Spread Screener Guide

Screen 10 multi-leg strategies across your entire watchlist in seconds. Find credit spreads, debit spreads, iron condors, and more — filtered by risk, probability, and liquidity.

Quick start: Go to the Spread Screener, enter your tickers, pick a strategy, and hit Screen Spreads. Results appear in a sortable table you can click into for full analysis.

Overview

The Spread Screener scans every available expiration and strike combination for your selected tickers, then filters down to the spreads that match your criteria. It supports 10 distinct strategies spanning credit spreads, debit spreads, volatility plays, and time spreads.

For each spread it calculates:

Net credit or debit and max risk
Return on risk (RoR%) and probability of profit (PoP%)
Expected value per contract
Greeks (delta, theta, vega) for both legs and the net position
Whether the short strike falls inside or outside the expected move
Days to earnings and whether earnings fall before expiration
A composite attractiveness score (0-100)

Strategy Types

Select a strategy from the tab bar at the top of the screener. Some strategies (Straddle, Strangle, Calendar, Debit Vertical) have a sub-toggle that lets you switch between variants.

Credit Verticals

Bull Put Spread

Bullish

SELL put at a higher strike
BUY put at a lower strike

Collect credit upfront. You profit if the stock stays above your short strike. Best when IV Rank is elevated (50%+) and the short put sits below support.

Bear Call Spread

Bearish

SELL call at a lower strike
BUY call at a higher strike

Collect credit upfront. You profit if the stock stays below your short strike. Best for stocks in a downtrend or trading in a range.

Debit Verticals

Bull Call Spread

Bullish

BUY call at a lower strike
SELL call at a higher strike

Pay a debit for a directional bullish bet with capped risk. Best when IV is low (cheaper premiums to buy). Use the Debit Vertical tab, then select Bull Call.

Bear Put Spread

Bearish

BUY put at a higher strike
SELL put at a lower strike

Pay a debit for a directional bearish bet with capped risk. Select the Debit Vertical tab, then toggle to Bear Put.

Multi-Leg & Volatility Strategies

Iron Condor

Neutral

Bull put spread below + bear call spread above. Four legs total. You profit if the stock stays between the two short strikes. Best for range-bound, low-volatility stocks with high IV Rank.

Jade Lizard

Bullish

SELL put + SELL call + BUY higher call. Three legs. If total credit exceeds the call spread width, there is no upside risk. Downside risk is like a naked put.

Straddle (Short / Long)

Neutral / Volatility

ATM call + ATM put at the same strike. Short straddle collects premium and profits if the stock stays near the strike. Long straddle pays debit and profits from a big move in either direction. Toggle between Short and Long with the sub-toggle.

Strangle (Short / Long)

Neutral / Volatility

OTM call + OTM put at different strikes. Short strangle is wider than a straddle, giving more room for profit but less premium. Long strangle is cheaper than a long straddle but needs a bigger move. Toggle between Short and Long.

Calendar Spreads

Calendar Call

Neutral

SELL near-term call + BUY longer-term call at the same strike. Profits from time decay of the front-month option. Best when you expect the stock to stay near the strike price. Toggle is set to Call by default.

Calendar Put

Neutral

SELL near-term put + BUY longer-term put at the same strike. Same concept as the calendar call but using puts. Toggle to Put under the Calendar tab.

Filters

The screener form has the following filters. All are optional except tickers.

Filter	What It Controls
Tickers	Comma-separated stock symbols. Use the Quick Select watchlist buttons or sector buttons (Tech, Finance, etc.) to populate common lists. The High IV button loads only tickers with IV Rank ≥ 50%.
Spread Widths ($)	Strike distance between legs. Default `2.5, 5, 10`. Wider spreads collect more premium but carry more risk.
Min / Max Return on Risk	RoR% = Credit / Max Loss. Default 15-50%. Very high RoR often means low probability.
Min / Max DTE	Days to expiration range. Default 14-45. The 30-45 DTE window offers the best theta decay for credit sellers.
Min / Max Short Delta	Absolute delta of the short leg. Default 0.15-0.35. Lower delta = further OTM, higher probability but less premium.
Min Open Interest	Both legs must meet this threshold. Default 50. Higher OI means better liquidity and tighter bid-ask spreads.
Max Bid-Ask Spread (%)	As a percentage of the midpoint. Default 20%. Keeps you out of illiquid contracts with wide slippage.
Min IV Rank (%)	Optional. Set to 50+ to find elevated-IV names where selling premium is richest.
Filter near Support/Resistance	Checkbox. Only shows spreads where the short strike is near a key technical level (puts near support, calls near resistance).
Positive EV Only	Checkbox. Only shows spreads with positive expected value, meaning (PoP x Max Profit) > ((1-PoP) x Max Loss). These are rare but the math favors you.
Max Risk per Trade ($)	Optional. Enter a dollar amount and the screener calculates how many contracts you can trade within that risk budget.

