EXAMPLE
Covered call
Illustrative example
- Underlying
- $200.00
- Premium income
- $420
- Breakeven
- $195.80
- Total position max profit
- $1,420
- Max loss
- -$19,580
- Expires
- 2026-10-16
Options research for self-directed traders
Options trading signals built from option-chain data
Screen listed option contracts for covered calls, cash-secured puts, buy-writes, PMCC, spreads, iron condors and LEAPS. Compare premium, delta, liquidity, capital required and payoff risk across eleven strategy tools, then decide for yourself.
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Payoff scenario
Illustrative example, read-only. Hypothetical inputs run through TradingSignalAI's payoff model.
Illustrative example
- Hypothetical underlying
- $200.00
- Premium income
- $420 ($4.20/share)
- Position · standard 100-share contracts
- 100 owned shares · sell one $210 call
Covered-position payoff
1 contract · 100 covered shares · expires 2026-10-16
Hover, touch, or focus the chart and use arrow keys to read P/L at a price.
- Shaded above $0: profit
- Shaded below $0: loss
- Solid line: P/L at expiration
- Dashed line: reference price
- Circle: break-even
- Dotted line: strike (values below)
- Break-even
- $195.80
- Strikes
- $210.00
- Payoff profit cap
- $1,420
- Max loss
- $19,580
The chart shows underlying prices from $171.80 to $234.00 only. Losses or gains outside this window can be larger; the window's lowest and highest points are not maximum risk.
Assumes 100 already-owned shares. Total-position P/L includes stock changes from the $200.00 signal reference, not historical cost basis. The existing Max profit income metric remains premium-only.
Uses the signal sell bid; before commissions, financing, exercise/assignment costs and taxes.
Move the pointer or focus the chart and use the left and right arrow keys to read profit or loss at each stock price. These are not live quotes or signals.
What you can research
Each tool has its own filters and metrics because each strategy carries different risk.
Strategy tools
11
Income, spreads, long-dated
Education guides
13
Formulas and worked examples
Data basis
Snapshots
Timestamped, not streaming
Execution
None
You trade with your broker
Income
- Covered callsSell calls against 100-share lots you already hold and compare premium with the upside you give up.
- Cash-secured putsSell puts backed by full cash collateral and compare premium with the cost of being assigned shares.
- Buy-writeBuy 100 shares and sell a call in the same entry; compare net cost, premium and called-away return.
- Wheel strategyResearch the cash-secured put entry and the covered-call scenario if shares are assigned.
Defined-risk spreads
- Bull put credit spreadsSell a put and buy a lower put for a net credit with a defined maximum loss.
- Bear call credit spreadsSell a call and buy a higher call for a net credit when you expect the stock not to rise above the short strike.
- Bull call debit spreadsBuy a call and sell a higher call; compare entry debit, breakeven and capped profit.
- Bear put debit spreadsBuy a put and sell a lower put; compare entry debit, breakeven and capped profit.
- Iron condorsCombine a put credit spread and a call credit spread and compare range, credit and wing risk.
Long-dated options
Four structures, drawn from the payoff model
Each diagram uses the same payoff calculation as the platform, on a hypothetical stock. Green is profit at the evaluation date, red is loss.
Covered call
Shares plus a short call: premium is collected, upside stops at the strike, and the stock can still fall.
Illustrative example
- Own100 shares
- Sell$210 call
Profit zoneLoss zoneStock priceBreakeven
- Example stock
- $200.00
- Premium income
- $420
- Breakeven
- $195.80
- Total position max profit
- $1,420
- Max loss
- -$19,580
- Evaluated at
- Expiration
Cash-secured put
Cash set aside behind a short put: premium is collected and shares are bought at the strike if assigned.
Illustrative example
- Sell$190 put
Profit zoneLoss zoneStock priceBreakeven
- Example stock
- $200.00
- Premium income
- $310
- Breakeven
- $186.90
- Max profit
- $310
- Max loss
- -$18,690
- Evaluated at
- Expiration
Buy-write
Shares and a short call opened together, so the premium lowers the effective cost of the shares.
