In this week’s journal entry, I want to start looking at how to make Loss-Resistant Vertical Spreads. Starting with a deep look at how wide my Spread’s strike-widths should be based upon the current market condition. Then, I will compare different Strike-Width strategies and explain when I should use each.
Stupid is as stupid does.
– Forrest Gump
Loss Resistant Vertical Spread
“Stupid is as stupid does” should be every Options Trader’s motto. And it took me nearly three years to figure that out.
And, to see just how my stupid did, I want to start summarizing some of what I have learned about trading Vertical Bull Put Credit Options Spreads during the final months of this year.
So, over the next several weeks, I will document what I think makes loss-resistant Vertical Spreads.
Post Update (12/06/2021):
This journal entry is the start of a series outlining loss-resistant Vertical Spreads. And now that I have completed this series, I firmly believe that these are real keys to winning Vertical Spreads for income. So, I want to make this post my landing page and link-reference the other posts:
How to Make Loss Resistant Vertical Spreads
I need to make sure I revisit these periodically.
Commentary Contents
- Review of My Options Trading Goals
- What is a Loss-Resistant Vertical Spread
- Maximizing Premiums per Market Conditions
- Construct Wide Strike-Width Spreads
- Comparing Strike-Widths Strategies
- Comparing Different Strike-Widths
Review of My Options Trading Goals
- My three-year goal is not to make money. Instead, it is to prove to myself that I can systematically make a monthly income from a small investment. And at the end, my effort should outpace a “Buy and Hold” stock strategy. Fundamentally, I want to create a business plan for an Options Trading home business.
- My small investment for 2021 was $16,000 for the year with a $3,000 per week maximum risk for new Spreads.
What is a Loss-Resistant Vertical Spread
For my purposes, loss-resistant Vertical Spreads are Vertical Bull Put Credit Spreads that generate income during most market conditions. For example, if the underlying asset goes up, moves sideways, or falls slightly, I still want the best probability that my Spreads will yield a profit.
There are several ways to minimize negative market effects on Vertical Spreads. One way is to construct Spreads with the appropriate strike width. Below is my brief insight for composing the right Spread at the right time.
Maximizing Premiums per Market Conditions
My trading strategy has been to risk at least $3,000 each week by placing Market-appropriate Vertical Spreads. I want to maximize the premiums that I can collect each week, but I also want to limit as much risk as possible from Max-Loss.
So based on my weekly Market Sentiment Section (and the DEFCON level I calculate each week), I will elect to enter a wide strike-width Spreads if the DEFCON is low or a narrow strike-width Spreads if the DEFCON is high.
Construct Wide Strike-Width Spreads
The wider the strike-width, the more tolerant a Spread will be to a Market downturn, but adversely, the lower the accumulated premiums I can collect. So, if I sense that the general Market sentiment is not good, I will look at fewer (if any) wide strike-width Vertical Spreads.
On the other hand, a narrow strike-width Spread will be extremely unforgiving in a Market downturn, but I can collect much more accumulated premiums. So, if I sense that the general Market sentiment is good, I will prefer several narrow strike-width Spreads for the week.
Comparing Strike-Widths Strategies
Mama always said,
– Forrest Gump
“life is like a box a chocolate,
you never know what your going to get.”
To help me visualize the difference, below, I created the table comparing the profit/loss effects of a QQQ Spreads with different strike-widths. And to help me explain the differences, I will contrast a 5-strike-wide Spreads, a 15-strike-wide Spread, and a 30-strike-wide Spread. (Best when following with the table below.)
5-Strikes Wide Vertical Spread:
CON: One Spread only pays $52.
PRO: I can open six Spreads in one week for an accumulated premium of 6 x $52 = $312 and remain under my $3,000 max week dollar risk.
CON: If the underlying falls only 0.3% below the Short Strike (one Strike ITM), I will lose 6 x -$48 = -$288 (or nearly 11% of my at-risk money).
CON: If the underlying falls just 1.5% (or more) below the Short Strike, the Spread will expire below the Long Strike for a max loss. Max loss for these six Spreads is 6 x -$448 = $2,688.
Even though I can collect the maximum premiums possible with this strategy, this is the riskiest and least loss-resistant Vertical Spread. I would only consider using this strategy when the current Market Sentiment is at DEFCON 5
15-Strikes Wide Vertical Spreads:
PRO: One 15-strike-wide Spread has a larger premium of $118.
