Deep dives into Bull Put Spread strategy — trade with data, not emotion
VIX isn't just a sentiment gauge. For options sellers, it's one of the most direct signals for whether the current environment is worth trading in.
Most brokers — including Firstrade — show each leg of a Bull Put Spread separately, with opposite signs, and no combined total. Here's exactly how to add them up and know what you're actually making.
Same underlying, same expiration, same distance from current price — why does selling puts always pay more than selling calls? It's not random. It's market structure.
Bid-ask spreads, open interest, volume — these numbers look boring until you enter a Bull Put Spread on a thinly traded name and realize the market maker just took a third of your premium before you even started.
A Delta -0.15 BPS on JNJ and a Delta -0.15 BPS on NVDA are not the same trade. Individual stock skew reveals what the market is pricing into your specific name — and how much hidden risk is baked into your premium.
IV is the core of options pricing and the main edge source for sellers. Explained with real market stories and concrete numbers.
Most investors buy stocks and hope they go up. I flipped the model — now I collect premium income whether the market rises, stays flat, or drops a little. Here's exactly how I think about it.
The BPS Screener automatically detects market regime from VIX, selects the right parameter set, and outputs ranked spread candidates with probability data. Here's exactly how it works.
Real findings from 20 months of Bull Put Spread backtesting data — including why IV Rank filtering hurts performance, why delta stops kill winners, and why AAPL and MSFT are bad for BPS.
No math degree required. A plain-English breakdown of Delta, Theta, Vega, and Gamma — and what each one actually means for Bull Put Spread traders.
The clearest explanation of IV Rank (IVR) for options traders: what it actually measures, why it matters for premium selling, and one counterintuitive finding from our own backtesting.
Sell a put, buy a cheaper one, keep the credit. Entry rules: IVR > 50%, delta -0.10 to -0.16, 30-45 DTE. Max loss capped at $400/contract. Real examples and exit rules included.