Illustrative example
- Buy100 shares
- Sell$52.50 call
Profit zoneLoss zoneStock priceBreakeven
- Example stock
- $50.00
- Call premium
- $140
- Breakeven
- $48.61
- Total position max profit
- $389.35
- Max loss
- -$4,860.65
- Evaluated at
- Expiration
PMCC
A long-dated call stands in for shares and a nearer call is sold against it. Two expirations, so the curve is modeled.
Illustrative example
- Buy$70 call, Oct 2027
- Sell$105 call, Oct 2026
Profit zoneLoss zoneStock priceBreakeven
- Example stock
- $100.00
- Net entry debit
- $3,071.30 including entry fees
- Breakeven (modeled)
- $99.22
- Max profit
- Not fixed
- Max loss
- Not fixed
- Evaluated at
- Short expiry
How a research session works
01
Market data
Timestamped stock prices and listed option chains.
02
Options analysis
Greeks, implied volatility, premium and capital for each contract.
03
Strategy filtering
Delta, liquidity and structure rules for the strategy you choose.
04
Opportunity ranking
Surviving candidates compared on a normalized basis, with warnings.
05
Trader review
You inspect the legs and payoff, then decide with your own broker.
1. Record inputs
Add holdings and available cash so covered calls and cash-secured puts are sized to what you hold.
2. Filter
Choose expiration and risk filters. Contracts that fail delta, liquidity or spread checks are removed.
3. Compare
Review premium, return per day, breakeven and capital side by side, and save favorites.
4. Inspect and decide
Open signal details and the payoff scenario. Place any order yourself, if you choose to.
From ranked contracts to a signal detail
A candidate table and its detail view, built from the platform's components with hypothetical contracts. Not live data.
StrategyCovered calls
Expiration windowExample: 13 days
Delta ceilingApplied to short calls
Liquidity checksOpen interest, spread, quote
Illustrative example
Candidates
Hypothetical contracts on one example stock at $200.00. Select a row to open its detail.
| Strike | Bid | Premium | Return | Per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5.60 | $560 | 2.80% | 0.215% | |
| $4.20 | $420 | 2.10% | 0.162% | |
| $2.30 | $230 | 1.15% | 0.088% |
Return is premium divided by the $200.00 share price. Candidates that fail your filters are removed, and an empty list is a valid result.
Signal detail: EXAMPLE $210 call
The same payoff chart component the platform uses, shown read-only.
Illustrative example
- Premium income
- $420
- Breakeven
- $195.80
- Total position max
- $1,420
- Expires
- 2026-10-16
Covered-position payoff
1 contract · 100 covered shares · expires 2026-10-16
Hover, touch, or focus the chart and use arrow keys to read P/L at a price.
- Shaded above $0: profit
- Shaded below $0: loss
- Solid line: P/L at expiration
- Dashed line: reference price
- Circle: break-even
- Dotted line: strike (values below)
- Break-even
- $195.80
- Strikes
- $210.00
- Payoff profit cap
- $1,420
- Max loss
- $19,580
The chart shows underlying prices from $171.80 to $234.00 only. Losses or gains outside this window can be larger; the window's lowest and highest points are not maximum risk.
Assumes 100 already-owned shares. Total-position P/L includes stock changes from the $200.00 signal reference, not historical cost basis. The existing Max profit income metric remains premium-only.
Uses the signal sell bid; before commissions, financing, exercise/assignment costs and taxes.
Premium income is only the premium. The chart is the whole covered position: 100 shares from a $200.00 reference plus the short call. No live quotes.
How the position is built
Choose a structure to see its legs, capital and possible outcomes. Premium income and total position payoff stay separate; PMCC is a modeled scenario.
Covered call, built step by step
Hypothetical example. Not a quote or a result. Premium income and total position payoff are different figures.
Illustrative example
Own 100 shares
Reference price $200.00 per share, a scenario baseline rather than your real cost basis.
