Strategy calculators

A long call is the simplest bullish options trade: you buy a call to profit if the stock rises above the strike before expiration. Risk is limited to the premium paid; upside is theoretically unlimited.

A long put profits when the stock falls. You buy a put for the right to sell at the strike; losses are capped at the premium while profits grow as the stock drops toward zero.

A covered call sells a call against 100 shares you own to collect premium income. It caps upside at the strike in exchange for a cushion and steady yield — a favorite of income investors.

Selling a cash-secured put earns premium and obligates you to buy the stock at the strike if assigned — a way to get paid while waiting to buy a stock cheaper.

A naked (short) put sells a put to collect premium without setting cash aside. It profits if the stock stays above the strike, with substantial risk if it falls sharply.

A bull call spread buys a call and sells a higher-strike call to lower cost. Both risk and reward are capped — a cheaper, defined-risk way to play a moderate move up.

A bear put spread buys a put and sells a lower-strike put. Defined risk and reward make it a cost-efficient way to profit from a moderate decline.

A bull put credit spread sells a put and buys a lower-strike put for protection, collecting a net credit. It profits if the stock stays above the short strike — a high-probability income trade.

A bear call credit spread sells a call and buys a higher-strike call, collecting a credit. It profits if the stock stays below the short strike.

An iron condor sells an out-of-the-money put spread and call spread at once, collecting premium that you keep if the stock stays within a range. Defined risk on both sides.

A long butterfly combines a bull and bear spread to profit if the stock pins near the middle strike at expiration. Low cost, defined risk, high reward-to-risk near the target.

A long straddle buys a call and a put at the same strike to profit from a large move in either direction — often used around earnings or major events.

A long strangle buys an out-of-the-money call and put. Cheaper than a straddle but needs a bigger move to pay off — a low-cost bet on volatility.

A collar protects a stock position by buying a put and financing it with a covered call. It caps both downside and upside — low-cost insurance for gains you want to keep.

A call calendar sells a near-term call and buys a longer-term call at the same strike, profiting from faster decay of the front option. Multi-expiration, defined risk.

A naked (short) call sells a call without owning the stock. You keep the premium if the stock stays below the strike, but the risk is theoretically unlimited if it rallies — one of the highest-risk options trades.

A call diagonal buys a longer-dated call and sells a shorter-dated, higher-strike call against it. It is the structure behind the poor man’s covered call: leveraged, income-generating and multi-expiration.

A put calendar sells a near-term put and buys a longer-term put at the same strike, profiting from the faster decay of the front option. The put-based mirror of the call calendar — multi-expiration, defined risk.

A jade lizard sells a put and a call spread at the same time. Structured so the total credit is at least the width of the call spread, it carries no risk if the stock rises — only downside risk, like a short put.

A broken wing butterfly is a butterfly with one wing moved further out. Shifting the wing cheapens the trade — often to a net credit — which removes the loss on that side, at the cost of a larger loss on the other.

A call ratio spread buys one call and sells two higher-strike calls. It is cheap to open (often a credit) and profits from a moderate rise — but the extra short call leaves uncapped risk if the stock runs too far.

A put ratio spread buys one put and sells two lower-strike puts. It is cheap or a credit and profits from a moderate decline — but the extra short put leaves growing risk if the stock falls too far.

A call backspread sells one call and buys two higher calls. It profits from a strong rally with unlimited upside, often costs little or nothing to open, and has limited, defined risk if the stock stalls in a middle zone.

A put backspread sells one put and buys two lower puts. It profits from a sharp decline with large downside payoff, often costs little or nothing, and has limited, defined risk if the stock holds steady.

Synthetic long stock combines a long call and a short put at the same strike to replicate the payoff of owning 100 shares — moving dollar-for-dollar with the stock, but tying up far less capital.

A strap is a straddle tilted bullish: two long calls and one long put at the same strike. It profits from a large move in either direction, but earns more if the stock rises than if it falls.

A strip is a straddle tilted bearish: one long call and two long puts at the same strike. It profits from a large move in either direction, but earns more if the stock falls than if it rises.

Twin Peaks is an original, experimental structure — two butterflies at once: a put butterfly below the current price and a call butterfly above it. The payoff has two peaks, so it profits from a moderate move in either direction while keeping the risk defined and small.

