Scanner User Guide - Academy

What the scanner does

The scanner makes comparison faster by organizing stock candidates, option chains, preferred contracts, heatmap cells, liquidity warnings, and trade planning details.

It should support a decision process. It should not replace judgment or become a source of personalized recommendations.

Repeatable scanner workflow

Start with the stock universe and remove names that do not fit.
Filter for liquid stocks and liquid option contracts.
Choose an expiry that matches the management plan and check all events during its life.
Compare strike, delta, premium yield, annualized yield, and expected move.
Check earnings and event risk.
Confirm assignment willingness, position size, and exit plan.

Universe

Stock liquidity

Option liquidity

DTE

Delta

Yield

Events

Plan

Important scanner fields

DTE: how much time remains before expiration.
Delta: modeled option-price sensitivity to a $1 underlying move; not an assignment probability.
Premium yield: premium relative to shares or cash collateral.
Annualized yield: comparison metric, not a return promise.
Open interest and volume: signs of contract activity.
Bid-ask spread: execution-quality warning.
Earnings date: event-risk marker.

Scanner workflow example Hypothetical

A user loads a symbol, selects front-60-day contracts, filters out contracts with low-liquidity warnings, and compares a moderate-delta contract against a higher-yield contract crossing earnings.

The higher yield may be driven by event risk.
The lower-yield contract may be more consistent with the user's framework.

The scanner is most useful when it helps explain why a contract may or may not fit.

Common misconception

Myth: The preferred contract is the contract a user should trade.
Reality: Preferred means the scanner found a stronger fit by its scoring rules. The user still needs to decide whether the trade fits their own situation.

Key takeaway

The scanner should speed up the workflow, but the investor still needs to understand the trade.