Quick Presets

Four preset buttons adjust the filters in one click:

Conservative (High PoP) — Wider OTM, lower delta, higher probability of profit
Balanced — The default settings, a middle ground between risk and reward
Aggressive (High RoR) — Tighter strikes, higher delta, bigger premiums
High IV Only — Adds a minimum IV Rank filter so you only see inflated-premium names

Results Table

After screening, results appear in a sortable table. Click any column header to sort. A progress bar shows real-time screening progress as each ticker is processed.

Column	What It Means
Ticker	The underlying stock symbol.
Exp	Option expiration date.
DTE	Days to expiration. Shorter DTE means faster time decay but more gamma risk.
Short	Strike price of the option you sell. This is your risk threshold.
Long	Strike price of the option you buy for protection. Defines max loss.
Width	Distance between strikes in dollars.
Credit	Premium collected upfront (or debit paid, for debit strategies). This is your max profit for credit spreads.
Max Loss	Width minus credit. The worst-case loss if the stock moves fully through your spread.
Qty	Maximum contracts you can trade at your Max Risk setting. Only shown if you entered a Max Risk value.
RoR%	Return on Risk = Credit / Max Loss x 100. Target 15-30% for a good risk/reward balance.
PoP%	Probability of Profit, approximately 1 minus the absolute delta of the short strike.
BE	Breakeven price. The stock must stay on your side of this at expiration.
Delta	Net delta of the spread. Closer to 0 = more neutral.
Theta	Daily time decay in dollars. Positive theta means time works in your favor.
IVR	IV Rank: where current implied volatility sits in its 52-week range. 50%+ is elevated.
EM	Expected Move. Shows whether your short strike is inside or outside the 1-standard-deviation expected range. Outside = safer.
Earn	Days until the next earnings announcement. A warning icon appears if earnings fall before expiration.
EV	Expected Value per contract = (PoP x Max Profit) - ((1-PoP) x Max Loss). Positive EV means the probability math favors you.
Score	Composite attractiveness score from 0 to 100, weighing RoR, PoP, liquidity, and theta. Higher is better.

Tip: Use the checkboxes on the left to select two or more spreads, then click Compare Selected to see them side by side. You can also Export to Excel to download the full results table.

Detail Modal

Click any row in the results table to open the detail modal. It breaks the spread down into six sections:

1 Strike Visualization

A horizontal bar shows where the current stock price, short strike, long strike, and breakeven sit relative to each other. It also shows how far OTM the short strike is as a percentage.

2 Payoff at Expiration

A chart showing your P&L at every stock price at expiration. The green region is where you profit, red is where you lose. The breakeven point is clearly marked.

3 Key Metrics

Four cards displaying max profit, max loss, breakeven price, and return on risk. For credit spreads, max profit equals the credit received times 100. For debit spreads, max profit equals the spread width minus the debit paid.

4 Probability Analysis

Shows probability of profit, the 1-sigma expected range (68% confidence), whether the short strike is inside or outside the expected move, and the expected value per contract. Positive EV trades are highlighted.

5 Greeks Breakdown

A table showing delta, theta, and vega for the short leg, long leg, and net position. Positive net theta means time decay works in your favor. For credit spreads, you typically want negative vega (benefits from falling IV).

6 Position Sizing & Market Context

Collateral required per contract and how many contracts you can trade at various capital levels ($5k, $10k) plus the 2% risk rule. Market context shows IV Rank, IV Percentile, next earnings date (with a warning if earnings fall before expiration), and the nearest technical signal.

Adding to Portfolio

At the bottom of the detail modal, you can add the spread directly to one of your portfolios:

Select a portfolio from the dropdown. All your saved portfolios appear here.
Set the quantity — the number of contracts you want to log.
Click Add to Portfolio. Both legs of the spread are added as a single trade with the correct strikes, expiration, and net credit or debit.

Once added, the trade appears in your Analytics dashboard and Portfolio Report with all the standard tracking: P&L, days held, and close management.

Note: Adding a spread to your portfolio logs the trade for tracking purposes. It does not place a live order with a broker.

Tips for Better Screens

Start with the balanced preset and adjust from there once you see results.
Sell spreads in high IV (IV Rank 50%+). Use the High IV button to find candidates.
Buy spreads in low IV. Debit verticals and long straddles/strangles benefit from rising volatility.
Watch the EM column. Short strikes outside the expected move have a statistical edge.
Check the Earn column. Avoid holding credit spreads through earnings unless you specifically want that exposure.
Use the 2% risk rule shown in the detail modal to size positions responsibly.
Sort by Score for the screener's best overall picks, or sort by EV to find positive expected value trades.

Related Guides

Options Screener — screen single-leg options (calls and puts) across your watchlist.
Portfolio Analytics — track trades, P&L, and win rate across all your portfolios.
All Documentation — return to the docs hub.