Options Value Calc

Access: Free (signed in) and Pro
Path: /options-value

Options Value Calc is a visual multi-leg strategy builder. You seed a named book from a catalog of listed-contract strategies (Novice through Expert), reshape it on expiration and strike rulers, and read a live payoff chart (or a spot-by-date table) valued at a date you choose. Share quantity lives next to the strategy name, not on the strike ruler, so a covered call includes stock in P&L without a fake equity flag.

Without an account you can read the feature overview. Sign in on Free or Pro to use the live builder.

What it shows

The page is a working book: option legs plus optional shares on one underlying. Live mid quotes (then last, then theoretical) drive debit or credit, max profit, max loss, estimated margin, chance of profit, and breakevens as you edit.

The chart values every leg at the Date slider. Drag it to the right for expiration P&L on the nearest date still in the strategy. Drag it toward today to keep time value. A calendar is a tent while the back month still has premium; a long call at expiration is a straight line.

Athena can build or compare the same catalog strategies with the same strike rules.

Page layout

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Strategy button (pinned name / Custom) · 20Δ · Smart Range · equity · Hint │
│ Expiration bar (month-grouped listed dates)                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Strike ruler: call volume above, put volume below           │
│ Option flags (buys above the axis, sells below)             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Metrics: debit/credit, ROIC, max P/L, margin, POP, B/E      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Graph (payoff curve) or Table (spot × date heatmap)         │
│ P&L $ · P&L % · Contract Value · % of Collateral · More     │
│ Date / Range / IV sliders                                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The strategy button opens the catalog, grouped by experience: Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert. Its label is the pinned catalog name, Custom when you built the book yourself, or Strategies when the ruler is empty. Hover a name in the catalog for a short description and a payoff sketch; click it to load matching listed contracts (and shares when the structure needs them).

The button shows a catalog name only while that strategy is still pinned. Adding, removing, excluding, or switching a leg leaves Custom, even if the remaining flags still look like a named structure.

20Δ and Smart Range appear when a catalog strategy is pinned. They re-seed the current named structure on a new strike band without changing the geometry.

The equity chip appears when the book uses shares (covered call, collar, protective put, and similar). Click it for share quantity, fill price, exclude, flip buy/sell, or remove.

Hint lists ruler gestures.

Default book

The page opens with a covered call: 100 shares plus a short call on the nearest expiration, parked on the expected-move strike (about 20 delta if ATM IV is missing). Refresh keeps the working book. Changing the ticker starts a new covered call.

Until you place the call yourself, picking another date re-seeds that short for the new DTE. After you drag, change quantity, or edit a flag, the date bar only moves dates.

Strategy catalog

Open Strategies to seed a named book from listed contracts. Credit / short-premium structures land shorts on the expected-move IV band (or about 20 delta if IV is missing). Debit and ATM-centered structures stay tight to spot plus listed-strike steps.

Calendars and diagonals need a second listed expiration. If the chain has only one date, those rows will not apply.

Novice

Intermediate

Credit spreads

Neutral / pin

Calendars

Debit spreads

Wants a move

Other

Advanced

Naked / undefined risk

Condors and ratios

Income overlays

Expert

Where strikes land

Every catalog id is either credit-band or ATM-listed.

Credit-band (income / short-premium) places shorts on the expected-move IV band for the working expiration, then builds wings in listed-strike steps. If ATM IV is missing, shorts fall back to about 20 delta. If those anchors would meet or cross, the builder tries the next rung rather than stacking a one-strike “strangle.”

Credit-band structures: covered call, cash-secured put, short call, short put, bear call spread, bull put spread, iron condor, short strangle, covered short strangle, jade lizard, reverse jade lizard, collar.

ATM-listed structures (debit verticals, butterflies, calendars, straddles, synthetics, and the rest) stay at ATM plus listed steps. They do not jump out to the expected-move band on apply.

Units are listed strikes, not equal dollars. A two-step wing on SPY is not the same width as a two-step wing on a $20 name.

20Δ and Smart Range

When a named catalog book is live, 20Δ and Smart Range re-seed it.

