Video summary

Find the Best Options Trades Without Wasting Hours!

Main summary

Key takeaways

Finance

Find the Best Options Trades Without Wasting Hours!

Presenter

Tony Zang, Chief Strategist at OptionsPlay

Overview

Tony Zang demonstrates the OptionsPlay Strategy Center, an add-on tool integrated with StockCharts.com that automates and streamlines the process of finding optimal options trades. By combining StockCharts’ advanced scanning and charting capabilities with OptionsPlay’s options analytics, the tool reduces research time from hours to seconds.

Key Assets, Tickers, and Instruments Mentioned

  • Stocks/Tickers: Dexcom (DXCM), Constellation Brands (STZ), Danaher (DHR), Honeywell (HON), Trade Desk (TTD), MicroStrategy (MSTR), Deckers Outdoors (DECK), Harley-Davidson (HOG), Lowe’s (LOW), Chipotle (CMG), Adobe (ADBE), SanDisk, Hela Mining, Intel (INTC), Duolingo (DUOL), GoDaddy (GDDY), Nvidia (NVDA)

  • Sectors: Technology, Consumer discretionary, Industrials

  • Option Strategies: Covered calls, cash-secured puts, long calls, debit spreads, credit spreads, iron condors

  • Other Instruments: ETFs (general mention, no specific tickers)

Methodology / Workflow Framework

  1. Stock Screening

    • Use StockCharts’ advanced scan workbench or predefined scans (e.g., golden cross, MACD crossover, volume gainers).
    • Build or customize scans to generate lists of stocks matching bullish or bearish technical setups.

  2. Chart List Review

    • Save scan results as chart lists for quick visual review of multiple stocks simultaneously.
    • Quickly filter for stocks that meet technical criteria.

  3. Options Strategy Screening

    • Import the chart list into OptionsPlay Strategy Center.
    • Select preferred option strategy (e.g., buy calls, sell credit spreads, covered calls).
    • Define parameters such as expiration (e.g., 30-day, 45-day), aggressiveness, risk tolerance, max risk amount.
    • The tool automatically:
      • Filters out illiquid options.
      • Runs the chosen strategy across all stocks.
      • Ranks opportunities by risk-to-reward and yield.
      • Displays key metrics (premium, break-even, max risk/reward, IV rank, earnings dates).

  4. Strategy Exploration

    • Use the OptionsPlay Strategy Explorer within StockCharts or ACP to compare different option strategies side-by-side on a specific stock.
    • Analyze P&L simulations, Greeks, bid-ask spreads, volume, open interest for each leg.

  5. Trade Execution

    • After selecting the top-ranked strategies, review detailed metrics.
    • Use provided links to view charts for confirmation.
    • Enter trades with confidence based on automated risk/reward and liquidity data.

Key Numbers & Performance Metrics

  • Subscription Cost: $40/month add-on to StockCharts membership.

  • Yield Examples:

    • Covered calls on Trade Desk: 2.29% yield in ~45 days (~19% annualized).
    • Covered calls on MicroStrategy: 1.69% yield (~14% annualized).
    • Selling a 45-day aggressive credit spread on Dexcom: Collect $3.50 premium on a $6-wide spread, nearly 1:1 risk-to-reward.
    • Selling puts on Deckers Outdoors: $510 per contract premium, effectively a 5.5% discount on stock purchase.
    • Selling puts on Trade Desk: 7% discount on stock purchase.
    • Selling puts on Adobe: 1.72% discount.
    • Iron condors on Harley-Davidson, Deckers, Nvidia: Collect ~45% of vertical width, close to 1:1 risk-to-reward.

  • OptionsPlay Scores: Proprietary scoring system ranks strategies by attractiveness.

  • Displayed Metrics: Probability of profit, break-even prices, max risk/reward, IV rank, earnings flag.

Recommendations & Cautions

  • Covered Calls: Recommended as a low-risk income strategy that does not add risk beyond owning the stock; ideal for beginners.

  • Selling Puts: Suggested for investors who want to buy stocks at a discount while generating income.

  • Earnings Flag: Use to avoid or selectively trade options around earnings announcements to manage event risk.

  • Liquidity Filters: Automatically exclude illiquid options to avoid wide bid-ask spreads and execution issues.

  • Risk Management: Users can customize risk tolerance and aggressiveness in selecting strike prices and expirations.

  • Time Savings: The tool reduces research time from hours to seconds, allowing focus on top-ranked trades only.

  • Not Financial Advice: The session is educational and not a solicitation or recommendation to trade.

Additional Features

  • Pre-built scans for trend following, counter-trend, outperformance, and underperformance.
  • Integration with StockCharts’ SharpCharts and ACP platforms.
  • Ability to build dynamic, scheduled scans that update daily.
  • Access to educational resources, FAQs, and support via StockCharts.
  • Historical session recordings and trade idea archives available.

Disclosures

  • The OptionsPlay tool is an add-on costing $40/month, separate from StockCharts subscriptions.
  • The content is for educational purposes only, not financial advice.
  • Users must have an active StockCharts subscription to add OptionsPlay.
  • The presenter emphasizes that the tool is designed to improve efficiency and confidence but does not guarantee profits.

Summary

Tony Zang demonstrates how the OptionsPlay Strategy Center integrated with StockCharts.com automates the discovery and ranking of optimal options trades across customized stock lists. By combining technical scans with options analytics, the tool filters illiquid options, ranks strategies by yield and risk/reward, and enables quick comparison of trade setups. It supports a range of strategies from covered calls and selling puts to credit spreads and iron condors, helping traders save hours of research and make more informed, confident options trades. The add-on costs $40/month and is designed to deliver value through time savings and income generation, especially via covered calls and put selling strategies.

Original video