How to Read Trade Tickets

The trade tickets generated by the scanners are dense with information, designed for efficiency and speed. Think of it as a pilot's checklist or a navigator's shorthand. Once you learn the language, you can assess an opportunity in seconds.

This guide will break down every component, turning that complex block of text into a clear, actionable trade idea.

Anatomy of a Trade Ticket

Every ticket follows a similar three-line structure. Let's use a standard Butterfly spread as our first example:

SPOT (665.67)
  Trade: 11/07/25 (7DTE) Fly +640P/-660P x2/+680P
  0.35db mid/5.75db nat   Max P:$1965   Max L:$35   Qual:81.1%

We'll break this down piece by piece.

Line 1: The Equity

SPOT (665.67)

SPOT: The stock ticker symbol. In this case, Spotify.
(665.67): The price of the underlying stock when the scan was run. This is important for many types of trades because it lets you see the distance the price will have to move, or the range within which it will need to remain, for the trade to succeed.

Line 2: The Strategy & Structure

Trade: 11/07/25 (7DTE) Fly +640P/-660P x2/+680P

The Core Components:

11/07/25: The expiry date of the options used in the trade.
(7DTE): Days To Expiration. This is how much time is left until the options expire. Refers to the same date, just in a different format. Note that the DTE on the tickets may be off by a day due to pre/post market hours calculations; however, the date preceding it is definitive.
Fly: The name of the options strategy (Fly, Iron Condor, Bear Put Spread, Double Calendar, etc.)

Decoding the Legs:

This is the heart of the trade. Each part is a specific option you need to buy or sell. Let's break down the code:

The Sign (+ or -):
- + means BUY to open.
- - means SELL to open.
The Strike Price: The number right after the sign (e.g., 640, 660).
The Option Type (P or C):
- P stands for a Put option.
- C stands for a Call option.
The Multiplier (x2, x3, etc.): This tells you the ratio of the contracts. If there's no multiplier, you are buying or selling a single contract for that leg.

So, looking at our example, +640P/-660P x2/+680P translates to:

+640P: BUY one 640-strike Put.
-660P x2: SELL two 660-strike Puts.
+680P: BUY one 680-strike Put.

Some tickets may also include a stock component, shown as +100 shares or +100sh. This is common in synthetic strategies.

All of these are to be submitted at the same time as a single multi-leg order.

Line 3: The Price, Profit/Loss, and Quality

0.35db mid/5.75db nat   Max P:$1965   Max L:$35   Qual:81.1%

0.35db mid / 5.75db nat: This is the price of the entire spread.
- db means Debit. This is money you PAY. It's the cost to enter the trade and is typically your maximum loss.
- cr means Credit. This is money you RECEIVE. It's the premium you collect for entering the trade and is typically your maximum profit.
- mid is the midpoint price, the theoretical perfect price between the bid and ask. Generally, the best price you're likely to get - although in volatile underlyings, it's worthwhile to improve on the mid (i.e., try to get an even better price - smaller debit/larger credit.)
- nat is the natural price, the price if you crossed the bid/ask spread. What you pay when you need to get out of a trade, right now. There's no other reason, ever, to accept it.
- Your Goal: Always try to get your order filled for the `mid`, or 1-2 cents away from `mid` toward `nat`. Decide ahead of time how much you're willing to risk, and stick with it. Trades are like trains... another one will be along soon enough, especially when you're getting good ones on a regular basis.
Max P: $1965: The absolute maximum profit you can make on the trade, assuming a single lot (what's stated on the trade ticket.) E.g., one butterfly.
Max L: $35: The absolute maximum loss you can take, assuming you enter at the stated `mid`. Notice this matches the `0.35db` price (0.35 x 100 shares/contract = $35).
Qual: 81.1%: The Quality Score. This is a proprietary metric that grades the overall quality of the setup based on its underlying rationale (e.g., skew, volatility, momentum). A higher score is always better.

Variations: For synthetic trades, you'll see Floor P (Floor Profit) and Max P (Maximum Profit). These show the guaranteed minumum return and the potential maximum return that depends on where the stock price is at expiration.

Glossary of Common Metrics & Rationale

The ticket often ends with a Rationale section containing other key metrics. Here's what they mean:

EM (Expected Move): The amount the stock is expected to move up or down by the option's expiration date, based on current volatility. A key piece of data for setting profit targets or strike prices.

IV vs HV (Implied vs. Historical Volatility): A comparison of the currently priced-in volatility (IV) versus the stock's actual volatility over a past period (HV). A large positive premium (IV > HV) suggests option prices are rich, favoring selling strategies.

PoP (Probability of Profit): The statistical probability that the trade will be profitable by at least $0.01 at expiration. This does not account for the size of the potential profit or loss.

RoC (Return on Capital): For credit spreads, this is the percentage return on the capital required to hold the trade. A higher RoC indicates greater capital efficiency.

Skew: A measure of the difference in implied volatility between out-of-the-money puts and calls.

Timeframe Continuity: Used in the STRAT scanner, this indicates if the trend (UP or DOWN) is aligned across multiple timeframes suggesting a stronger directional bias.

Z-score / Sharpe / Backtest: Statistical metrics used in pairs trading to quantify how stretched the relationship between two assets is, and how historically profitable the mean-reversion trade has been.

Putting It All Together: More Examples

Example 1: Credit Spread

OKLO (133.45)
  Trade: 11/07/25 (5DTE) Bear Put Spread +133P/-131P
  0.70db mid/1.70db nat   Max P: $130  Max L: $70  Qual: 75.2%

Asset: OKLO at $133.45.
Strategy: A Bear Put Spread; you buy a higher-strike put and sell a lower-strike put.
Structure: Buy the 133, Sell the 131.
Cost: $0.70 per spread, or $70 total (your Max Loss).
Potential: The spread between the strikes is $2 (133 - 131); therefore, your max profit is this spread width less what you paid: $2.00 - $0.70 = $1.30, or $130 total.

Example 2: Synthetic Vertical Spread

TSLA (453.52)
  Trade: Synth Bull Call Spread 12/19/25 (49DTE) +100 shares/+515P/-525C
  514.39db mid/514.62db nat   Min P: $61  Max P: $1061  Qual: 90.9%

Asset: Tesla at $453.52.
Strategy: A Synthetic Bull Call Spread. This mimics a regular call spread but uses stock combined with options to alter the risk profile.
Structure: Buy 100 shares of TSLA, Buy one 515 Put, Sell one 525 Call.
Cost: $51,439. The high cost is due to buying the shares.
Potential: The minimum profit is the `Min P`, $61. `Max P`, $1061, will only be achieved if TSLA is at or above $525 at expiration - a result within reasonable expectation, since the market's calculated expected move is at or below that number.

With this guide, you now have the tools to decode any ticket from any scanner. Fair winds and following seas.