Kite is an original, experimental bullish structure: a long call — the upside kite — financed by a bull put credit spread below it, the tail. The put spread pays for the call, so you often open it for a net credit while keeping unlimited upside and a defined, capped downside.

A protective put (also called a married put) is owning the stock and buying a put against it as insurance. The put sets a floor under your losses below its strike, while your upside stays unlimited. The cost is the premium — a small, known price for downside protection.

A short straddle sells a call and a put at the same at-the-money strike. You collect the maximum premium and profit if the stock barely moves, with the premium decaying in your favour. The trade-off is serious: the risk is effectively unlimited if the stock makes a big move either way.

A short strangle sells an out-of-the-money call and an out-of-the-money put. It is the wider, lower-premium cousin of the short straddle: you collect less, but the stock has a bigger range to stay in before you lose. The risk is still effectively unlimited on a large move.

A synthetic short stock combines a short call and a long put at the same strike. Together they replicate the payoff of shorting 100 shares — dollar-for-dollar downside profit and uncapped upside risk — usually for little or no net cost, and without borrowing the stock.

A reverse iron condor is the iron condor flipped: you buy the inner call and put spreads and sell the outer wings, paying a net debit. It profits from a big move in either direction, with both the maximum profit and the maximum loss strictly defined — a defined-risk long-volatility trade.

A reverse iron butterfly (long iron butterfly) buys the at-the-money call and put and sells an out-of-the-money call and put as wings. It is a defined-risk, long-volatility trade: you pay a net debit and profit if the stock makes a decent move in either direction, with both the maximum profit and loss capped.

A long call condor buys a low and a high strike call and sells two middle strikes between them. It behaves like a butterfly with a flat top: a defined-risk, neutral trade that profits when the stock stays inside the two short strikes, built entirely from calls.

A double diagonal sells a near-term out-of-the-money call and put and buys longer-dated, further-out-of-the-money call and put. It is a neutral income strategy: the short near-term options decay fast in your favour while the long-dated options cap the risk and can be kept after the front month expires.

A ZEBRA (Zero Extrinsic Back Ratio) buys two in-the-money calls and sells one at-the-money call. The structure nets a delta near +100 — so it moves almost dollar-for-dollar with the stock — while the sold call cancels out most of the time value, giving stock-like upside with very little theta decay and a defined, limited downside.

A box spread combines a bull call spread and a bear put spread at the same two strikes. Its payoff at expiration is fixed at the distance between the strikes, no matter where the stock lands — so it behaves like a zero-risk bond or synthetic loan. In practice it is mostly an educational and financing tool, with important real-world caveats.

A risk reversal sells an out-of-the-money put to pay for a long out-of-the-money call. It is a leveraged bullish position — often near zero cost — that behaves like owning the stock, but with a flat "dead zone" between the two strikes and real downside risk below the short put.

A covered strangle owns 100 shares and sells both an out-of-the-money call and an out-of-the-money put. You collect double the premium of a covered call, but you take on extra downside: a falling stock loses on the shares and obligates you to buy 100 more at the put strike.

Long guts buys an in-the-money call and an in-the-money put — a strangle built from ITM options. Like a straddle, it profits from a big move in either direction, but both legs carry intrinsic value, so the position is more expensive and a guaranteed slice of value sits between the strikes.

A Christmas tree butterfly (with calls) buys one lower call, sells three calls a couple of strikes higher, and buys two calls one strike above that. It is a skewed, cheaper relative of the standard butterfly, with a bullish-leaning profit zone and strictly defined risk.

A diagonal put spread sells a near-term out-of-the-money put and buys a longer-dated put at a different strike. It is the bearish mirror of the diagonal call: you collect near-term time decay while the longer-dated long put defines the risk and carries the directional view.

A conversion owns 100 shares and wraps them in a synthetic short — long a put and short a call at the same strike. The combined position has a fixed value regardless of where the stock goes: a defined, near-riskless arbitrage that captures small mispricings in put-call parity.

A reversal, or reverse conversion, shorts 100 shares and wraps them in a synthetic long — long a call and short a put at the same strike. Like the conversion it mirrors, the combined value is fixed regardless of price: a defined, near-riskless arbitrage built on put-call parity.

A covered put shorts 100 shares and sells a put against them. It is the bearish mirror of a covered call: you collect premium and profit while the stock drifts down to the put strike, where your gain is capped — but a rally brings unlimited risk from the short shares.