CON: I can only open two 15-wide Spreads in a week and remain under the $3,000 risk cap.
CON: The maximum premium I can collect for the week is 2 x $118 = $236 ($76 less than the 5-strike-wide strategy).
PRO: If the underlying falls only 0.3% (one Strike ITM), I can still profit (2 x $18 = $36).
PRO: If the underlying falls 1.5% below the Short Strike (5 Strikes ITM), I will lose 2 x -$382 = -$764. This is much less than the Max Loss I would have with the 5-Strike Wide strategy.
PRO: The underlying asset has to drop 3.0% below the Short Strike to suffer Max Loss.
This configuration is more loss-resistant than six 5-Strike-Wide Spreads but less profitable. I’ve been using this strategy when the current Market Sentiment is a DEFCON 4.
I can also combine these strategies if I feel that DEFCON 4 is pushing hard against DEFCON 5. As such, I can open one 15-Strike-Wide along with two or three 5-Strike-Wide Spreads to make slightly more profit with moderately more risk.
30-Strikes Wide Vertical Spreads:
PRO: One 30-wide Spread has a larger premium of $176.
CON: I can only open one Spread in a week to remain under the $3,000 risk cap.
CON: The maximum premium I can collect for the week is 1 x $176 = $176 ($136 less than the 5-strike-wide strategy and $60 less than the 15-Wide).
PRO: If the underlying falls only 0.3% (one Strike ITM), I can still profit (1 x $76 = $76).
PRO: If the underlying falls 1.5% below the Short Strike (5 Strikes ITM), I will lose 1 x -$325 = -$325. This is much less than what I would have with the other strategies.
PRO: The underlying asset has to drop 9.0% below the Short Strike to suffer Max Loss.
This configuration is much more loss-resistant than six 5-Strike-Wide or two 15-strike-wide Spreads. As a result, this Spread’s strike width could survive a Market Correction without hitting max-loss (assuming the Strike Price was at least 1% higher than the Short Strike).
I’ve been using this strategy when the current Market Sentiment is a DEFCON 3.
40-Strike Wide Vertical Spreads:
It should be apparent that a 40-strike-wide Spread is not an option for my Entry Rules. A 40-strike-wide will require a higher dollar risk of $3,798 which is above my weekly $3,000 cap.
But as a notation for loss resistance, this strike-width strategy can expire two Strikes ITM and still profit. Likewise, the underlying asset can drop nearly 12% before hitting max loss.
Comparing Different Strike Widths
This table was created with the following parameters:
Underlying Asset: QQQ
Date Opened: Aug 19, 2021
Short Strike Selected: 335
Long Strike Selected: See Table
Note: If the QQQ Vertical Spread expires worthlessly (the current underlying price is higher than the Spread’s Short Strike), then I can keep the premiums collected at open as profit. But if the underlying’s price closes below the short strike, then this table illustrates how much I will have to pay (loss) depending on how far below the short strike the underlying falls.
That’s about all I got to say bout that.
Forrest Gump
Other Posts from Options Trades By Damocles
This Week’s Market Sentiment
This Market Sentiment Section is typically completed by midday Monday morning. By the time this journal is published, it will be a week old.
(As of 08/23/2021)
In this section, I review five indicators: VIX, Put/Call Ratio, S&P 500, Consumer Sentiment Index, and Geopolitical events that could affect the market’s direction. I will use these indicators to help guide my trading decisions for this week.
Each of my five indicators will “vote” on a DEFCON (Damocles Options Trading Readiness Signal) level, exclusive to that indicator. Then, In the final sub-section “My sentiment for this coming week” below, I’ll compile the votes into a DEFCON level for the week.
Geopolitical Tree-Shakers (GTS):
Geopolitical events can be breaking news, political machinations, Federal Reserve musings, or even Twitter Trends. They are events that can abruptly change the dynamics of the current markets.
GTS is like a lit fuse to a bomb. The fuse can be fast or slow, and the bomb can easily be a dud. But I need to watch this closely as an indicator. The GTS can significantly disrupt all the other indicators at the drop of a hat.
