Finding the right stocks for covered calls and cash-secured puts requires more than just randomly browsing through ticker symbols. You need systematic screening tools that help you identify stocks with favorable trend characteristics, appropriate price ranges, and strategic earnings timing—all factors that significantly impact option premium quality and assignment risk.
MyATMM's new Trends Search page solves this challenge by combining simple moving average (SMA) trend analysis with earnings calendar data, creating a powerful screening tool specifically designed for option sellers. This feature gives you a bird's-eye view of market trends across your watchlist while helping you avoid earnings-related volatility or capitalize on post-earnings opportunities.
The Trends Search page uses three key simple moving averages to classify trend direction:
The system categorizes stocks into bullish and bearish trend classifications based on the relationship between these moving averages:
Criteria: Both SMA 20 and SMA 50 are above SMA 200
This indicates strong upward momentum across short, intermediate, and long-term timeframes. All three moving averages are aligned in a bullish configuration, suggesting sustained upward price action.
Criteria: SMA 50 is above SMA 200 (but not all three SMAs aligned)
This shows intermediate-term bullish momentum even if short-term price action is consolidating or pulling back slightly from recent highs.
Bearish classifications work the same way in reverse—Bearish!!! indicates all three SMAs aligned bearishly, while Bearish shows intermediate-term downtrend without full alignment.
Understanding trend direction is critical for option strategy selection:
The Trends Search page includes multiple filtering options that can be combined to create highly specific stock screening criteria.
Search for specific stocks by entering ticker symbols in the search field. You can filter for single tickers like "AAPL" or search for multiple stocks simultaneously by separating symbols with spaces: "AAPL MSFT GOOGL".
This multi-ticker search is particularly useful if you're tracking a specific portfolio of 10-20 stocks and want to quickly see their trend characteristics and earnings schedules all in one view.
Set minimum and maximum stock price thresholds to focus on stocks within your capital allocation strategy:
Price filtering is essential for capital management. If you're selling cash-secured puts with $300-500 collateral per contract, focusing on stocks under $5 makes sense. If you have more capital and prefer higher-quality names, filtering for $50-200 stocks focuses on blue-chip equities.
One of the most sophisticated filtering options allows you to find stocks trading within a specific percentage of any SMA (20, 50, or 200-day):
If you enter "1.2" in the SMA 20 percentage field, the system shows stocks currently trading within 1.2% above or below their 20-day moving average.
Why this matters: Stocks trading very close to a key moving average are often at inflection points—either bouncing off support or testing resistance. This presents opportunities for premium collection with defined technical levels.
In the video demonstration, filtering for stocks within 1.2% of SMA 20 reduced the list from 1,090 tickers down to 248—a much more manageable screening result focusing on stocks at technically interesting price levels.
Quick-filter buttons at the top of the page let you instantly narrow your search:
These filters are invaluable for option sellers focused on quality underliers. S&P 500 stocks typically have better option liquidity and tighter bid-ask spreads. Dividend-paying stocks align with income-focused strategies and often represent more established businesses.
The Trends Search page integrates earnings calendar data with multiple filtering options:
Earnings filtering removes ETFs, indexes, and other instruments that don't report quarterly earnings, helping you focus specifically on individual equities.
One of the most powerful aspects of the Trends Search page is the integrated earnings calendar information showing both historical and future earnings dates.
The "Days Since" column shows how many days have passed since the last earnings announcement. This information is critical for several strategies:
Stocks often experience elevated implied volatility heading into earnings, followed by a "volatility crush" after earnings are released. By sorting the "Days Since" column, you can identify stocks that reported earnings just 1-7 days ago.
Strategy: These recently-reported stocks may still have attractive premiums from residual elevated IV, but with significantly reduced earnings risk since the next report is ~90 days away.
In the video example, Pepsi showed just 3 days since earnings—an ideal candidate for selling options with reduced near-term earnings risk while potentially capturing still-elevated premium levels.
The "Days Till" column shows how many days remain until the next scheduled earnings announcement. Sorting this column helps you:
The video showed several stocks with just 1 day until earnings (BLK, BK, City Bank), making them clear "avoid" candidates for conservative option sellers or "target" candidates for aggressive traders seeking high premium.
