What is the wheel strategy?

The wheel is an options income strategy that cycles between selling cash-secured puts (CSPs) and covered calls (CCs) on stocks you'd be happy to own. You collect premium on every leg — whether the stock goes up, down, or sideways.

How many stocks does OptyTrades analyze?

We scan 8,000+ US stocks from all 16 exchanges via the SIP consolidated feed — covering the full market. After filtering for options availability, price, volume, and market cap, typically 1,000-1,200 stocks qualify.

What makes your entry signals different?

Most screeners use 2-3 indicators. Our signals combine 7 dimensions: RSI, SMA position, Bollinger Bands, drawdown, volume confirmation, swing-point trend regime analysis, and support/resistance proximity. We also factor in the broader market health.

Do I need a large account to use the wheel?

No. We show capital required for every recommendation, and you can filter by share price. Many stocks in the $10-$25 range only require $1,000-$2,500 per contract — making the wheel accessible for accounts of all sizes.

What's included in the free tier?

The full screener table with Wheel Scores, sorting, filtering, and basic stock detail views. No time limit, no credit card required. Pro unlocks entry signals, strike recommendations, Options Grades, trend/S/R analysis, the Trade Journal, and watchlists.

The Screener & Filters — OptyTrades Guide

02The Screener

The screener is the main tool. It scans the market and presents you with a ranked table of stocks scored for the wheel strategy. Open the Screener and you'll see the market health banner, filters, and a ranked table of stocks — all in one view.

The OptyTrades screener showing market health banner, filters, and ranked stocks — The full screener view — market health at top, filters in the middle, and ranked stocks below.

What each column means

Column	What it shows
	Click the star to add/remove a stock from your watchlist
Score	Wheel Score (0–100%) — how well the stock fits the wheel strategy. Based on 8 fundamental factors. Green = strong, amber = decent, red = weak.
Ticker	The stock symbol and company name. Click to open the detail view.
Price	Current market price.
Chg	Today’s price change in dollars and percent. Green = up, red = down.
Yield	Annual dividend yield. A nice bonus when you get assigned shares. Not required for the wheel, but adds income.
Volume	Average daily trading volume. Higher volume = tighter option spreads and easier fills.
Cap	Market capitalization (total company value).
P/E	Price-to-earnings ratio. Lower = cheaper relative to earnings.
IV	ATM implied volatility — how much premium is baked into the options. Higher IV means richer premiums when selling puts or calls. A color-coded badge appears next to the value: MED (20–40%, amber), HIGH (40–60%, orange), or ULTRA (60%+, pink glow). ULTRA stocks offer massive premiums but carry matching risk — the badge helps you spot premium monsters at a glance.
IV Rank	How the stock’s current IV compares to its own historical volatility (IV/HV ratio). Higher IV Rank means premiums are richer than usual — you’re being overpaid relative to how much the stock actually moves. Green (50%+) = rich premiums, amber (30–50%) = moderate, grey (<30%) = cheap. A stock can have ULTRA premium badges (high absolute IV) but low IV Rank if the stock genuinely moves that much.
Earnings	Next earnings report date. Color-coded: red (≤2 weeks — high risk), yellow (2–6 weeks — caution), green (>6 weeks — safe). Avoid selling puts that expire after an upcoming earnings date.
Sector	The company’s business sector (Tech, Healthcare, etc.).

Notice the IV badges next to the implied volatility values — they make it easy to spot high-premium stocks at a glance.

Sorting the table

Click any column header to sort. Click again to reverse the order. A small arrow icon shows the current sort direction. By default, stocks are sorted by score with the highest first.

Screener table sorted ascending by Score, showing lowest-scoring stocks first — Click any column header to sort — here the table is sorted by Score ascending (lowest first).

Tip: Sort by “IV” to find stocks with the richest option premiums, or sort by “Yield” to find dividend-paying wheel candidates. If you have a smaller account, sort by “Price” to find affordable stocks.

Market Health Banner

At the top of the screener, the Market Health banner shows the current regime for the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones. Each index is classified using EMA Ribbon logic — five exponential moving averages (8, 13, 21, 34, 55) are checked for stacking order:

📈 Bull— EMAs are stacked short-on-top (fast above slow). The broader market is in an uptrend. CSP signals can be trusted — pullbacks are more likely to be buying opportunities.
⚠️ Caution— EMAs are mixed or crossing. Market is uncertain. Consider tightening your deltas (more conservative strikes).
📉 Bear— EMAs are stacked long-on-top (slow above fast). The broader market is in a downtrend. Be cautious with CSPs — covered calls may be the better strategy.

The Bias badge on the right summarizes the overall market posture: “CSPs Favored” when both indices are bullish, “CCs Favored — Caution on CSPs” when both are bearish, and “Mixed — Tighten Deltas” in between. This is a soft influence — it doesn't override individual stock analysis, but it helps you calibrate your overall aggression.

03Using filters

The filter bar at the top of the screener lets you narrow results to stocks that match your specific criteria.

Filter bar showing Min Price, Max Price, Volume, Score, IV, IV Rank, Show, Apply, and Reset controls — Use filters to narrow the screener to stocks that match your account size and strategy.

Filter	What it does	When to use it
Min / Max Price	Only show stocks within a price range (default: $5–$500)	Set based on your account size. If you have $25K, you probably don’t want $400 stocks (that’s $40K per contract).
Volume	Minimum average daily volume (default: 1M+)	Keep at 1M+ unless you have a specific low-volume stock in mind. Lower volume = wider option spreads.
Min Score	Only show stocks scoring above a threshold (default: 50+)	Set to 60+ or 70+ to focus on the strongest candidates.
IV	Filter by minimum implied volatility (default: Any)	Set to 40%+ or 60%+ to find stocks with fat option premiums. Great for targeting high-income wheel candidates regardless of IV Rank.
IV Rank	Filter by minimum IV Rank (default: Any)	Set to 50%+ to find stocks where premiums are richer than usual. Combine with the IV filter — e.g., IV 40%+ and IV Rank 50%+ finds stocks with both strong absolute premium and relative richness.
Sector	Filter to a specific sector (Tech, Healthcare, etc.)	Use when you want to diversify or avoid overexposure to one sector.
Show	How many stocks to display (50 / 100 / 200 / 500 / All)	Start with Best 50 to focus on the cream of the crop. Expand if you want to explore more.

Click Apply to apply your filters, or Reset to go back to defaults.

Below the main filters, you'll find the quick filter bar with your Watchlist selector, Sector dropdown, and the Symbol search field for looking up any ticker directly.

Quick filter bar showing Watchlist selector, Sector dropdown, and Symbol search field — Switch between watchlists, filter by sector, or search for any ticker.

Tip: Your filter settings are saved automatically and remembered when you come back. If you use watchlists, each watchlist remembers its own filter settings independently — so you can have different filters for your “High Yield” list vs. your “Tech Picks” list.

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