Optionscanner selects an iron condor when a stock's signal is neutral and the volatility being sold is rich or neutral, then screens it like two credit spreads at once: each wing passes the delta, liquidity and placement gates, the expiration avoids earnings, and the total credit clears a floor relative to the wider wing. Rejections are logged with the gate and the number.
When there is no directional view and premium is worth selling. In the strategy selection methodology, a HOLD signal with rich or neutral volatility names an iron condor: a bull put spread and a bear call spread on the same expiration, profiting while the stock stays between the short strikes. A HOLD signal on cheap volatility names a long straddle or strangle instead, because selling cheap premium on both sides pays too little for the risk.
The same gates as a credit spread, applied to both wings, with the weaker wing deciding:
The full reasoning for each gate is in iron condor entry screening.
It is exact: the wider wing's width minus the total credit, reached only if the stock finishes beyond one long strike at expiration. Both wings cannot lose at once, because the stock can finish beyond only one of them. Sizing is computed from that number, not from the credit.
The same defined universe as the credit spread screen (the S&P 500 morning scan, your own tickers and the day's strongest names), not the whole market, and defined-risk condors only: no short strangles without wings. What happens when one side is tested is covered in managing a tested iron condor.
When a stock's signal is neutral and the volatility being sold is rich or neutral. A neutral signal on cheap volatility selects a long straddle or strangle instead, because selling cheap premium on both sides pays too little for the risk.
The credit spread gates on both wings, with the weaker wing deciding: a volatility premium floor, a short-strike delta band (default 0.15 to 0.25), open interest, volume and bid-ask width on both short strikes, no expiration spanning earnings, a total credit floor relative to the wider wing, and both short strikes outside the recent trading range in expected-move units.
It is the wider wing's width minus the total credit, reached only if the stock finishes beyond one long strike at expiration. Both wings cannot lose at once, so sizing is computed from that single number.
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