Here are sophisticated screening strategies using combined filters:
Result: High-quality dividend stocks with strong bullish trends that just reported earnings—low near-term earnings risk with potentially elevated premium.
Result: Stocks that had negative earnings but are showing intermediate-term bullish momentum—potential turnaround candidates where you'd be comfortable being assigned shares at lower strikes.
Here's a practical step-by-step workflow for using the Trends Search page to find your next covered call or cash-secured put opportunities:
Before filtering, know what you're looking for:
Start with high-level filters to reduce your universe to a manageable size:
This might reduce your list from 1,090 tickers down to 200-400 candidates.
Add more specific filters based on your strategy:
Your list should now be down to 20-50 highly qualified candidates.
Use the earnings columns to prioritize opportunities:
From your refined list of 10-20 top candidates, analyze option chains for premium quality, select appropriate strikes and expirations, and execute trades with confidence knowing you've screened systematically for favorable characteristics.
Many option sellers make the mistake of trading the same handful of stocks repeatedly without systematic evaluation. The Trends Search page solves several critical problems:
By screening based on objective criteria (SMAs, earnings timing, price ranges), you remove bias and emotion from stock selection. You're not trading stocks because they're "popular" or because you saw them mentioned somewhere—you're trading based on defined technical and fundamental filters.
With 1,090+ tickers available in the system, manually browsing would take hours. Systematic screening reveals stocks you might never have considered but that perfectly match your strategy criteria.
Instead of being surprised by earnings announcements, the integrated calendar lets you proactively avoid or embrace earnings based on your strategy. This prevents unexpected volatility from derailing positions.
Serious option sellers track dozens or hundreds of potential underliers. The Trends Search page makes managing large watchlists practical by letting you instantly filter and sort based on current market conditions.
By filtering for stocks within specific price ranges and trend characteristics, you ensure your limited capital is deployed in opportunities that match your risk parameters and premium requirements.
The Trends Search page becomes even more powerful when integrated with MyATMM's cost basis tracking. Here's the complete workflow:
This integrated approach means you're not just randomly selecting stocks and hoping for the best—you have systematic tools for finding opportunities and tracking the complete lifecycle of your positions.
Develop 2-3 screening "recipes" that work for your strategies and use them consistently. For example:
Trends change daily as stocks move relative to their SMAs. A stock that wasn't within 1.2% of SMA 20 yesterday might be today, presenting a fresh opportunity.
The Trends page identifies candidates, but you still need to verify premium quality in your brokerage's option chain. Not all bullish stocks have attractive option premiums—confirm before trading.
The record count (showing how many tickers match your filters) helps you gauge if your filters are too restrictive (only 5 results) or too broad (500+ results). Aim for 20-50 candidates for manageable analysis.
Even if you're not specifically targeting post-earnings plays, always check the "Days Till" column before entering any position. Selling a weekly option with earnings in 3 days is a recipe for unwanted volatility.
The Trends Search page transforms option stock selection from guesswork into a systematic, data-driven process. By combining simple moving average trend analysis with earnings calendar integration and powerful filtering options, you can quickly identify stocks that match your specific strategy parameters.
Whether you're looking for dividend-paying S&P 500 stocks in strong bullish trends for covered calls, post-earnings opportunities with reduced event risk, or value plays on stocks within specific price ranges, the Trends Search page gives you the tools to find them efficiently.
This feature represents exactly what option sellers need: purpose-built screening tools that consider the unique requirements of selling options—trend direction, earnings timing, price ranges, and quality filters—all in one integrated interface.
Create your free account today and start using the Trends Search page to systematically identify your next high-probability option selling opportunities.
The Trends Search page is a screening tool, not investment advice. Simple moving averages and earnings data are indicators that should be combined with fundamental analysis, option chain evaluation, and personal risk assessment. Past trend performance does not guarantee future results. Always conduct your own due diligence before entering any trade.
Access the Trends Search page and start filtering 1,000+ stocks by SMA trends, earnings timing, and dozens of other criteria designed specifically for option sellers.
Create Your Free AccountTrack up to 3 tickers free forever - No credit card required