The goal wizard, walked through
Each goal card maps to a strategy, a default filter set, and three risk profiles. Here's exactly what you get from each one.
The Goals tab is the easiest place to start a scan. Each card is framed by intent and maps to a strategy + a defaults bundle + three risk dials. This article walks through every goal, explains the strategy it picks, and shows you the actual filter values behind the conservative / balanced / aggressive buttons so you know what you’re asking for.
Generate monthly income
Strategy: cash-secured put (the naked_putmodule — the name is a holdover from the API; you’re holding the cash, so it’s cash-secured in practice).
The thesis:sell out-of-the-money puts on names you’d be happy to own at the strike. If the stock stays above the strike at expiration, you keep the premium. If it doesn’t, you buy the stock at a discount and either hold it or start writing covered calls (“the wheel”).
Default filters (balanced):
| Filter | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
min_dte | 25 | At least 25 days to expiration. |
max_dte | 45 | No more than 45 days. The classic ~30 DTE income window. |
min_iv | 20% | Skip names with implied vol below 20% — there's no premium to collect. |
min_annualized_return | 15% | Drop trades whose annualized yield wouldn't beat a CD. |
min_delta | 0.20 | Floor on |delta|. Below this is essentially free money — and free premium. |
max_delta | 0.30 | Cap on |delta|. ~30 delta = ~70% probability stock stays above strike. |
Conservative tightens delta to 0.10–0.20 and bumps the DTE floor to 30. Aggressiveopens delta to 0.30–0.45, drops the DTE floor to 20, and demands a higher annualized return — you’re collecting more, but you’re also more likely to be assigned.
Bet on a big move
Strategy: long straddle. Buy the ATM call and the ATM put on the same expiration. Profit if the stock moves a lot in either direction; lose if it sits.
The thesis: realized vol is going to exceed implied vol over the holding period. Best in unusually quiet names where IV rank is low (cheap straddles) and you have a catalyst on the horizon (earnings, FDA decision, fed meeting).
Default filters (balanced) require min_dte=20, max_dte=60, and max_iv_rank=40— we’re actively looking for cheap volatility, not already-expensive volatility. Conservative pushes DTE out and IV rank cap down (more setup time, cheaper entry); aggressive does the opposite.
Bet on calm
Strategy: iron condor. Sell an OTM put spread + an OTM call spread on the same expiration. Profit if the stock stays inside the wings.
The thesis:the stock will stay range-bound through expiration. IV is currently elevated (so you’re paid well for selling premium) and there’s no obvious catalyst that would force a directional move.
| Filter | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
min_dte | 30 | Standard 30-50 DTE income window. |
max_dte | 50 | Past 50 DTE the theta decay is too slow. |
min_iv_rank | 30 | Skip low-IV-rank names — selling iron condors in a 10% IV rank environment is selling pennies in front of bulldozers. |
wing_width | 5 | $5 wide spreads on both sides — typical for liquid names with normal strike spacing. |
short_delta | 0.20 | Sell the ~20-delta strikes on each side. Roughly 80% probability the stock stays inside. |
min_credit | $1.00 | Floor on net credit — keeps the trade economically interesting after fees. |
Hedge what I own
Strategy: bear put spread. Buy a higher strike put, sell a lower strike put against it. Defined-risk downside protection at a fraction of the cost of a naked long put.
The thesis: you have significant long equity exposure and want to cap your downside without liquidating. The spread costs less than a naked put because the short leg pays for some of the long, but it also caps your insurance payout below the short strike. Pair it with a sold OTM call against your stock position to make a collar (zero or near-zero net cost).
Defaults: min_dte=30, max_dte=90, long delta around 0.30 (10% OTM-ish), short delta around 0.10 (deep OTM). Conservative buys closer to ATM and goes further out in time; aggressive buys cheaper, further OTM protection.
Trade an earnings event
Strategy: iron condor (short volatility into the print).
The thesis: implied vol balloons going into an earnings release as the market prices in the unknown. Sell premium right before the print, profit when IV collapses overnight regardless of which way the stock moves (provided it stays inside the wings).
Defaults are tight: min_dte=1, max_dte=14, earnings_within_days=5, min_iv_rank=50. The earnings filter only surfaces tickers reporting in the next 5 trading days, so the scan is naturally narrow even against a broad universe.
I have a thesis
Strategy: bull call spread (defaults). The wizard asks for direction (bullish / bearish), magnitude (a target % move), and timing (by when). It then picks a debit-spread structure that expresses that view efficiently — long delta around the at-the-money strike, short delta at the target.
When to use it:when you have an actual directional view and want to put on a defined-risk expression of it instead of buying naked calls or shorting naked. The defined risk is the entire point: even if you nail the timing wrong, you’ve already capped what you can lose at the debit paid.
Everything maps back to one filter object
Whichever goal you start from, the wizard ends up calling the same scan endpoint with a fully-populated filter object. You can see exactly what was sent by inspecting the chip bar after the scan runs — every chip is a key in the request. This means you can use Goals as a starting point and then tweak any individual filter without leaving the result page.
Where to go next
- The library catalog — pre-tuned scans you can use without going through a goal.
- Filter chips reference — every filter the engine recognizes, with defaults.
- How to choose a strategy — when one goal would work better than another.