Tradability first
Minimum open interest and volume, fresh quotes, and bid–ask spreads under 12%.
THE PUTSEEKER METHOD
Yield is only useful
when the risk makes sense.
We do not rank by premium alone. Every contract must clear strict liquidity and risk gates before its yield enters the conversation.
Four hard gates turn thousands of contracts into a short, auditable list.
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Defined risk window
21–45 days to expiry and 0.15–0.30 absolute delta. No heroic forecasts required.
Event-aware by default
Earnings before expiration are removed, then collateral requirements are checked.
Volatility-aware scoring
Expected move and Greeks separate genuinely compensated risk from premium that is high for a dangerous reason.
HOW THE SCORE WORKS
Hard gates first.
Weighted score second.
A high premium cannot rescue a contract that fails a risk gate. Only qualified contracts receive a volatility-aware 0–100 PutSeeker Score.
STEP 01
Qualification gates
Fail one, and the contract is removed before ranking.
21–45 DTE0.15–0.30 |Delta|OI ≥ 500Volume ≥ 50Spread ≤ 12%Quote age ≤ 96hNo earnings before expiryWithin $500K collateral
Volatility safety
Compares the bid-adjusted breakeven distance with the option market's implied move.
Buffer ÷ IV-implied expected move for the contract's exact DTE
Downside buffer
Measures the absolute room from spot price to breakeven.
Normalized from 5% to 20%, then capped at 0–100
Execution quality
Rewards contracts that are more likely to trade near a visible price.
Spread quality 45% · open interest 35% · volume 20%
Greeks stability
Penalizes higher assignment sensitivity and larger gamma or vega stress.
Delta 40% · stressed gamma 35% · stressed vega 25%
Income efficiency
Uses the bid and asks how much annualized income is earned per unit of implied volatility.
High IV alone never earns a higher score
PUTSEEKER SCORE V225% VOL SAFETY + 20% BUFFER + 20% EXECUTION + 20% GREEKS + 15% INCOME
The score uses current IV and Greeks. Historical IV percentile, realized volatility, and company-quality scoring require additional history and are not represented yet. It is not probability of profit or a recommendation.
HOW TO READ 0–10050 is the model midpoint.
50 is the model midpoint.
It is not a failing grade.
Every ranked contract has already passed the hard gates. The score measures how strongly it clears the calibrated ranges above. It is an absolute risk-compensation score—not probability of profit and not a percentile ranking.
Qualified, but compensation is weak or risk sensitivity remains high.
Mixed trade-offs. Worth review only when the underlying thesis is strong.
Multiple dimensions offer above-midpoint risk compensation.
Unusually attractive across most factors; expected to be uncommon.
Near the upper calibration anchors across almost every component.
CURRENT QUALIFIED TOP 2040.9—54.8
Median 49.8 · These values change with each market snapshot.