Don't write covered calls. Don't come up with a strategy on the fly. You need to know the math before you put the trades on. Backtesting does NOT predict the future, but it gives you an idea how the idea(s) would have worked out over the last 20 years. What is past is prologue, but at the same time history rarely repeats itself the same way. I encourage you to backtest b/c you can use the hypothetical results in your marketing and discuss how bad the "bad" would have been in the past. Most investors or backers want to know the worst case scenario. Backtesting can give you an idea of the magnitude and duration of the drawdown, the worst loss, the expected value of a trade, and the best run of winners. Knowing these numbers can help you build confidence in your ability and also give you great insight on your emotional intelligence regarding trading performance - gains and losses. Get Tony Saliba's book for Free. Go to MartinKronicle.com and look in the top right corner for the details. Access to his options trading simulator is here: choose "options." It's for students only.