Screen
Read the regime first: IV rank, term structure, trend state, and scored flow. The screen decides which family is even eligible today.
Strategy Library
Structures for every regime.
Mechanical, defined-risk playbooks — each with its entry trigger, sizing cap, profit target, and exit rule written down before the trade exists. The market supplies the regime; the library supplies the structure.
01 — Method
Four gates. Every trade.
A structure only reaches your account after it clears all four gates, in order. Skip one and it isn't a strategy — it's a hunch with commissions.
Structure
Pick the template that matches the regime, with strikes and expiries set by delta and expected move — never by round numbers or feel.
Size
Defined maximum loss, capped at 2% of equity per structure and checked against your portfolio delta and vega budgets before entry.
Manage
Profit targets, stops, and roll rules are attached at entry and journaled at exit. The plan you leave with is the plan you came with.
02 — The Library
Five families, one discipline.
Every family answers a different regime. What never changes: defined risk, pre-committed exits, and sizing that survives being wrong.
Covered Calls & Cash-Secured Wheels
Best regimeModerate IV rank · neutral-to-mildly-bullish tape
- Entry trigger — sell 30–45 DTE calls at 0.25–0.30 delta against 100-share lots of underlyings that pass the quality screen
- Sizing cap — no single underlying above 10% of portfolio equity, wheel assignments included
- Profit target — buy the call back at 50–65% of premium captured; redeploy, don't linger
- Roll rule — at 21 DTE, roll out (and up if trend intact); accept assignment only inside the plan
Risk note: covered calls cap upside and do not protect the stock below its cost basis less premium received. Assignment can occur at any time before expiry.
Iron Condors
Best regimeElevated IV rank · range-bound tape
- Entry trigger — IV rank above 50; sell 45 DTE condors with short strikes near the expected move (≈0.16 delta)
- Sizing cap — width of wings sets max loss; max loss ≤ 2% of equity per condor
- Profit target — close at 50% of credit received, mechanically, no exceptions
- Stop rule — exit at 2× credit received or on a short-strike breach, whichever comes first
- Time rule — nothing held inside 21 DTE; gamma risk isn't paid for at that point
Risk note: condors realize their max loss faster than their max profit. A single trending month can erase several range-bound ones without strict stops.
Event Straddles & Vol Dislocations
Best regimeDepressed IV rank ahead of scheduled catalysts
- Entry trigger — buy ATM straddles 5–10 sessions before earnings or macro prints when the implied move underprices trailing realized
- Sizing cap — total premium at risk ≤ 1% of equity per event; the debit is the max loss
- Profit target — scale out at +60% or into pre-event IV expansion, whichever arrives first
- Stop rule — hard time stop: exit before the event if the vol thesis hasn't begun to price in
Risk note: long-volatility positions decay daily. Most expire worthless in calm tape; sizing assumes a full loss of premium is the routine outcome.
Defined-Risk Directional Spreads
Best regimeTrending tape · signal-confirmed momentum
- Entry trigger — sell put spreads beneath support only after a scored flow signal ≥ 80 confirms the direction
- Sizing cap — spread width minus credit is the max loss; keep it ≤ 2% of equity
- Profit target — close at 60–70% of credit; the last 30% is where spreads go to die
- Stop rule — exit on a daily close through the short strike; no averaging down, ever
Risk note: directional spreads concentrate regime risk. A signal score raises the odds; it never removes the possibility of a full max-loss outcome.
Collars & Tail Protection
Best regimeExtended rallies · cheap skew · concentrated stock
- Entry trigger — collar concentrated positions when skew makes the put cheap relative to the call you sell against it
- Sizing cap — hedge the full concentrated lot; a partial hedge is a full opinion
- Band rule — target a zero-cost band roughly −10% / +12% around spot
- Reset rule — re-strike quarterly or after a ±12% move, whichever comes first
Risk note: collars deliberately surrender upside above the short call. Shares can be called away; the hedge is protection, not a return strategy.
03 — Discipline
The edge is the exit.
Anyone can enter a trade. The desk is built for the part that pays: leaving on schedule.
2% max risk per structure
Defined maximum loss on every position, capped at 2% of account equity. Guardrails flag any order that would breach it before entry.
Delta & vega budgets
Portfolio-level greek budgets keep any one view — direction or volatility — from quietly becoming the whole book.
Mandatory journaling
Every entry and exit is journaled automatically with its signal context. Weekly review is part of the playbook, not an afterthought.
Strategy templates, regime guides, and any performance figures shown or produced in the Strategy Lab are hypothetical, backtested, and educational. Backtested results do not reflect actual trading, are shown net of modeled — not actual — costs, and do not guarantee future results. Defined-risk structures can and do realize their full maximum loss.
Peak Signal Trading LLC is not a registered broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not provide individualized investment advice. Nothing in this library is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Options involve substantial risk — read our Risk Disclosure before trading.
Get started
Run the playbook yourself.
Full access for 14 days. Pick a family, backtest it against 14 years of history, and trade it — if it earns the risk — inside your own guardrails.
No credit card required · Cancel anytime · Options involve substantial risk — read our Risk Disclosure.