20Δ (and the other delta presets: 10Δ, 16Δ, 20Δ, 30Δ, 40Δ, 50Δ) parks shorts on that delta. Farther delta is farther OTM and usually less credit.

Smart Range offers four bands, snapped to listed strikes:

Use 20Δ or Smart Range after you load an iron condor or covered call to park the shorts on a further (or tighter) band without rebuilding the book by hand.

Expiration bar

Dates are grouped by month. Click a date to set the working expiration.

• An untouched catalog seed re-places strikes for that DTE.
• After you drag, change quantity, or edit a flag, the date bar only moves dates and keeps strikes.
• A named single-date book you have already placed moves every flag to the clicked date and keeps strikes.
• A calendar or diagonal walks both dates and keeps the listed-expiration gap. If the back date would run off the chain, the click is rejected.

Changing expiration in a flag popup uses the same family rules as the date bar.

Strike ruler

Call volume sits above the axis; put volume sits below, for the selected expiration.

• Right-click (or long-press) a strike to buy or sell a call or put on the working date.
• Left-click empty space to center the ruler.
• Drag empty space to pan.
• Drag a flag sideways to change strike. After you load a named strategy from Strategies, the rest of the family moves with it in listed-strike steps. Legs you add yourself never bind.
• Shift-drag a flag (or hold, then drag on a phone) slides the whole named book along the strikes without changing widths. It snaps to listed strikes and will not stack a duplicate call or put on the same date.

Buys sit above the ruler; sells sit below. Call flags use bull color; put flags use bear color. The date badge matches the expiration color on the bar, so a calendar can show two dates at once.

Family-preserving edits

While a catalog strategy is pinned (you loaded it from Strategies and have not left the family), strike, quantity, and date edits keep the geometry you meant — not only the label. A matching fingerprint without a pin is Custom: each flag moves alone.

Examples:

• Iron condor: drag a short to move both shorts in or out together; drag a wing to resize both wings.
• Vertical: drag the short to shift both legs; drag the long to change width.
• Butterfly: drag the body to shift all three strikes; a wing matches the other wing (1-2-1 qty stays).
• Ratio: qty stays 1x2 when you scale from one flag.
• Long combo / strangle: drag one right; the other strike stays. Quantity still scales the pair.

Quantity on one flag scales a named book: equal-leg structures share one lot count, ratios stay 1x2, butterflies stay 1-2-1, and covered calls move share qty with the lots (1 lot ↔ 100 shares).

A proposed family move that would change the catalog identity (for example collapsing an iron condor to a fly, or stacking two calls on one strike) is rejected. The flag stays on the last valid snap.

Custom books

Exclude, add, remove, switch call/put, or flip buy/sell leave the family. The name becomes Custom, and further strike drags move only that flag — even if the book still looks like an iron condor or combo.

Click a flag for:

• Quantity
• Live quote and greeks
• View Stats — the same Option Stats modal used on the chain (volume and bid/ask history)
• Switch call/put
• Change expiration
• Exclude (keeps the flag but drops it from P&L; excluding a pinned book leaves Custom)
• Remove

Click the equity chip for share quantity, fill price, exclude, flip buy/sell, or remove. Share price starts at live spot; edit it to set a cost basis. Shares appear for stock-using structures or leftover share qty after you strip a covered call.

Metrics

Shown after the book has quotes:

Graph, table, and sliders

Switch Graph for the payoff curve, or Table for a spot-by-date heatmap.

Display metrics apply to both views:

• P&L $
• P&L %
• Contract Value
• % of Collateral — collateral is max loss when it is finite, otherwise premium or stock
• More — delta, theta, gamma, vega, and rho for the same views

Date (Graph only): right = nearest expiration still in the strategy; left = toward today, keeping time value.

Range: zooms both views in percent around spot. The crosshair on Range opens a target-spot field; set a price to mark it on the chart and table, and Range expands to include it.

IV: scales live implied volatility. ×1 is live; the reset button returns there. Remaining legs use each contract’s live IV, scaled by this slider.

