Market Analysis, Personal Finance Tips & Economic Insights
Popular

Key Points

  • Put credit spreads will credit your account the max gain up front.
  • Put credit spreads are comprised of 2 legs, a short put and a long put, at a lower price.
  • Put credit spread benefit from Theta or time decay, whereas Theta erodes call debit spreads.
  • 5 stocks we like better than Intel

If you are bullish on any optionable stock in any stock sector, you can play any number of options trades. The easiest directional strategy is to buy a call option. However, you will fight time whenever you own a long call option since the Theta (time decay) works against you. Even if the underlying stock remains flat, the option loses money incrementally every day by the Theta value. You also have the chance of losing 100% of your investment if the stock closes below its strike price on expiration.  

Naked put strategy

You could consider a naked put strategy, also known as selling or shorting a put. While this bullish directional trade can reap upside profits and is Theta friendly as you profit on the time decay, the risk of being assigned if the stock closes under the strike price can be costly. Unless you want to own the stock at the selected strike price. Additionally, most brokers require higher options authorization approval to qualify to trade naked puts.

Call debit spread strategy

Consider a call debit spread strategy where you simultaneously buy a call option and sell/short a higher strike price call option. It’s called a debit spread because you pay the premium difference between long and short-call option prices. This enables you to pay less for the long directional position than just buying the calls. However, your upside is capped up to the higher strike price of the short-call option. In exchange, your downside is also limited to the cost of the spread, which is still less than losing 100% of the long call option. Theta is not your friend on debit spreads. Debit spreads are preferred when the implied volatility (IV) is low.

Put credit spread strategy

Another option strategy is called a put credit spread, also known as a bull put credit spread or a short put spread. This is similar to the debit spread strategy but with some variations. In this trade, you would simultaneously sell a put at a strike price that you feel is a support level and buy a put at a lower strike price. It’s called a credit spread because it pays you the premium first, meaning you receive a credit up front.

The maximum profit is the credit premium you receive. You keep the net credit premium if the stock stays above the higher strike price on expiration.

Theta is your friend on put credit spreads because when you sell puts, you are the one collecting on the time decay. Credit spreads are favorable when implied volatility (IV) is high. The max loss is hit if the underlying stocks fall under the lower long put strike price level. Your loss would be the difference between the put strike prices minus the premium received. The benefit of a credit spread is that you get paid your max gain up front versus a debit spread where you pay to max loss up front to acquire the spread.

Putting on the trade

Let’s use Intel Co. NASDAQ: INTC on the daily candlestick chart.

 

INTC is trading at $42.85 on February 27, 2024. The $45.28 has been a gap-fill resistance level as it gapped down on its Q4 2023 earnings miss and lowered guidance. There are two relatively strong support levels at $41.38 and $39.00. The daily relative strength index (RSI) is starting to lose steam again sliding down towards the 40-band. If we feel bullish on INTC, then we can consider a put credit spread around the support levels to collect premiums.

 

Possible outcomes

Upon expiration, if INTC closes at $41.00 or higher, then we keep the 47-cent premium x 100 shares for a $47 profit. The $41 represents the highest strike price. There is a 70% probability of a profit. This is a 30.7% max return on the risk.

If INTC closes at $40.53, the trade is breakeven.   

IF INTC closes below $39.00, then we would lose the difference between the strikes of $2.00 minus the 47-cent premium received for a max loss of $1.53 or $153.00. The $39 represents the lowest put strike price.

Managing the trade

As with all options trades, you aren’t required to hold through expiration. At any point, you can make adjustments or close out the position. Since it’s a credit spread, the position gains daily from the time decay. The trade is profitable if INTC trades between $40.54 or higher with a max profit above $41.00. The trade loses money when INTC trades below $40.53, with max loss triggering under $39.00. We will cover ways to mitigate losses in future options articles.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street’s top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on… and Intel wasn’t on the list.

While Intel currently has a “Hold” rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

MarketBeat has just released its list of 20 stocks that Wall Street analysts hate. These companies may appear to have good fundamentals, but top analysts smell something seriously rotten. Are any of these companies lurking around your portfolio? Find out by clicking the link below.

Get This Free Report

Share this article
Shareable URL
Prev Post
Next Post
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Read next
Wall Street analysts tend to hide whenever stock markets selloff, as the S&P 500 and NASDAQ did at the…
Key Points In falling stock markets and weak economic climates, the term “consumer staples” became…
Key Points Specialty retailer Abercrombie & Fitch raised its Q4, and full-year 2023 net sales and operating…
Key Points Stocks drifted lower to end the week as investors digested the latest readings on inflation.  …