Related:
Requires: Regular edition or above (not available in the Free edition)
This guide takes you from "I would like an iron condor around 30 days out" to a trade shown on the Risk Graph, without hunting through the option chain strike by strike. You do not need to know what "net delta" means before you start; it is explained below, in plain words.
Important: the Trade Builder is new (BETA). It never sends an order and never saves a file. It only fills in the model columns of the Options Analysis grid so you can look at a trade before deciding. Every number it proposes is an example for you to judge, not advice.
Normally, to price up an iron condor you pick four strikes by eye, type them as model legs, and look at the Risk Graph. If it is not what you wanted, you try again.
The Trade Builder reverses that. You say what kind of trade you want and roughly how it should behave. It tries every sensible combination of strikes on the chain, throws away what does not fit, and gives you a ranked list. You click the one you like and it is placed as a model.
Five words are enough:
| Word | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | The shape of the trade | Iron condor, Butterfly, Put credit spread |
| Lean | Which way you lean: Bullish, Bearish or Neutral | Neutral for a condor |
| Net delta | How much the whole trade gains or loses when the market moves 1 point. Positive = you want it up, negative = down, near zero = you do not care much | +10 = like owning 10 units of the index |
| Candidate | One real trade the builder found, with real strikes | Iron condor 6500/6525 – 7000/7025 |
| Model | A trade that exists only on your screen, not in your account | What Copy Combo Candidate creates |
We will look for a neutral iron condor.
Press Ctrl+B. (Or use Model Mgt ▸ Trade Builder..., or the Trade Builder button on the toolbar next to it.) A window opens beside the OA. It stays open while you work and closes with the OA.
In the Strategy list pick Iron condor. The line under it describes the shape. You can leave Type on Iron and Lean on Neutral.
The strategy names are the same as the Trade Rules templates. That is deliberate: a trade you build as an iron condor is an iron condor when you later set up rules for it.
In Targets and limits, leave Target delta ticked. For a neutral trade the default is 0 with a range of −5 to +5. Read that as: "I want the trade's net delta close to 0, and I will never accept one outside −5 to +5."
In Structure, set Width to the distance between your short and long strike on each side. The unit is Points by default, in steps of the chain's strike spacing. For SPX with 25-point strikes, a Width of 25 to 50 means wings of 25 or 50 points.
The list in the middle fills in. Each row is a real trade on the chain, best first:
| Column | What to look at |
|---|---|
| Trade | The name and the strikes |
| Delta | Net delta. Closer to your target = higher in the list |
| Net per unit | Negative = you receive money (a credit). Positive = you pay (a debit) |
| Max loss | The most the trade can lose at expiry. n/a means it is not defined; the summary says why |
| Delta from | Live if the strikes are streaming, otherwise an estimate |
Click a row. Below the list you see each leg (quantity, strike, price) and a summary: net delta, credit or debit, max loss, break-even points and any warnings.
Happy with a row? Press Copy Combo Candidate. SOAP2 checks every leg, places them as model legs on the OA and shows the Risk Graph. From here you are in the normal OA: change strikes by hand, compare, or use Commit's tools. Nothing has been sent to your broker.
That is the whole basic workflow: open, pick, set, look, copy.
You do not need to think about the delta of each leg. The builder asks only about the whole trade, and the sign says which way you lean, whatever the type of option involved:
| Trade | Net delta is about | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Iron condor, iron fly | 0 | Neutral: you want the market to stay put |
| Put credit spread | positive | Bullish: you want the market to hold up |
| Call credit spread | negative | Bearish: you want the market to hold down |
| Bullish butterfly | positive | Body (the sweet spot) above the market |
The defaults follow the lean you choose: neutral 0 (−5 to +5), bullish +10 (+3 to +25), bearish −10 (−25 to −3). If you are unsure, keep them.
-150: "I would like to collect about 150 per unit". The negative sign means credit. This only re-orders the list, it does not remove anything.5 % so the short strike stays within 5% of the at-the-money strike.Strategy: Butterfly, Type: Put, Lean: Bearish. The body sits below the market, and the delta default flips to −10. Change the Lean to Bullish and the body moves above the market: Type and Lean rebuild the structure, and the boxes go back to that structure's standard values.
The line above the list says what happened. The usual causes, easiest first:
You like a trade on the 30-day expiry. What would the same trade look like at 45 days? The shortlist answers that.
The builder looks for the same shape on the new expiry (same strategy, net delta within ±3 points, similar wing widths) and lists the matches. Each shortlist row also shows its best match on the chain you are looking at now (On this chain, Net here, Max here), so you can compare expiries side by side.
A shortlist item is a shape, not exact strikes, so it stays useful even after the expiry it was found on is gone. It is saved between sessions per symbol and removes itself after 60 days. Remove deletes one item; Clear shortlist deletes all (it asks first).
To place a stored trade, select it and press Copy Stored Combo. It is copied as its best match on the chain now shown.
You tend to build the same kinds of trade again and again, so the builder remembers your answers for each type of combo, per symbol: target delta and range, widths, units, cost target, and so on. They are saved the moment you change a box. The next time you pick that type, the boxes start with your values, and the line under the strategy says Your saved values for this combo are loaded.
| Box | What it does |
|---|---|
| Clear the current models first (on by default) | Removes existing model legs on every expiry tab before placing the new trade. Untick it to add to what is already on the grid. |
| No refresh on exp switch | Stops the builder from searching again when you change tab, so the list does not change under you. It ticks itself after you copy a trade, because afterwards you are usually just looking at it on other expiries. |
| Selected strike intervals only | Use only the strike spacing you have chosen in the OA's Strike Intervals list. |
| Search again (button) | Reads the OA again and repeats the search. Strikes that are now streaming switch from estimated to live deltas. |
The builder never opens extra market-data requests to firm up its estimates.
Does it place an order? No. It only fills model columns.
Why does the list change when I switch tab? The builder follows the selected expiry. Tick No refresh on exp switch to freeze it.
Copy Combo Candidate says a leg is missing. A contract must be known and its strike must be on the OA's ladder. The message names the leg; nothing is placed.
My shortlist item disappeared. It was older than 60 days.
The strategy I want is not in the list. Build the closest one, copy it, and edit the legs on the grid.