What Is a Cash-Secured Put?
A cash-secured put is an options income strategy where you sell (write) a put option on a stock you are willing to own, while keeping enough cash in your brokerage account to cover the purchase if the option is exercised. The seller collects the option premium upfront as income. If the stock stays above the strike price through expiration, the put expires worthless and you keep the entire premium. If the stock falls below the strike, you buy the shares at the strike price — effectively at a discount thanks to the premium received.
Our free Cash-Secured Put Screener helps income-focused traders find the most attractive OTM puts to sell across any U.S.-listed stock or ETF. The screener fetches real-time option chain data, calculates the annualized return on capital for every put contract, and ranks them so you can quickly identify the best opportunities. Whether you are running the wheel strategy, building a dividend-like income stream from options, or looking to acquire stocks at a discount, this tool provides the data and analytics you need.
Why Use Our Cash-Secured Put Screener?
Annualized Return Ranking
Every put is ranked by annualized return on capital (Premium ÷ Strike × 365 ÷ DTE). Compare short-term and long-term puts on an equal footing to find the highest-yielding opportunities.
Distance OTM Safety Cushion
See exactly how far each strike is below the current stock price. Filter by minimum distance OTM to ensure you only see puts with an adequate safety margin before assignment.
Capital Required at a Glance
Instantly see the cash required to secure each put (strike × 100 shares). Plan your capital allocation across multiple positions without manual calculations.
Greeks & Implied Volatility
Each contract displays delta, theta, and implied volatility. Use delta as a proxy for assignment probability and theta to understand daily time decay working in your favor.
Flexible Filters
Filter by maximum DTE, minimum distance OTM, minimum annualized return, and maximum strike price. Narrow results to match your exact income strategy and risk tolerance.
Break-Even Price Analysis
See the effective break-even price for each put (strike minus premium). Know exactly how far the stock can fall before your position turns into a loss.
How to Use This Cash-Secured Put Screener
- 1
Enter a Ticker
Type any U.S. stock or ETF ticker (e.g., AAPL, MSFT, SPY, QQQ) and click "Screen Puts" to fetch all available OTM put options with real-time pricing.
- 2
Set Your Filters
Adjust the maximum DTE (many traders prefer 30–45 days), minimum distance OTM for your risk comfort level, and minimum annualized return threshold to filter out low-yield puts.
- 3
Compare by Annualized Return
Results are ranked by annualized return on capital by default. Click any column header to re-sort by strike, DTE, delta, IV, or other metrics. Find the puts that offer the best risk-adjusted income.
- 4
Evaluate Capital & Risk
Check the capital required column to ensure you have sufficient cash. Review the break-even price and distance OTM to understand your downside. Use delta as a rough probability of assignment — a -0.20 delta means roughly a 20% chance of being assigned.
Popular Cash-Secured Put Strategies
Cash-secured puts are a cornerstone of options income investing. Here are some of the most popular approaches that traders use when selling puts for income:
- Income Generation (Premium Harvesting): Sell OTM puts on stocks you are neutral to bullish on. Collect the premium as income and repeat when the puts expire worthless. Many traders target 30–45 DTE and 5–10% OTM for a balance of income and safety.
- Discounted Stock Acquisition: Sell puts on stocks you want to own at a lower price. If assigned, you effectively buy the stock at the strike price minus the premium received — a built-in discount compared to buying at market price.
- The Wheel Strategy: Sell cash-secured puts until assigned, then sell covered calls on the assigned shares until called away. Repeat the cycle to generate consistent income from both sides of the options market.
- High IV Premium Capture: Target stocks with elevated implied volatility (e.g., before earnings) to collect larger premiums. Higher IV means fatter premiums, but also greater risk of large price moves. Use the IV column to identify these opportunities.