Top options stocks

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap ≥ $20B

   • Purpose: Focus on large, established companies.

   • Rationale: Large-cap stocks typically have:

     • Deep and active options chains
     • Tighter bid–ask spreads in options
     • More consistent institutional participation

     For “top options stocks,” you usually want the most liquid, widely traded underlyings, which are overwhelmingly in the large‑cap universe.

2. Price Between $20 and $300

   • Purpose: Target stocks in a practical price range for options trading.

   • Rationale:

     • Below ~$20, many names can behave like “lottery tickets,” and options can be illiquid or very speculative.
     • Above ~$300, single option contracts can become quite expensive in notional terms (100 shares per contract), which may not be ideal for many traders.

     This range captures underlyings where options are usually:

     • More affordable to trade
     • Actively traded with tighter spreads

3. Monthly Average Dollar Volume ≥ $10M

   • Purpose: Ensure the underlying stock is highly liquid.
   • Rationale:
     • High dollar volume in the stock tends to correlate with liquid options chains.
     • Better liquidity usually means:
       • Tighter option bid–ask spreads
       • Easier entries and exits
       • Less slippage

4. Region: United States

   • Purpose: Restrict to U.S.-listed companies.
   • Rationale:
     • The U.S. has the deepest, most developed listed options markets.
     • U.S. underlyings on major U.S. exchanges typically have:
       • Standardized option contracts
       • Reliable options volume and open interest

5. Exchanges: NYSE (XNYS), NASDAQ (XNAS), AMEX (XASE)

   • Purpose: Limit to primary U.S. exchanges with active options listing.
   • Rationale:
     • These exchanges host the majority of heavily traded, optionable stocks.
     • It avoids OTC or obscure venues where options may be absent or illiquid.

6. is_optionable = True

   • Purpose: Include only stocks that actually have listed options.
   • Rationale:
     • This is the core requirement for “options stocks.”
     • It filters out all names that do not have an options market, so every result is a valid options underlying.

7. Option IV Rank ≥ 20

   • Purpose: Focus on stocks whose options currently have at least moderately elevated implied volatility relative to their own past.
   • Rationale:
     • IV Rank measures where today’s implied volatility stands versus the past year (for example).
     • An IV Rank of 20+ avoids names with extremely low implied volatility, where options may be:
       • Very cheap but less attractive for premium-selling strategies
       • Reflecting very low expected movement
     • “Top options stocks” are often those with enough implied movement to make options pricing and strategies worthwhile.

Why Results Match “Top Options Stocks”

• The screen zeroes in on large, well-known U.S. companies with high trading liquidity, which are the typical underlyings used by serious options traders.
• Every stock returned is explicitly optionable, and the IV Rank filter ensures the options are not “dead” (ultra-low volatility), making them more relevant for active options strategies (buying or selling premium).
• The price and liquidity filters improve tradability by helping ensure tighter spreads and more efficient executions, which are critical when you’re trading options rather than just the underlying stock.