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This is a high-risk, high-reward strategy. If the stock falls below your strike, you can be assigned 100 shares per contract. That’s why it’s best applied to companies you actually like and are comfortable holding. Think of it as the first step of the Wheel: sell the put, take assignment if it happens, then sell covered calls on the shares to generate more income. ([check out our Wheel Strategy article here]).
These 2 filters keep us in active chains where pricing is fair and slippage is manageable.
In other words, you should try to start with a situation in which most candidates will already lean in your favor, while still offering a meaningful premium.
You can also go for a small safety net is added, with Return > 1% and Annualized Return > 5%. In other words: you’re running a considerable risk, so make sure you collect a nice return here. If the annualized return of your risky operation is the same or even below the profit percentage you could get from a safer trade (e.g., bond market), why should you even bother taking this risk?
The upside is that you’ll often enter stocks you already wanted at a discount, with the ability to transition into covered calls and continue the Wheel.
This trade perfectly fits all your previously defined filters. It is expiring in 5 days, and your maximum profit would be $345 (so, you’re well above $50 in daily credit here, because $50 * 5 days = $250). Also, on our screener the fundamental, growth, and technical scores are respectively equal to 6, 7, and 10.
Is this a risky trade? Yes and no: it is risky because your losses are uncapped, but it looks like a relatively rational risk to run. If the stock price declines by 5% in a week, you still get out of it with a nice profit (we’re talking about the case highlighted in blue in the image above, which would give you a $204.50 profit). And, again, if you like MDB and you’re ok with being assigned 100 shares at $315 (your price strike), which is lower than the current $330.10, you could start the wheel strategy on this ticker.
In short, this is a risky but structured approach to generating high credit in a short timeframe on companies you’re happy to own.
Weekly Short Put Scan ($50/Day on Quality Stocks)
In this use case, we’ll show you how to set up a scan for selling weekly puts on quality companies with the chance to earn $50 of daily credit.
This is a high-risk, high-reward strategy. If the stock falls below your strike, you can be assigned 100 shares per contract. That’s why it’s best applied to companies you actually like and are comfortable holding. Think of it as the first step of the Wheel: sell the put, take assignment if it happens, then sell covered calls on the shares to generate more income. ([check out our Wheel Strategy article here]).
1. Focus on Fundamentals
Because this is a very risky strategy (you have capped profits vs uncapped loss, and you don’t have a lot of time to achieve your goal), you want to sell puts on companies worth owning.
That’s why the scan starts with Stock Scores: Fundamental > 6, Growth > 6, and Technical > 7. This narrows results to names with strong fundamentals and healthy momentum, so assignment doesn’t turn into dead money.
2. Keep It Liquid
Liquidity matters when selling weekly options. To ensure smooth execution and tight spreads, the scan requires Total Option Volume > 5,000 and Bid-Ask Spread < 50 cents, like this:
These 2 filters keep us in active chains where pricing is fair and slippage is manageable.
3. Set the Structure
The trade itself is a short put expiring this week. In your scan, you could go for Moneyness below stock price (OTM strikes, since these are puts) and a Probability of Expiring Worthless above 60%.
Why? First of all: you want to start with an edge over the market (i.e., be able to earn money even if the stock does nothing at all, not only if the price moves up). Also, and this is connected to the previous point, OTM puts often expire worthless, meaning you will get to keep the premium and reach your maximum profit if everything goes right.
In other words, you should try to start with a situation in which most candidates will already lean in your favor, while still offering a meaningful premium.
4. Target the Income
Here’s a very nice filter idea for you: Credit Per Day > $50. Option Samurai calculates this automatically, so you can quickly spot trades that deliver strong daily income potential.
You can also go for a small safety net is added, with Return > 1% and Annualized Return > 5%. In other words: you’re running a considerable risk, so make sure you collect a nice return here. If the annualized return of your risky operation is the same or even below the profit percentage you could get from a safer trade (e.g., bond market), why should you even bother taking this risk?
5. Manage the Risks
This scan deliberately excludes earnings by setting Earnings Date: After Expiration, since event gaps can overwhelm weekly trades. Still, risks remain. Assignments are common, and sharp declines can create big drawdowns.
The upside is that you’ll often enter stocks you already wanted at a discount, with the ability to transition into covered calls and continue the Wheel.
Putting It Together with An Example
Run the scan, sort by either Credit/Day or Probability of Expiring Worthless, and then dive deeper with Samurai’s Scenario Engine to test outcomes under different moves (e.g., -3%, -5%). The end result is a focused list of liquid, fundamentally strong stocks where you can earn $50+/day by selling weekly puts.
Take, for instance, this trade on MDB:
This trade perfectly fits all your previously defined filters. It is expiring in 5 days, and your maximum profit would be $345 (so, you’re well above $50 in daily credit here, because $50 * 5 days = $250). Also, on our screener the fundamental, growth, and technical scores are respectively equal to 6, 7, and 10.
Is this a risky trade? Yes and no: it is risky because your losses are uncapped, but it looks like a relatively rational risk to run. If the stock price declines by 5% in a week, you still get out of it with a nice profit (we’re talking about the case highlighted in blue in the image above, which would give you a $204.50 profit). And, again, if you like MDB and you’re ok with being assigned 100 shares at $315 (your price strike), which is lower than the current $330.10, you could start the wheel strategy on this ticker.
In short, this is a risky but structured approach to generating high credit in a short timeframe on companies you’re happy to own.
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