- Bidden giving the media wolfs fresh meat to devourer
- Hurricane Ida will pump up oil prices
- Federal Reserve policymakers met last week to confirm tappering to start this year and Interest rates raises will wait until next year
- China’s regulatory crackdown will negativily impact tech stocks
- Expect loss of recovery momentum
The botched Afghanistan pullout and the attacks at the Kabul airport continue to dominate the news cycle this past week.
Fresh off to the $3.5T framework vote, the House Democrats are drafting their massive social spending bill. But they have many moderates and fiscal tax hawks in their party that they have to win over. There will be the likelihood of new tax hikes on the wealthy, a big bump in corporate taxes, and new fees for us little people. I suspect there will be a hard-sell campaign to get the bill across the line. I also suspect there will be many exaggerated leaks on what to expect. The leaks could move the market needle one way or the other.
As Hurricane Ida approaches the Gulf Coast, offshore oil and gas production has been cut by over 90% in preparation. As a result, I expect oil to jump for the duration but do not expect this to affect any Spreads that I open this week.
The sphincter-clenching Marketeers relaxed after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech last week. Confirming that the Central Banks will start scaling back bond buys next month, but also said that he expects inflation or recede and raising interest rates will not begin until next year.
The S&P 500 hit new highs last week despite the growing hysteria over the Delta variant. Corporate earnings reports continue to be strong.
There seem to be very few GTS points to talk down the markets this week. Therefore, based solely on what I listed here, I will vote for a strong DEFCON 4.
GTS votes a DEFCON 4
VIX: Broad Market Volatility
The VIX is an emotion-gauge for the general investing population. It is thought to be driven by the Marketeers’ current level of greed or fear. As one-month forward-looking volatility, it is not designed to tell us which direction the market will be going, but more of how fast it can get there.
A VIX of 15% is assumed to be a market at rest. Since the intrinsic nature of the Stock Market is to move up, a VIX close to 15% or below will have an innate tendency to rise.
The 1-month Regression Channel for the VIX trajectory swung flat last week.
The VIX ended last week at 16.39%, down from 18.5% the week before, and the 9-Day SMA dropped below the 50-Day SMA, and the 50-Day SMA continues to be leveling off.
The VIXis still above 15%, so I cannot vote a DEFCON 5 for this section, but the direction is looking pretty good.
VIX votes a DEFCON 4
Put/Call Ratio:
Put Options are frequently used as protection against existing investments falling. When the ratio between Put Options bought versus Call Options bought is above 1, then this is an indicator that the Marketeers are buying insurance to what they may see as declining Markets. Conversely, when the Put/Call Ratio falls below 1, then there is a general sense that the broader Markets will increase, and more investors are buying more than selling.
As the Feds gave their report, the Put/Call Ratio bounced above and below the 0.5 line last week.
The Put/Call Ratio ended Friday at .51, about the same as the 9-Day SMA. The 9-Day SMA remains above the 50-Day, and the 50-Day-SMA fell s smidgeon below the 0.5 line. Thus, all short-term trajectories are indicating a continuation towards fear.
The Marketeers continue to show a moderate degree of indecision, as indicated in the increased amplitude of the Put/Call Ratio.
But I cannot ignore that the ratio is still well below the insidious 1.0 line (1 Put to 1 Call). Being below 1.0 suggests but above the .05 line indicates that we are generally in good shape even though we have some bad days.
Put/Call Ration votes a DEFCON 4
Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI):
I’m searching for a new Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) chart as provided by the University of Michigan.
A low CSI index is a general dissatisfaction with our current management of U.S. economic policies. This dissatisfaction will imply that something has to change. A high satisfaction rating suggests approval of the current policy management and implies market stability.
The final two weeks of August showed no improvement from the collapse last month. So whether it is inflation fears, COVID fears, trillions of dollars Federal Budget fears, or the Fed’s preparation of raising interest rates to cool down an overheated economy – the future has started to look economically bleak to most folks.
Being blind to all other indicators and just looking at this week’s CSI, I still feel we should be extremely cautious.
CSI votes a DEFCON 3
Market Indexes:
DOW (DJX) = 35,456 – Up 1.0% from 35,120 last week. (4 week deviation: 237 up from 229 last week)
S&P 500 (SPX) = 4,509 – Up 1.5% from 4,442 last week. (4 week deviation: 34.14 up from 24.81 last week)
The S&P 500 is a stock market index that tracks the 500 largest companies in the U.S. This index represents about 80% of all the capitalization for the country. The S&P is widely considered the best indicator of how all the U.S. markets are performing.