Sell one $210 call
Strike is 5% above the stock. You give up gains above $210 at expiration.
Collect the premium
$4.20 bid x 100 = $420, received up front, before fees.
Premium income only
$420
The scanner's premium figure. Excludes any stock gain or loss.
Total covered-position payoff, best case at expiry
$1,420
$420 premium plus $1,000 of stock gain from $200 to the $210 strike. Breakeven $195.80, which is the $200 reference minus the premium.
Below the short strike
Stock $199.50
$370 P/L
The call expires unused. You keep shares and premium, and stock losses still count against you.
At the short strike
Stock $210.00
$1,420 P/L
Total position payoff is at its maximum. The call has no value at expiration.
Above the short strike
Stock $220.50
$1,420 P/L
Shares can be called away at $210, so the payoff stays capped however high the stock goes.
The metrics behind each candidate
Short visual explanations of delta, implied volatility, time to expiration and premium.
Delta: directional exposure
Select a delta to see what it means for one call contract.
Illustrative example
Out of the money, delta 0.30
Moderate sensitivity. Sold options here collect more premium than at 0.15 and are more likely to finish in the money.
One standard contract has about 30 shares of price exposure: roughly $30.00 per small $1 stock move, or $0.30 per quoted share, with other inputs held constant.
Delta is a model sensitivity, not a probability forecast. Values shown are examples, not quotes.
Implied volatility: the range the market prices in
Example: $100 stock, 30 days to expiration. One-standard-deviation move = stock x IV x sqrt(days / 365).
Illustrative example
- Lower IV 20%+/- $5.73
Smaller expected range, lower premium for the same strike and expiration.
- Typical IV 30%+/- $8.6
A middle reading for this example.
- Higher IV 50%+/- $14.33
Wider expected range and larger premium, with more risk of a large move.
Bars span the one-standard-deviation range around the stock price. Not a forecast. IV rank in the product uses a realized-volatility proxy, not a historical implied-volatility rank.
Days to expiration
How the time horizon changes what you are comparing.
Illustrative example
0 DTE
Expiration day. Value is almost all intrinsic, and assignment can happen quickly.
7 DTE
Weekly. Time value is small and shrinks fast, and returns per day look large.
30 DTE
Monthly. A common window for comparing premium against time at risk.
45 DTE
Slower daily decay, more time for the stock to move against a position.
90 DTE
Quarterly. Premiums are larger in dollars but spread across more days.
365+ DTE
LEAPS range. Mostly time value early on, and used for long exposure, not quick income.
Descriptions are general tendencies. The scanner normalizes returns per day so different expirations can be viewed together.
Premium relative to capital
Covered call example, hypothetical inputs.
Illustrative example
Premium
$420
Capital
$20,000
100 shares at $200.00
Return
2.10%
13 days
Bar width = premium as a share of capital. $420 / $20,000 = 2.10%, or 0.162% per day over 13 days
Premium income only, before fees, taxes and any stock gain or loss. Per-day figures compare trades and do not promise the trade can be repeated.
What it is, and what it is not
It is
- Strategy-specific research that shows capital, premium, breakeven and risk.
- A way to compare opportunities across expirations on a normalized basis.
- Educational: formulas, definitions and labeled examples.
It is not
- A broker. It does not hold funds or place orders.
- A promise of profit, a win rate or a performance record.
- A real-time streaming terminal for subscribers.
- Personalized investment, tax or legal advice.
What the analysis evaluates
Inputs, screening stages and outputs. Specific formulas are not published.
Contract data evaluated
- Options chain
- Greeks
- Implied volatility
- Volume
- Open interest
- Bid / ask
- Strike distance
- Expiration
Analysis and screening
- 1Universe and exclusions
- 2Expiration window
- 3Strategy filters
- 4Liquidity and quote checks
- 5Normalize per day
What you review
- Ranked candidates
- Premium, return, breakeven, capital
- Warnings such as event risk
- Payoff scenario at stated assumptions
Compare the strategies
Directional view, structure, capital and worst case at a glance. Filter by bias.