A big lizard sells an at-the-money straddle and buys an out-of-the-money call to cap the upside. When the credit collected is at least as large as the call-spread width, the upside risk disappears entirely — you keep premium if the stock stays near the strike, with risk only on the downside.

A reverse jade lizard sells an out-of-the-money call and a bull put spread below the price. It is the mirror of the jade lizard: when the credit collected is at least the width of the put spread, the downside risk vanishes, leaving only upside risk from the short call.

The stock repair strategy adds a 1×2 call ratio spread to a losing long position — buy one at-the-money call and sell two out-of-the-money calls, usually for near-zero cost. It doubles your recovery between the current price and the short strike, lowering your effective breakeven without adding capital.

A ratio call write owns 100 shares and sells two calls against them. One call is covered by the stock, the other is naked, so you collect double the premium of a covered call — but you take on uncapped risk if the stock rallies through the strike.

A jelly roll pairs a long call calendar spread with a short put calendar spread at the same strike. The directional exposure cancels, leaving a nearly flat payoff whose value comes from the difference in carrying costs — interest and dividends — between the two expirations.

A double calendar sells a near-term put and call and buys longer-dated put and call at the same strikes — a put calendar below the price and a call calendar above it. It builds a wide profit "tent" that pays off if the stock stays between the two strikes while the near-term options decay.

A bull call ladder is a bull call spread with an extra short call added above it: long one lower call, short one middle call, short one higher call. The second short cheapens the trade — sometimes to a credit — but is naked, so a strong rally past the top strike brings uncapped losses. It suits a moderate rise that stalls inside a target zone.

A bear call ladder starts as a bear call credit spread and adds a second long call above it: short one lower call, long one middle call, long one higher call. Despite the name, the two long calls make it a net-bullish, volatile trade — unlimited profit on a strong rally, a small credit kept if the stock falls, and the worst outcome a modest rise into the middle zone.

A bull put ladder starts as a bull put credit spread and adds a second long put below it: short one higher put, long one middle put, long one lower put. The two long puts make it a net-bearish, volatile trade — large profit on a sharp drop, a small credit kept if the stock rises, and the worst outcome a modest decline into the middle zone. It is the put-side mirror of the bear call ladder.

A bear put ladder is a bear put spread with an extra short put added below it: long one higher put, short one middle put, short one lower put. The second short cheapens the trade — sometimes to a credit — but is naked, so a hard sell-off past the lowest strike brings large losses. It suits a moderate decline that stalls inside a target zone.

A bullish seagull is a three-leg structure: buy a call, sell a higher call to cap the upside, and sell an out-of-the-money put to pay for it. The short put often reduces the cost to near zero, giving you bullish exposure with a capped gain and a "dead zone" of little P/L between the strikes — at the price of taking assignment if the stock drops below the short put.

A ratio put write pairs short stock with two short puts at a strike below: one put is covered by the short shares, the other is naked. You collect double premium and profit most if the stock drifts down to the strike, but you carry risk on a large move either way — unlimited above from the short shares, and accelerating below the strike from the naked put. It is the bearish mirror of the ratio call write.

A long put butterfly buys one higher-strike put, sells two middle-strike puts, and buys one lower-strike put, all equally spaced. It is a defined-risk, low-cost bet that the stock will pin the middle strike at expiration. The payoff is a tent identical to the long call butterfly at the same strikes — maximum profit at the body, small loss (the debit) beyond the wings.

A long put condor buys the two outer put strikes and sells the two inner ones, spreading a butterfly out into a flat-topped tent. It is a defined-risk, net-debit trade that profits if the stock finishes anywhere between the inner strikes at expiration — a wider, more forgiving target than a butterfly. The payoff matches a long call condor at the same strikes.

A put broken wing butterfly is a put butterfly with the lower wing pushed further out, skewing the risk to one side. It is long one near put, short two middle puts, and long one far lower put. Widening the lower wing often turns the trade into a net credit that carries no risk to the upside — you keep the credit if the stock rises — in exchange for a larger, but still defined, maximum loss on the downside.

A put christmas tree butterfly is a skewed, budget butterfly: long one put near the money, short three puts a couple of strikes lower, and long two puts one strike lower still. The uneven quantities create a cheaper, bearish-leaning tent whose profit zone sits below the current price. It is the put-side twin of the call christmas tree butterfly, with defined risk.