Hover the chart for the selected metric at a price.

How P&L is calculated

• The book is valued at the date on the Date slider.
• At that expiration, front-month legs go to intrinsic.
• Remaining (later) legs keep Black-Scholes time value using each contract’s live IV, scaled by the IV slider.
• Entry uses live mid, then last, then theoretical.
• Net credit or debit is option premium only.
• Share P&L uses the fill in the equity popup (live spot until you edit it) and is included in the payoff and max loss, not the credit card.

This is why a long call at expiration is a hockey stick, and a calendar at the front date is a tent: the short is gone to intrinsic while the back month still has premium.

Athena

Ask Athena to build or compare a named catalog strategy. She uses the same seed rules as Strategies (credit-band vs ATM-listed, listed-strike wings, calendar gap). get_options_strategy returns compact JSON for discussion; it does not write flags to your ruler unless you apply a catalog row yourself.

If you already have a live book, Athena sees those legs and metrics. Ask her about this iron condor, or to compare it with a jade lizard, without rebuilding by hand.

Persistence

The working book survives a refresh. Changing the ticker starts a new covered call. A saved-trade library is not in this version.

Use cases

Covered call on a name you own

1. Open /options-value on the ticker. You already have 100 shares and a short call on the nearest date.
2. Click 20Δ or Smart Range → IV to park the call farther OTM.
3. Walk dates until the credit and DTE fit. After you place the strike, dates move and the strike stays.
4. Set a cost basis on the equity chip if your fill is not live spot.
5. Drag Date left to see P&L before expiration if you plan to roll.

Iron condor for a range-bound week

1. Strategies → Iron Condor. Shorts sit on the expected-move band; wings are listed-strike steps.
2. Drag a short to move both shorts in (more credit, narrower) or out (wider, less credit).
3. Drag a wing to resize both wings together.
4. Shift-drag any flag to slide the whole condor along the chain without changing widths.
5. Switch Table and % of Collateral to see how the credit holds up across spots and dates.

Calendar around a known date

1. Strategies → Calendar Call Spread. Front short and back long land on the same strike.
2. The chart at the front expiration is a tent: the short is intrinsic, the back call still has time value.
3. Click a later front date; the pair walks and keeps the listed-expiration gap.
4. Drag IV up to see vega: calendars are long the back month.

Hedge a long stock book

1. Seed Protective Put or Collar.
2. Edit the equity fill to your cost basis.
3. Use Max Loss and the Date slider to size the floor vs the remaining upside (collar) or vs the put debit (protective put).

Custom overlay

1. Seed a covered call.
2. Right-click a lower strike and sell a put (covered short strangle), or exclude the shares to see the naked short call’s estimated margin.
3. Exclude, add, or switch leaves Custom — family drag no longer links the flags.

Tips

• Start from Strategies instead of building four-leg books by hand. Family drag only links while that catalog strategy is still pinned.
• Credit structures want the expected-move band; if the shorts look too tight, hit 20Δ or Smart Range rather than guessing.
• Shift-drag (hold-then-drag on a phone) is the way to slide an iron condor or vertical without accidentally changing width.
• Exclude a wing to see the undefined-risk version of a defined-risk book, then put it back. Estimated margin appears only for uncovered shorts.
• Graph + Date slider answers “what if I am still in this before expiration.” Table answers “how does this look across spots and dates.”
• Chance of profit is a risk-neutral lognormal estimate, not a historical win rate. Compare it with Price Distribution and Key Levels before you treat it as a forecast.

Related tools

• Options Chain — pull live quotes and open Option Stats on a single contract
• Strike Selector — rank income strikes with weekly distribution, max pain, and gamma walls
• Income Calculator — model covered-call and cash-secured-put yield across a watchlist
• Key Levels — expected move, gamma walls, and confluence used by Smart Range
• IV Smile — see the vol surface you are scaling with the IV slider
• Covered call and cash-secured put — strategy definitions

Want a page-by-page walkthrough of the rest of the platform? Continue to How to Read Each Page.