Options strategies

One page per structure. Each opens with a generated fact box — outlook, family, number of legs, net debit or credit, defined or undefined risk — followed by plain-language sections on the payoff, the behaviour before expiration, the Greeks, and the ways the position goes wrong.

The facts and the diagrams come from Option Panel’s own catalogue and pricing code, so the reference strikes shown on a page are the ones the application’s strategy builder would resolve for a textbook chain.

Reading a page

Strike letters run A < B < C < D from the lowest to the highest, the same labels the builder uses, so a page and the application describe the same leg with the same name.

Two payoff curves appear on most pages. The straight-edged one is the value at expiration, where an option is worth only its intrinsic value. The curved one is the value today, which is what your position is actually worth while time and volatility still have a price.

The catalogue

Every one of the 36 strategies the builder offers has a page here.

Basic

• Long Call

  Bullish Debit 1 leg

  A single bought call: the loss is capped at the premium paid, and the gain grows as the underlying rises above the strike.

• Long Put

  Bearish Debit 1 leg

  A single bought put: the loss is capped at the premium paid, and the gain grows as the underlying falls below the strike.

• Long Stock

  Bullish Debit 1 leg

  Shares owned outright: the position gains one for one as the share price rises and loses the same way as it falls.

• Short Call

  Bearish Credit 1 leg

  A single sold call: the credit received is the most that can be gained, and the loss grows without a cap as the underlying rises.

• Short Put

  Bullish Credit 1 leg

  A single sold put: the credit received is the most that can be gained, and the loss grows as the underlying falls toward zero.

• Short Stock

  Bearish Credit 1 leg

  Shares sold short: the position gains as the share price falls, and the loss grows without a cap as the price rises.

Directional

• Long Guts

  Volatility Debit 2 legs

  An in-the-money put and an in-the-money call bought in the same expiration: the strikes are crossed, so both legs open carrying intrinsic value.

• Long Straddle

  Volatility Debit 2 legs

  A put and a call bought at the same strike: the debit is the most that can be lost, and the position gains on a large move in either direction.

• Long Strangle

  Volatility Debit 2 legs

  An out-of-the-money put and an out-of-the-money call bought in the same expiration: cheaper than a straddle, and it needs a larger move before it pays.

• Short Guts

  Neutral Credit 2 legs

  An in-the-money put and an in-the-money call sold in the same expiration: the crossed strikes take in a credit that already includes intrinsic value.

• Short Straddle

  Neutral Credit 2 legs

  A put and a call sold at the same strike: the credit is the most that can be gained, and the loss grows without a cap in both directions.

• Short Strangle

  Neutral Credit 2 legs

  An out-of-the-money put and an out-of-the-money call sold in the same expiration: a wider range than a short straddle in exchange for a smaller credit.

Debit Spread

• Bear Put Spread

  Bearish Debit 2 legs

  A put bought with a lower put sold in the same expiration: it opens for a debit and gains as the underlying falls, with both the gain and the loss capped.

• Bull Call Spread

  Bullish Debit 2 legs

  A call bought with a higher call sold in the same expiration: it opens for a debit and gains as the underlying rises, with both the gain and the loss capped.

Credit Spread

• Bear Call Spread

  Bearish Credit 2 legs

  A call sold with a higher call bought in the same expiration: it opens for a credit, kept in full while the underlying stays below the short strike, with the loss capped.

• Bull Put Spread

  Bullish Credit 2 legs

  A put sold with a lower put bought in the same expiration: it opens for a credit, kept in full while the underlying stays above the short strike, with the loss capped.

Income

• Collar

  Neutral Debit 3 legs

  Shares held between a bought put and a written call: the put sets a floor, the call caps the gain, and the credit from the call pays for part of the put.

• Covered Call

  Bullish Debit 2 legs

  Shares held with a call written against them: the credit adds to the return while the share price stays below the strike, and any gain above it is given up.

• Protective Put

  Bullish Debit 2 legs

  Shares held with a put bought against them: the put sets a floor under the share price, and its premium is what that floor costs.

Neutral

• Inverse Iron Butterfly

  Volatility Debit 4 legs

  A long straddle with both wings sold: it opens for a debit and gains when the underlying moves away from the body strike, up to the width of a wing.

• Inverse Iron Condor

  Volatility Debit 4 legs

  A long put spread and a long call spread in the same expiration: it opens for a debit and gains when the underlying leaves the range between the two long strikes.

• Iron Butterfly

  Neutral Credit 4 legs

  A short straddle with both wings bought: it opens for a credit that is kept in full only if the underlying finishes at the body strike, and the wings cap the loss.

• Iron Condor

  Neutral Credit 4 legs

  A short put spread and a short call spread in the same expiration: it opens for a credit and keeps it while the underlying stays between the two short strikes.

Combination

• Jade Lizard

  Neutral Credit 3 legs

  A put sold below a sold call spread: when the credit taken in is larger than the width of the call spread, the structure carries no loss above the strikes.

• Reverse Jade Lizard

  Neutral Credit 3 legs

  A call sold above a sold put spread: the mirror of the jade lizard, with the uncovered leg on the upside and the defined spread below.

Ratio

• Call Broken Wing Butterfly

  Bearish Credit or debit 3 legs

  A call butterfly with unequal wings: the wider wing moves where the risk sits, and the structure can open for a credit instead of a debit.

• Call Butterfly

  Neutral Debit 3 legs

  Two calls sold at the middle strike against one bought above and one below, evenly spaced: a debit structure whose gain peaks if the underlying finishes at the middle strike.

• Put Broken Wing Butterfly

  Bullish Credit or debit 3 legs

  A put butterfly with unequal wings: the wider wing moves where the risk sits, and the structure can open for a credit instead of a debit.

• Put Butterfly

  Neutral Debit 3 legs

  Two puts sold at the middle strike against one bought above and one below, evenly spaced: a debit structure whose gain peaks if the underlying finishes at the middle strike.

• Short Call Butterfly

  Volatility Credit 3 legs

  Two calls bought at the middle strike against one sold above and one below: a credit structure that keeps the credit when the underlying finishes outside the wings.

• Short Put Butterfly

  Volatility Credit 3 legs

  Two puts bought at the middle strike against one sold above and one below: a credit structure that keeps the credit when the underlying finishes outside the wings.

Calendar

• Call Calendar Spread

  Neutral Debit 2 legs

  A near call sold and a far call bought at the same strike: the position gains from the faster time decay of the near contract while the underlying stays close to the strike.

• Put Calendar Spread

  Neutral Debit 2 legs

  A near put sold and a far put bought at the same strike: the position gains from the faster time decay of the near contract while the underlying stays close to the strike.

Diagonal

• Call Diagonal Spread

  Bullish Debit 2 legs

  A near call sold against a further-dated call bought at a lower strike: the long contract stands in for the shares, and the short one is written against it.

• Double Diagonal

  Neutral Debit 4 legs

  A near strangle sold against a wider far-dated strangle bought: two diagonals at once, one on each side of the underlying.

• Put Diagonal Spread

  Bearish Debit 2 legs

  A near put sold against a further-dated put bought at a higher strike: the long contract stands in for a short share position, and the near one is written against it.