Most options traders start the same way. They buy calls or puts… and hope the stock makes a big move fast enough to win.
But there’s a problem: Time decay.
Even if you’re right on direction, your trade can still lose money if the move isn’t strong enough — or doesn’t happen quickly.
That’s where credit spreads come in.
In this recent video explainer, options expert Rick Orford describes two ways to express the same market view:
There’s high upside potential with this type of premium buying options strategy… but there’s also high dependency on timing.
The stock has to move far enough, fast enough, to overcome the impact of time decay on the option’s premium.
To create a credit spread, you’d buy the same type of option at a deeper out-of-the-money strike, which limits risk.
Now, instead of needing a big move… You just need the stock to stay on the right side of your short strike.
With credit spreads:
For example:
This shifts your edge from prediction → probability
Instead of manually searching for setups, you can use Barchart tools to filter for high-probability trades.
With the Options Screener, you can:
Scan for bull put and bear call spreads
Filter by days to expiration (30–45 days)
Analyze probability of profit
Compare max risk vs. reward
You can also use:
Barchart Opinion → confirm trend direction
Trader’s Cheat Sheet → time entries and exits
Options Data Dashboard → evaluate volume and sentiment
Long options can deliver big wins. But they require precision and timing.
Credit spreads offer a different approach:
And for many traders, that’s the difference between guessing… and building a repeatable strategy.