Market Thrashing
4-Week Thrashing of DJX = +/- 237 points or 0.7% of the market’s volume is flat from 0.7% last week.
4-Week Thrashing of SPX = +/- 34.14 points or 0.8% of the market’s volume is up from 0.6% last week.
(The Market Thrashing is now above 1.0%. This might indicate the beginnings of indecision for the Marketeers.)
Just looking at the Market’s performance, the four-month trend is strongly bullish, the four-week trajectory is strongly bullish, and overall Market thrashing is low. All of this signals a motivated Bull Market.
Being blind to all other indicators and just looking at current market trends, I must say YEAH! This week will be the first DEFCON 5 rating!
Market Index votes a DEFCON 5
My sentiment for this coming week:
Of the five indicators:
- The GTS lacks kneejerkable content for this week – DEFCON 4
- The VIX improved but remains above 15% – DEFCON 4
- The P/C Ratio shows consern but not too much fear – DEFCON 4
- The CSI shows a consumer base not excited about our economic future – DEFCON 3
- The Market Movement continue to defiantly inch bullish – DEFCON 5
This week’s Market indicators show a strong DEFCON 4 level.
Trading Readiness Level for this week
This week, I will focus on:
This week begins with minor jitteriness in the Markets. So I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks of good growth.
Because I see the next couple of weeks as a strong DEFCON 4, I will lower the P-OTM to a record low of 78%
- Open two 15-Strike-Wide Vertical Put Spreads for a total market risk this week of < $3K risk (as the Markets see fit)
- Spread term of 8-weeks or less
- Probability of OTM > 78%
Profit and Loss Statement
(As of 09/03/2021)
Balance Sheet
| Year 2021 | Month Sep | Week #35 | |
| Beginning Account Balance | $16,000.00 | $19,080.64 | $19,080.64 |
| Deposits (Div. & Int.) | $0.97 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Withdraws (paycheck) | -$2,400.00 | -$0.00 | -$0.00 |
| Premiums on Open | $6,169.01 | $223.00 | $223.00 |
| Premiums on Close | -$380.00 | -$0.00 | -$0.00 |
| Fees Paid (total) | -$88.38 | -$2.04 | -$2.04 |
| Ending Account Balance | $19,301.73 | $19,301.73 | $19,301.73 |
| Total Gain/Loss | $3,301.73 | $220.96 | $220.96 |
| ROR | 1.2% | 1.2% | |
| ROC | 20.6% |
Progress Graph
(Note1: the negative weekly results for weeks 4, 8, 12, 17, 21, 25, 30, and 34 are when I withdrew $300 from the Trading Account for my paycheck.)
My Performance vs. SPY
Hypothetically, instead of depositing $16,000 in my Options Trading Account, could I have done better if I bought $16,000 of the ETF/SPY instead?
| Options Trading Account | SPY (Fictional) | |
| Initial Investment (As of Jan 4, 2021) | $16,000 (Cash) | $16,000 (43.39 shares @ $368.55) |
| Funds Added | $6,170.11 (Premiums) | 0.45 shares (Dividends Reinvested) |
| Funds Removed | -$468.38 (Early Close & Fees) | $0 (Fractional Shares Sold) |
| Ending Balance | $21,701.73 (Cash) | $19,672,47 (43.83 shares * $453.48 CV) |
| ROI | +35.6% | +23.0% |
Schedule for this Week
Goals for this week: (08/30/2021 – 09/03/2021) (Week #35)
- Document lessons learned or new thoughts
- Open one or two wide-strike spread
- Update Trading Log as trades occurs
Monday:
- Determine/update this week’s market sentiment section
- Calculate/record Put/Call Ratios for all stocks on the watch list
- Review/tweak Trend-Channels for all stocks in the watch list
- Set target expiration dates for all Options as follows:
- Bull Credit Spreads: Oct 22 (6-8 weeks)
Note: If there are no Options Chains published for the 8-week expiration, then use the next Options Chain down from 8-weeks (7-weeks, 6-weeks). Beyond 4-week expirations, if only the monthly chains are available to trade.
