James Chen, CMT is an expert trader, investment adviser, and global market strategist. Samantha (Sam) Silberstein, CFP®, CSLP®, EA, is an experienced financial consultant. She has a demonstrated ...

A debit spread is an options strategy that involves the purchase and sale of the same class of options with the same expiration date but different strike prices. Right now, this may sound confusing, ...

What Is a Butterfly Spread? When markets are volatile, experienced investors may seek to profit by adopting a complex option strategy like butterfly spreads. By using these strategies, investors can ...

With markets in crisis, it’s a good time to check in on our bear put spread screener. A bear put spread is a vertical spread ...

In simple terms, a spread is an option strategy, or position, that is composed of both long option contracts and short option contracts on the same underlying security (or index). The two sides of the ...

First, the Expected Move. The Expected Move is the amount that options traders believe a stock price will move up or down. It can serve as a quick way to see where real-money option traders are ...

Spread trading is a common tactic when dealing with options, and there are many spread strategies designed to pursue profit while mitigating risk. At the nexus of these strategies is the box spread. A ...

A put ratio spread is an advanced option trade and generally not suitable for beginners, but it can have its place within an option portfolio. It is generally considered a neutral strategy, although ...

Lucas Downey is the co-founder of MoneyFlows, and an Investopedia Academy instructor. Vikki Velasquez is a researcher and writer who has managed, coordinated, and directed various community and ...

What Are Vertical Debit Spreads? And Why Use Them? Besides answering these questions, this article will also help you understand why you should use a spread instead of a call or put. This article will ...