What Is Options Sage?
Options Sage helps investors compare stocks and evaluate potential option strategies and contracts. Rather than beginning with an option contract alone, it first evaluates the underlying stock because an option derives much of its behavior from the underlying security.
Once a stock qualifies for a particular strategy, Options Sage can evaluate available option contracts to determine whether one satisfies the system's current requirements.
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Stock Candidate
- 2
Stock-Level Analysis
- 3
Potential Strategy
- 4
Option-Chain Analysis
- 5
Contract Requirements
- 6
Qualifying Contract or No Trade
Three Ways to Begin an Analysis
1 · Watchlist Analysis
Analyze a selected watchlist
Options Sage evaluates the stocks first and limits option-chain requests to the strongest candidates. Current watchlist analysis limits option-chain requests to the top 25 candidates; not every stock automatically receives one.
2 · Power Moves
Continue research on selected stocks
Stocks selected in Power Moves can be sent to Options Sage. Power Moves applies its own research framework; Options Sage then performs separate stock and option analysis. A strong Power Moves score does not guarantee an Options Sage trade.
3 · Individual Stock
Enter a ticker directly
The ticker may already be known to Stock Sage or may be another ticker for which valid stock information can be retrieved. Individual-stock analysis proceeds directly to the Options Sage analysis process.
Choosing a Mode
Auto (Best Strategy)
Auto mode allows Options Sage to evaluate the stock and determine which supported strategy, if any, receives the strongest support from available information. “Best Strategy” is the application's mode name. It does not guarantee the objectively best investment strategy; it means Options Sage compares supported strategies under its current analytical rules. The result can still be WAIT / No Trade.
Four supported approaches
The Four Option Strategies
Bullish Opportunities
Buy to Open Calls
Looks for strong upward momentum, technical confirmation, relative strength, and favorable valuation. If the stock qualifies, Options Sage searches for a qualifying call contract.
Buying a call generally reflects a bullish view because the buyer benefits when the stock rises sufficiently relative to the option's cost and other contract characteristics. The buyer pays a premium and can lose the premium paid.
Bearish Opportunities
Buy to Open Puts
Looks for meaningful weakness, bearish momentum, technical confirmation, and appropriate valuation. If the stock qualifies, Options Sage searches for a qualifying put contract.
A put can increase in value when the stock falls sufficiently, depending on time, volatility, and other factors. The buyer pays a premium and can lose it. The current Buy Put market scan limits option-chain analysis to the top 10 candidates.
Income Opportunities
Sell to Open Calls
Evaluates controlled or moderately bullish stocks using valuation, price behavior, and option quality for potential covered-call or buy-write opportunities. A covered call generally means selling a call against shares already owned; a buy-write generally combines acquiring shares with selling the call.
The Sell Call Position control distinguishes these situations. For a new buy-write, Options Sage favors lower historical-relative valuation to help reduce downside risk; for shares already owned, higher historical-relative valuation can strengthen a covered-call setup. Selling a call does not eliminate the substantial downside exposure of owning shares.
Value Entry Opportunities
Sell to Open Puts
Looks for fundamentally sound stocks trading at attractive valuations and near meaningful support, then evaluates put contracts for potential premium income and entry opportunities.
Selling a put creates an obligation to buy shares at the strike price if assignment occurs. It is not simply “collecting premium”; the investor must be willing and financially able to meet the contract's obligation. It is not risk-free income.
Stock-Level Analysis
Options Sage evaluates the stock before requesting or selecting an option contract. The Analysis Results area can include:
Stock Score
Summarizes how strongly available stock-level factors support the analyzed strategy under the current framework. This lesson does not define its formula.
Coverage
Shows how much of the expected analytical information was available for the stock analysis.
Confidence
Communicates strength or completeness under the framework. It is not the probability that a trade will make money.
Valuation Information
Options Sage can compare current valuation with historical-relative valuation information, providing context about whether present valuation is relatively low, high, or within the stock's own historical range. P/E alone is not sufficient reason to enter an option trade.
A complete analytical outcome
WAIT Is a Valid Result
Options Sage does not have to produce an option trade for every stock. A stock can receive WAIT, and the final result can be No Trade. Available evidence may not sufficiently support a strategy, or no suitable option contract may satisfy current requirements.
Finding no qualifying trade is information.
A research system that sometimes says No Trade is behaving differently from one designed merely to produce a trade every time.
From Stock Analysis to Contract Analysis
Once a stock qualifies for a strategy, Options Sage evaluates actual option contracts. A positive stock analysis does not automatically create a trade. The contract must also satisfy current rules involving factors such as expiration, liquidity, bid/ask spread, and Greek data.
The stock can look attractive for a strategy while its available option contracts remain unattractive. A stock-level opportunity should never be assumed to mean a suitable option trade exists.
