Options reference center
Strategies, formulas, and definitions
Every guide answers one specific question in depth: the exact mechanics, the real formulas, a worked numerical example, and honestly when it does and doesn't fit. New to options entirely? Start with the tutorial first.
Strategies
Covered calls
Turn shares you already own into income, in exchange for capping your upside.
Cash-secured puts
Get paid to wait for a price you'd already be happy to buy at.
Protective collars
Fence in a gain you've already made, without paying full price for insurance.
Bull call spread
A cheaper, capped-upside way to make a bullish bet than buying a call outright.
Bear put spread
A cheaper, capped-upside way to make a bearish bet than buying a put outright.
Formulas & calculations
Credit spread maximum loss
The width-minus-credit formula, with a worked bull put spread example.
Iron condor breakeven
How to calculate both of an iron condor's breakeven prices.
Probability of profit
The delta-based formula most tools use, and why it's an estimate, not a fact.
Bid/ask spread
How to calculate spread as a percentage of mid price, and why it matters.
Concepts
Options Greeks explained
What delta, gamma, theta, and vega each actually measure.
Theta decay examples
Worked dollar examples of why decay accelerates as expiration nears.
IV percentile vs. IV rank
Two different ways to measure today's implied volatility against its own history.
Defined-risk vs. undefined-risk
Which strategies have a fixed maximum loss, and which don't.
How-to & comparisons
Choosing an expiration date
Balancing time decay against how much room a trade needs to work.
Comparing two option strategies
A five-number framework for judging any two strategies side by side.
Covered call vs. cash-secured put
Why they produce nearly identical payoffs, and the one real difference between them.