How do I take a Homemade Options ticket?

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Accepted Answer

Between 3:00 and 4:00 PM ET, place the spread at your broker as one order with a limit at or under the debit on the ticket. Once it fills, place a GTC sell at +40%. If that has not filled by the 10th session, close it yourself that afternoon. Open Today at 3:00 PM ET. Each ticket says Buy the lower call and Sell the higher call, on the same expiry. At your broker, pick the ticker, choose a call debit spread (often called a vertical spread), and enter both strikes and the expiry from the ticket. Send it as one order with a limit at or under the debit shown. Work it a few cents; don't chase it. Fill it by 4:00 PM ET. No fill by then is no trade that day. Right after the fill, place a GTC limit to sell the spread at +40% on what you paid. The ticket shows that price. On the 10th session, if the sell has not filled, close the spread yourself that afternoon. The ticket shows that last day. That's it: one ticket, a couple of minutes. Never hold it to expiry (why).