor of 3.85. The following year, after experimenting with more aggressive variations, his results moderated to an 86% win rate and a profit factor of 1.92 across 144 trades. So far this year, he reports a win rate around 90% with a profit factor of roughly 2.1.

• Profit factor = The profits from all the winning trades divided by the losses incurred in all the losing trades

Doc emphasizes that these numbers are the result of strict market selection, defined exits, and consistent position management rather than trading every day or attempting to maximize profits on individual trades.

Who 0DTE Iron Fly is — and is not — for

The 0DTE Iron Fly is best suited for traders who can focus during the first hour of the trading day and who prefer rules-based, structured strategies.

It is not ideal for traders who cannot monitor the market at all during the morning or who are looking for completely passive income.

Recommended options trading books

Doc Severson recommends three books to other options traders:

• John F. Carter: Mastering the Trade
• Sheldon Natenberg: Option Volatility & Pricing
• Edwin Lefevre: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator