Context
No screener can tell you the single “best” ETF to buy a long call on tomorrow—there’s no way to guarantee that. What these filters do is narrow the universe to ETFs that have characteristics that tend to be more favorable for buying calls: liquidity, reasonable pricing, and an established but not overstretched uptrend.
Screening Filters
Price: 20–200
- Purpose: Focus on ETFs with a moderate price range.
- Rationale:
- ETFs under ~$20 can have options with relatively wide spreads or low premiums that don’t move cleanly with the underlying (due to low absolute price).
- Very high-priced ETFs (above ~$200) can have more expensive options, which may not be ideal for many traders’ capital and risk management.
- The $20–$200 window tends to capture ETFs where options are more actively traded and more reasonably priced for a typical long-call strategy.
Monthly Average Dollar Volume ≥ 2,000,000
- Purpose: Ensure high liquidity in the underlying ETF.
- Rationale:
- Higher dollar volume usually implies tighter bid-ask spreads and better execution in both the ETF and its options.
- For a long call, you want to avoid illiquid underlyings where options can be hard to enter or exit at fair prices.
- A $2M+ average dollar volume threshold filters out thinly traded ETFs that could make the options market unreliable.
RSI Category: “Moderate”
- Purpose: Avoid ETFs that are extremely overbought or oversold.
- Rationale:
- For buying calls, you generally want an uptrend, but not something that is so overbought (very high RSI) that it’s vulnerable to an immediate pullback.
- “Moderate” RSI suggests the price has some strength but isn’t at an extreme, providing a more balanced entry zone for a bullish options trade.
Moving Average Relationship: PriceAboveMA20
- Purpose: Require a short-term uptrend.
- Rationale:
- Long calls benefit from continued upside movement.
- Price above the 20-day moving average means the ETF is currently trading in a short-term bullish trend.
- This aligns with the typical use of long calls as a directional bullish play—buying calls with the trend rather than against it.
1-Month Price Change % ≥ 5
- Purpose: Ensure recent positive momentum.
- Rationale:
- A minimum +5% move over the last month indicates the ETF has already shown some upside momentum.
- Positive recent performance can be a sign of underlying strength or a theme that is currently in favor, both of which can support a bullish options thesis.
- It avoids flat or declining names where a long call would be fighting recent price action.
Why the Results Match Your Intent
- The liquidity filters (price range and dollar volume) target ETFs whose options are more likely to be tradable with reasonable spreads, which is critical when entering and exiting long calls.
- The trend and momentum filters (PriceAboveMA20 and 1-month price change ≥ 5%) focus on ETFs already in a bullish phase, which is exactly the environment where long calls have a higher probability of paying off.
- The RSI “moderate” filter helps you avoid chasing extremely overbought moves right before a possible pullback, making the timing of “buying a long call tomorrow” more sensible.
Together, these filters seek ETFs that are liquid, reasonably priced, in a healthy uptrend, and not at extreme overbought levels—conditions that are generally favorable for initiating a long call position.
This list is generated based on data from one or more third party data providers. It is provided for informational purposes only by Intellectia.AI, and is not investment advice or a recommendation. Intellectia does not make any warranty or guarantee relating to the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of any third-party information, and the provision of this information does not constitute a recommendation.