PutFinder › Cash-secured put screener
How a cash-secured put screener works
A cash-secured put screener turns a full option chain into a short, ranked list. This page describes how to screen for cash-secured puts — the criteria a screener applies and the steps it runs — and where PutFinder fits.
What a cash-secured put screener is
A cash-secured put is a contract you sell while holding enough cash to buy the shares at the strike if you are assigned. A single liquid stock can list dozens of strikes across several expirations, so even a modest universe of names carries hundreds of possible put contracts on any given day. A screener is the tool that reads that whole chain, applies a consistent set of filters, and narrows it to the handful of contracts worth a closer look — so you research a shortlist rather than scroll an endless chain. New to the strategy? The plain-language guide to cash-secured puts covers the basics first. For how a cash-secured put differs from a covered call, see cash-secured put vs covered call.
How to screen for cash-secured puts, step by step
Whether you do it by hand or a tool does it for you, screening runs the same funnel — from a broad universe down to a ranked shortlist you then research yourself.
- Start from a universe. Pick the stocks you are willing to be assigned. PutFinder uses a curated universe of liquid US stocks so the pool is tradable from the outset.
- Filter for eligibility. Drop contracts that fail the ground rules — outside a 14–45 day expiration window (centered around one month), too illiquid to trade, or backed by stale quotes. Fresh data only; old numbers are excluded rather than scored.
- Measure each contract. Score the survivors on premium-versus-risk criteria — the stock's quality, its volatility risk premium, and its trend, combined with the contract's annualized yield and downside buffer — then apply an earnings gate.
- Rank into a shortlist. Order the contracts relative to one another within today's pool, breaking ties deterministically so the same inputs always produce the same list.
- Research the shortlist yourself. A screener hands you a starting point, not a decision. You still read each name, weigh assignment, and decide. PutFinder ranks and documents; it does not advise.
The criteria a screener filters on
These are the levers most CSP screeners expose. In PutFinder they are computed from stored raw inputs and reproducible — nothing is invented. For exactly how they combine into a single relative rank, see the scoring methodology. To work out the per-contract arithmetic — static and annualized return, breakeven, downside buffer — on your own inputs, use the free cash-secured put calculator.
- Liquidity
- Whether a contract can actually be traded — a tight enough bid-ask spread and real volume — so the shortlist is not full of quotes that only look attractive on screen.
- Time to expiration
- The window between now and expiration. PutFinder screens a 14–45 day band (centered around one month) so the contracts are comparable on the same time footing.
- Annualized yield
- The premium expressed as a per-year rate on the capital secured. A comparison figure — arithmetic on the current premium, not an expected or guaranteed return.
- Downside buffer
- How far the stock can fall, as a percentage of the current price, before it reaches the strike. A larger buffer means more room to be wrong.
- Probability of profit (PoP)
- A model-estimated probability the option expires worthless, derived from its delta. A model estimate, not a historical win rate.
- Underlying quality
- A curated read on the underlying stock, so the premium is weighed against the kind of name you would be assigned, used as one screening input.
- Volatility risk premium (VRP)
- The gap between a stock's implied volatility and its realized volatility — how richly its options are priced relative to how much the stock has actually been moving. PutFinder uses it as one minor screening input among several; a wide gap describes today's option pricing, not an edge and not a predicted return.
- Trend
- Rewards a stock in a long-term uptrend sitting near, but not below, a support level, and penalizes a falling knife, used as one screening input.
- Earnings gate
- Earnings that land before an option expires add event risk. The screen penalizes or excludes contracts whose earnings cross the option's life.
Screening by hand vs. an automated screener
You can screen cash-secured puts by hand in a broker's chain view. A descriptive comparison of the two ways to run the same funnel — not a claim that one is “better.”
| By hand | Automated screener | |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Whatever you have time to scan | The full chain, curated universe, every trading day |
| Consistency | Varies with attention and mood | The same rules run identically each run |
| Transparency | Your own method, in your head | Every criterion documented |
| Reproducibility | Hard to repeat exactly | Deterministic — same inputs, same list |
| The decision | Yours | Still yours — the screen ranks, you decide |
How to read a screened shortlist
A screened list ranks contracts relative to one another; it does not rate them against the wider market or promise an outcome. Read each figure for what it is: the score is a relative heuristic — a high rank means a contract sits near the top of today's pool on a premium-versus-risk basis, nothing more. Annualized yield is arithmetic on the current premium, not an expected return. Delta is a model estimate of the option's sensitivity to the stock — a higher delta means more premium and a higher chance of assignment. The screen shows every input next to the rank so you can judge it yourself, then take the shortlist into your own research.
Where PutFinder fits
PutFinder is a rules-based cash-secured put screener. It runs the funnel above every trading day across a curated universe, documents every criterion in the methodology, and publishes the ranked shortlist with each input shown.
References
- The Options Industry Council (OIC) — options basics, assignment, and the cash-secured put: optionseducation.org.
- Cboe S&P 500 PutWrite Index (PUT) — a benchmark for systematically selling cash-secured puts: cboe.com/us/indices/dashboard/PUT.
- Cboe Options Institute — education on options mechanics and terminology: cboe.com/optionsinstitute.
Common questions
What is a cash-secured put screener?
A tool that scans the option chain across many stocks, applies filters — liquidity, time to expiration, premium, downside buffer, and an earnings check — and ranks the contracts that pass into a shortlist. It narrows thousands of possible put contracts down to a handful worth researching. A research aid, not a signals service or investment advice.
How do you screen for cash-secured puts?
Start from a universe of stocks, exclude contracts that fail eligibility (too far or too near expiration, illiquid, or stale data), measure each remaining contract on premium-versus-risk criteria such as annualized yield, downside buffer, and a model-estimated probability of profit, then rank them. A screener automates that funnel so the same rules run over the full chain every day — the research decision stays with you.
Is a cash-secured put screener a signals service?
No. A screener ranks and documents contracts on a premium-versus-risk basis; it does not tell you what to trade. A high rank means a contract sits near the top of today's pool under the screener's rules — not a buy or sell call. PutFinder is descriptive, not prescriptive: a research screener, not a signals service, and not investment advice.
How many contracts does PutFinder screen?
PutFinder runs every trading day across a curated universe of liquid US stocks and evaluates every eligible cash-secured put contract in those option chains — many hundreds of contracts across strikes and expirations — before ranking the ones that clear the filters into a shortlist.
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