- Bull Credit Spreads: Oct 22 (6-8 weeks)
- Look up Ex-Dividend dates for positions in/approaching ITM (MarketWatch/Calendar)
- Stage possible trades for all watch list stocks by 10:00 AM
- NO TRADING BEFORE 10 AM. (Let the Market find its direction after the weekend.)
- Watch one Webcast or take one online mini-course to be completed by Friday.
Tuesday – Thursday:
- Review how yesterday’s staged trades moved. Adjust premiums to take advantage of movements.
- Submit a couple of Spreads, but keep a close watch. If one is accepted, cancel the others (we want only one new active trade per day).
- Be mindful of Entry Rules.
Friday:
- Review the total technical dollars at risk for this week. If significantly below $500, then submit additional spreads if prudent.
- Update and post weekly journal (this blog) with any lessons learned or strategy changes.
This Week’s Trade Activity
(As of 09/03/2021)
Spread Count Summary:
| Year 2021 | Month Sep | Week #35 | |
| Vertical Bull Put Credit Spread | 62 | 2 | 2 |
| Vertical Bear Call Credit Spread | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vertical Bull Put Debit Spread | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vertical Bull Call Debit Spread | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Margin Interest | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 63 | 2 | 2 |
Current Dollars at Risk:
| Year 2021 | Month Sep | Week #35 | |
| Vertical Bull Put Credit Spread | $13,579. | $2,777. | $2,777. |
| Vertical Bear Call Credit Spread | $0. | $0. | $0. |
| Vertical Bull Put Debit Spread | $0. | $0. | $0. |
| Vertical Bull Call Debit Spread | $0. | $0. | $0. |
| Iron Condor | $0. | $0. | $0. |
| Total Dollar Risk | $13,579. | $2,777. | $2,777. |
| Max Risk Allowed | $16,000. | $12,000. | $3,000. |
Vertical Spreads Opened This Week
(08/30/2021 – 09/03/2021)
SPY: 430p/415p – Open 09/02/21 – Expires 10/08/21 – Max Gain = $100.00 – Open Price = $453.48
(Vertical Bull Put Credit Spread)
At Open: Prob. OTM=80.7%, Headroom=-5.2%, Max Loss=$1,400, AROR=71.7%
Entry Rules for Vertical Bull Put Credit Spreads:
- Current maximum dollars at risk < $16,000? Yes ($12,179)
- Max dollar at risk this week < $3,000? Yes ($1,377)
- Max time to have any dollars at risk < 8 weeks (<56 days)? Yes (46 days)
- Long-term trend (four months) bullish? Yes (see chart)
- Short-term trajectory of the underlying bullish? Yes (see chart)
- Put/Call Ratio < 1, (or falling if it is > 1)? Yes (1.3 down from 1.9)
- Current price above 9-Day SMA?: Yes (see chart)
- 9-Day SMA above 50-Day SMA?: Yes (see chart)
- Short-strike < 1 SD below the current price? Yes (1SD=$356.78)
- Short-strikes Prob-OTM > 78%? Yes (79.0%)
- Short-Strike price below the trend channel at expiration?: Yes (see chart)
- Current price within the bottom 1/2 of Trend Channel?: No (see chart)
- Strike Width minimum (>= 15)? Yes (15 strike width)
This Spread has an expiration date of Oct 8, just 36 days from opening. This expiration date was selected because 1) I already had 2 positions with an expiration date of 10/15 and I did not want to bunch up risk dollars, 2) I had no open positions on 10/8.
