Strikes

Updated Aug 11, 2026

Below a backtest position's Position Overview fields, you'll find fields for Entry Conditions (entry timing and strike selection). Those fields are explained below.

Target DTE

Target days to expiration for each new trade. The backtest will find and select the expiration closest to this number of days to expiration at entry. You can optionally specify Minimum and Maximum DTE.

If you do not specify min or max DTE and there is not an expiration that exactly matches your target DTE, the backtest will select the closest match.

Put Position Strike Selection

For positions that include put options, the following fields are available to determine which strikes to select.

Put Strike Target

Delta

Select a put strike that is closest to a certain delta value

% OTM

Select a put strike that is closest to a certain percentage out-of-the-money relative to the current underlying price

Premium $

Select a put strike that is closest to a certain premium (MID/MARK) amount. This is the premium only for this strike, not total premium for multiple legs.

Premium % of Underlying

If you'd like to select a strike that is a certain percentage of the underlying price, use this. If your underlying is 5000, and you want a strike that is $5, that would be 0.10% of the underlying price. This will scale the $ premium target up and down with underlying. This is the premium only for this strike, not total premium for multiple legs.

GEX Call Wall / Flip Level / Put Wall

If this is an SPXW position, you can align your strike with one of these three key GEX levels. You can also apply an optional offset percent to the GEX level. If the GEX call wall is at 7000, and you'd like your strike 0.5% above the GEX call wall, you can use a 0.5% offset, which would place your strike at the nearest price to 7035 (7000 + 0.5%). If you'd like your strike below a key level, use a negative value for for offset %. GEX levels are published once daily here and maintained for the full backtest history.

Put Spread Strike Selection

Any put that includes a spread, including Credit Spreads, Debit Spreads, Iron Butterflys, and Iron Condors, use the following fields to configure how to set up the spread.

Spread Strike Target Type

This controls how the long strike of a Put Credit Spread is selected or the short strike of a Put Debit Spread is selected.

% From Main Strike

Closest strike that is a certain percentage away from your main strike. This would be a percentage distance between strikes for the put spread.

Delta

Strike that is closest to this delta value

Premium

Strike with a MID/MARK price closest to this value. If you use this setting, you can also optionally provide a maximum width for the spread so that the backtest only goes so wide on the spread while looking for a certain premium target on the spread strike.

Premium % of Underlying

Width

Strike that offers a total put spread width closest to this value

Call Position Strike Selection

For positions that include call options, the following fields are available to determine which strikes to select.

Call Strike Target

Delta

Select a call strike that is closest to a certain delta value

% OTM

Select a call strike that is closest to a certain percentage out-of-the-money relative to the current underlying price

Premium

Select a call strike that is closest to a certain premium (MID/MARK) amount. This is the premium only for this strike, not total premium for multiple legs

Premium % of Underlying

GEX Call Wall / Flip Level / Put Wall

If this is an SPXW bot, you can align your strike with one of these three key GEX levels. You can also apply an optional offset percent to the GEX level. If the GEX call wall is at 7000, and you'd like your strike 0.5% above the GEX call wall, you can use a 0.5% offset, which would place your strike at the nearest price to 7035 (7000 + 0.5%). If you'd like your strike below a key level, use a negative value for for offset %. GEX levels are published once daily here.

Call Spread Strike Selection

Any call that includes a spread, including Credit Spreads, Debit Spreads, Iron Butterflys, and Iron Condors, use the following fields to configure how to set up the spread.

Spread Strike Target Type

This controls how the long strike of a Call Credit Spread is selected or the short strike of a Call Debit Spread is selected.

% From Main Strike

Closest strike that is a certain percentage away from your main strike. This would be a percentage distance between strikes for the call spread.

Delta

Strike that is closest to this delta value

Premium

Premium % of Underlying

Width

Strike that offers a total call spread width closest to this value

Smart Spread Width

When you are running a position with a spread, you can optionally enable Smart Spread Width to automatically narrow or widen your spread as appropriate, without impacting the trade price. After selecting your target strikes, the backtester will look at the entire options chain, and if it sees another strike for the same price that is at a better width, it'll select that strike. "Better" is defined as credit spread, narrow = better and debit spread, wider = better.