The vertical spread is one of the more popular strategies among option traders. Along with being one of the easier option trading strategies to understand, another reason newer option traders in particular gravitate to this strategy is that it can require very little time to manage it while it is on. Another way to put it, is that credit spread sellers don’t need to be glued to their computer screens all day watching every tick of the market in order to generate consistent income with this trade.

A core trading strategy that is found within many of the other option trading strategies like the butterfly trade which is constructed from a vertical spread and a debit spread, and also the iron condor which is built from two separate credit spreads placed on either side from where the stock or index being used is trading at.

These trades are popular due to their high probability of winning. When placed and traded properly, it is possible for vertical spreads to provide the trader with consistent income month after month – without the trader having to be right about market direction. Basically, those who trade this strategy just need to be correct about one thing which is where the stock or index being traded will not go.

Let’s create an imaginary trading scenario to illustrate. Imagine that a trader believes that a particular stock will be heading down in the short term. Because he is bearish on this stock, he sells a bearish credit spread called a bear call spread which benefits from bearish move.

This vertical spread trade can win in 3 of 4 possible stock movement scenarios by using this option spread. If the stock drops like our trader thinks it will, the spread trade wins. If the stock doesn’t move up or down – just stays pretty much in the same area as it currently, the spread wins. Even if the stock moves upwards – defying what our trader believes will happen – this spread trade could still be profitable – as long as it doesn’t move above a certain level. So, in each of these scenarios, this trade would be profitable. The only way they would not be profitable is if the stock moves up past the level that has been sold – in which case the trader would then need to either remove the trade for a possible loss – or adjust the trade in an attempt to make it profitable once more.

To watch more about the vertical spread option strategy, click over to this training website for slews of free training videos, samples, and reports on how to fittingly enter, remove, oversee and adjust the vertical spread strategy to produce a consistent monthly profits.