Good Stock Setup
+
Qualifying Option Contract
=
Potential Options Sage Trade
Good Stock Setup
+
No Qualifying Contract
=
No Trade
Understanding Contract Information
| Contract Information | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Strike Price | The price specified in the option contract at which underlying shares may be bought or sold according to the option's terms. |
| Expiration Date | The date on which the option expires. |
| Days to Expiration (DTE) | The number of days remaining before expiration. |
| Bid | The highest currently displayed price a buyer is offering for the option. |
| Ask | The lowest currently displayed price a seller is asking for the option. |
| Midpoint | The price halfway between bid and ask. It is a useful reference, but it does not guarantee execution at that price. |
| Estimated Premium | One standard equity option contract generally represents 100 shares, so an estimated one-contract premium can be approximated as option price multiplied by 100. Actual execution price can differ. |
| Bid/Ask Spread | The difference between bid and ask, which is an important liquidity and transaction-quality consideration. |
| Volume | The number of option contracts traded during the applicable trading period. |
| Open Interest | The number of outstanding option contracts reported as open. |
| Implied Volatility | The option market's pricing of expected future variability. It is not a direct prediction of direction. |
Contract sensitivity
Understanding Option Greeks
The Greeks help describe how an option's theoretical value may respond to different variables. Options Sage displays Implied Volatility alongside contract information and Greeks.
Delta
Estimates how much the option's price may change for approximately a $1 move in the underlying stock, all else being equal. Call delta is generally positive; put delta is generally negative.
Gamma
Describes how much Delta may change as the underlying stock price changes.
Theta
Estimates the effect of time decay on an option's value, all else being equal. For an option buyer, time decay can work against the position as expiration approaches.
Vega
Estimates how sensitive an option's value is to changes in implied volatility.
Greeks describe option sensitivity. They do not predict the future.
Why Options Sage Selected a Trade
When a trade qualifies, the Recommendation tab can explain why the stock qualified, which factors supported the strategy, why the particular contract was selected, and relevant contract details such as strike, expiration, DTE, Delta, open interest, and other requirements.
Excellent
The factor provided very strong support for the strategy.
Great
The factor provided strong support for the strategy.
Good
The factor provided meaningful support for the strategy.
Fair / Weak / Poor
These factors provide less support and are not normally highlighted as the main reasons for a recommendation.
These words describe the amount of support a factor provided under the Options Sage analytical framework. They are not probabilities of success.
Review before action
Risk and Exit Planning
Options Sage includes a Risk section because selecting a trade is only part of options research. Investors should understand what could weaken the original thesis and what risks the position involves.
Options Sage can provide trade-specific guidance indicating when the stock's behavior may materially weaken the thesis. It can also suggest a time to reassess if the anticipated move has not developed and time decay is becoming more important. This guidance is specific to the analyzed setup, not a universal stop-loss rule.
Risk Review
- Confirm position size
- Review maximum possible loss
- Check days to expiration
- Review implied volatility
- Check bid/ask spread
- Review liquidity and open interest
- Check upcoming earnings
- Confirm the trade still fits the original thesis
Before considering potential profit, understand what can go wrong.
The Education Tab
Options Sage includes educational material explaining how it evaluates stocks, how contract qualification works, factor-rating terminology, and Buy Call, Buy Put, Sell Call, and Sell Put opportunities. Use the Education tab to understand why the application is evaluating an opportunity rather than simply reading the final result.
Trade Notes
The current Options Sage interface includes a Trade Notes area for recording observations about a selected stock or potential option trade. Account-connected saving is planned for a later backend step, so students should not rely on this area as permanent saved storage unless that functionality is subsequently enabled.
Fictional Options Sage Examples
Fictional educational examples—not real securities or recommendations.
ABC Technologies (ABCX)
Stock Price$100
Stock Score72
Preliminary StrategyBuy to Open Call
Coverage / Confidence100% / High
Suppose positive momentum, technical confirmation, favorable historical-relative valuation, and sufficient trading activity support the stock-level stage. If one call also satisfies current expiration, liquidity, spread, and Greek-data rules, Options Sage may present it for further research.
XYZ Industries (XYZI)
Preliminary StrategyWAIT
Final ResultNo Trade
XYZI may be a valid company, but current evidence may not sufficiently support an Options Sage strategy. The system is evaluating whether the current stock-and-contract combination meets its framework—not whether the company is “good” or “bad.”
From source to judgment
A Complete Options Sage Workflow
- 1
Choose the analysis source: Watchlist, Power Moves, or Individual Stock.
- 2
Select Auto (Best Strategy), Buy to Open Calls, Buy to Open Puts, Sell to Open Calls, or Sell to Open Puts.
- 3
Run the analysis.
- 4
Review the stock-level results.
- 5
Examine Preliminary Strategy, Stock Score, Coverage, and Confidence.
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Determine whether Options Sage found a qualifying strategy.
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If appropriate, review the selected option contract.
- 8
Examine expiration, DTE, bid/ask spread, volume, open interest, implied volatility, and Greeks.
- 9
Read the Recommendation explanation.
- 10
Review the Risk section and exit or reassessment guidance.
- 11
Consider upcoming earnings and whether the trade still fits the original thesis.
- 12
Make your own decision about whether additional research or action is appropriate.
Options Sage narrows and organizes options research. It does not remove the investor's responsibility to understand the trade.
Knowledge Check
Choose an answer for each question, then check your response.