The issue here is to manage available risk dollars so I won’t
QQQ: 355p/340p – Open 08/30/21 – Expires 10/15/21 – Max Gain = $123.00 – Open Price = $379.55
(Vertical Bull Put Credit Spread)
At Open: Prob. OTM=79.0%, Headroom=-6.5%, Max Loss=$1,377, AROR=70.3%
Entry Rules for Vertical Bull Put Credit Spreads:
- Current maximum dollars at risk < $16,000? Yes ($13,579)
- Max dollar at risk this week < $3,000? Yes ($2,777)
- Max time to have any dollars at risk < 8 weeks (<56 days)? Yes (36 days)
- Long-term trend (four months) bullish? Yes (see chart)
- Short-term trajectory of the underlying bullish? Yes (see chart)
- Put/Call Ratio < 1, (or falling if it is > 1)? Yes (1.3 down from 1.3)
- Current price above 9-Day SMA?: Yes (see chart)
- 9-Day SMA above 50-Day SMA?: Yes (see chart)
- Short-strike < 1 SD below the current price? Yes (1SD=$430.59)
- Short-strikes Prob-OTM > 78%? Yes (80.7%)
- Short-Strike price below the trend channel at expiration?: Yes (see chart)
- Current price within the bottom 1/2 of Trend Channel?: No (see chart)
- Strike Width minimum (>= 15)? Yes (15 strike width)
Vertical Spreads Currently Cooking
(As of 09/03/2021)
SPY: 415p/400p – Open 08/24/21 – Expires 10/15/21 – Max Gain = $116.00 – Open Price = $447.85
At Open: Prob. OTM=80.7%, Headroom=-7.4%, Max Loss=$1,384, AROR=58.3%
Now: Prob. OTM=86.9%, Headroom=-8.5%
SPY: 395p/370p – Open 08/19/21 – Expires 10/01/21 – Max Gain = $133.00 – Open Price = $2,367
(Vertical Bull Put Credit Spread)
At Open: Prob. OTM=85.4%, Headroom=-10.1%, Max Loss=$2,367, AROR=47.3%
Now: Prob. OTM=94.9%, Headroom=-12.9%
SPY: 405p/390p – Open 08/10/21 – Expires 09/30/21 – Max Gain = $96.00 – Open Price = $443.20
(Vertical Bull Put Credit Spread)
At Open: Prob. OTM=84.3%, Headroom=-8.6%, Max Loss=$1,404, AROR=48.4%
Now: Prob. OTM=93.4%, Headroom=-10.7%
QQQ: 350p/335p – Open 08/25/21 – Expires 09/24/21 – Max Gain = $90.00 – Open Price = $374.19
(Vertical Bull Put Credit Spread)
At Open: Prob. OTM=83.0%, Headroom=-6.4%, Max Loss=$1,410, AROR=76.8%
Now: Prob. OTM=90.0%, Headroom=-8.3%
SPY: 410p/400p – Open 08/12/21 – Expires 09/24/21 – Max Gain = $70.00 – Open Price = $442.89
(Vertical Bull Put Credit Spread)
At Open: Prob. OTM=83.6%, Headroom=-7.4%, Max Loss=$930, AROR=63.0%
Now: Prob. OTM=93.9%, Headroom=-9.6%
SPY: 400p/380p – Open 07/29/21 – Expires 09/17/21 – Max Gain = $1.11 – Open Price = $441.40
(Vertical Bull Put Credit Spread)
At Open: Prob. OTM=85.7%, Headroom=-9.4%, Max Loss=$1,889, AROR=42.5%
Now: Prob. OTM=97.4%, Headroom=-11.8%
QQQ: 340p/325p – Open 08/05/21 – Expires 09/10/21 – Max Gain = $82.00 – Open Price = $368.11
(Vertical Bull Put Credit Spread)
At Open: Prob. OTM=85.1%, Headroom=-7.6%, Max Loss=$1,418, AROR=59.6%
Now: Prob. OTM=98.1%, Headroom=-10.9%
Vertical Spreads Closed This Week
(As of 09/03/2021)
No Spread positions were closed this week.
Conclusion
Can Options Trading be considered a Home Business? Can I make money at home by selling Vertical Bull Put Credit Options Spreads? These are questions that I am trying to answer for myself.
Three years ago, I set out on a task to see if I can make a retirement income from home by trading Stock Options. I began with NO knowledge of Options mechanics and only $8,000 to risk. And because I learn best when I write things down, I have documented every step of the way (every bonehead mistake, process epiphanies, interconnecting events, externalities, and so on).
Disclaimer
Even though I have tried to make it clear that this blog is my personal trading journal, it has been suggested by others that I, nevertheless, include a general disclaimer. So here goes…
“This blog and the information contained herein is not intended to be a source of advice or analysis concerning the material presented. The information and/or documents contained in the blog do not constitute investment advice.”
7 THOUGHTS ON “How To Make Loss Resistant Vertical Spreads – Strike Width”