Strategy comparison
Structural characteristics of each tool. These are descriptions, not scores or rankings.
| Strategy | Directional view | Structure | Capital basis | Worst case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covered calls | Neutral to bullish | 100 shares + short call | Cost of 100 shares | Stock falls, upside capped |
| Cash-secured puts | Neutral to bullish | Short put + cash | Strike x 100 in cash | Stock falls well below strike |
| Buy-write | Bullish to neutral | Buy shares + sell call together | Cost of 100 shares | Stock falls, upside capped |
| Wheel strategy | Neutral to bullish | Cash-secured put, then covered call | Strike x 100 in cash | Stock falls below strike |
| Bull put credit spreads | Bullish | Short put + lower long put | Width minus credit | Width minus credit, x 100 |
| Bear call credit spreads | Bearish to neutral | Short call + higher long call | Width minus credit | Width minus credit, x 100 |
| Bull call debit spreads | Bullish | Long call + higher short call | Net debit | The debit |
| Bear put debit spreads | Bearish | Long put + lower short put | Net debit | The debit |
| Iron condors | Range-bound | Put credit + call credit spread | Wider wing minus credit | Wider wing minus credit, x 100 |
| LEAPS | Bullish | One long-dated call | Call premium | The premium |
| Poor man's covered call (PMCC) | Bullish to neutral | Long-dated call + short-dated call | Net debit | Modeled, not a fixed figure |
From contracts to a strategy decision
These are research approaches, not claims about what every competing product does or does not offer.
| Research approach | Starting point | Your decision |
|---|---|---|
| Raw options-chain review | Individual strikes, expirations and quotes | Construct the position and calculate its economics |
| Rule-based screening | Contracts that meet selected filters | Evaluate the remaining candidates in context |
| TradingSignalAI | Ranked strategy-specific opportunities with capital, return and risk metrics | Inspect the legs, liquidity and payoff; execute independently with your broker |
Free account and Premium
Eligible new customers can begin a 7-day Premium trial. A payment method is required, and the selected plan bills automatically at the end of the trial unless canceled. Registration alone is not a Premium subscription.
| Capability | Free account | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Record holdings and available cash | Included | Included |
| Browse universe research | Included | Included |
| Ranked strategy tools (11 strategies) | Not included | Included |
| Buy-Write and PMCC finders | Not included | Included |
| Options research | Not included | Included |
| Trade records, scan and performance history | Not included | Included |
Product screenshot (historical)
This is a historical screenshot of the platform's symbol chart, shown to illustrate the interface. It is not live data and not a current market view.
Historical screenshot, not live. Select the image to open it at full size.
Learn the mechanics first
- Options Academy: Strategies, Metrics & RiskLearn options strategies, Greeks, volatility, premium and assignment. Work through labeled examples and connect the concepts to TradingSignalAI's research tools.
- Covered Calls: Premium, Breakeven & AssignmentLearn how covered calls work, calculate premium and stock-position payoff, and understand capped upside, stock downside and early assignment.
- Cash-Secured Puts: Collateral & AssignmentCalculate put premium, cash collateral, expiration breakeven and downside exposure. Learn why premium income does not eliminate share ownership risk.
- Options Greeks: Delta, Gamma, Theta & VegaUnderstand option-price sensitivities with practical examples. Learn how delta, gamma, theta and vega interact rather than relying on a single metric.
- Options Assignment: Share Delivery & RiskUnderstand exercise, early assignment, share delivery and expiration risk. Learn why covered positions and defined-risk spreads still need active review.
- Options Signal Methodology & Ranking LimitsSee how TradingSignalAI filters and ranks opportunities using strategy-specific inputs. Understand quote timestamps, comparison windows and model limitations.
Common questions
Research the trade before you place it
Create a free account to record holdings and cash and browse universe research. Premium adds the strategy tools. Eligible new customers can start a 7-day Premium trial; a payment method is required and the plan bills automatically unless canceled. Registration alone is not a Premium subscription.