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Bull Call Spread (Debit)

directional Capped loss

Advanced: a defined-risk bullish bet for less than buying the stock.

When to use it

Buy a call, sell a higher call. Profits if the stock rises to the short strike; cost and max loss are the net debit. Best in a confirmed uptrend.

Max profit

Strike width minus the debit paid.

Max loss

The net debit paid.

Payoff at expiry
illustrative shape — not to scale
profit zone loss zone X axis = stock price at expiry →
How it's built

Strikes shown low→high. Sell = collect premium · Buy = pay premium for protection or upside.

Hermes-evaluated setups

Best backtested per-ticker setups for this strategy. None currently clear our 80% conviction floor (common for directional / long-volatility structures, which win less often but pay more when they hit) — shown for completeness over ≥20 trades. Win rate is confidence-adjusted (95% lower bound); Avg P/L is per one-contract position.

Ticker Win Rate Avg P/L Sharpe Trades DTE
SNPS 56% +$170.00 1.4 30 30
MSFT 52% +$135.00 1.4 30 30
INTU 59% +$124.00 1.2 30 30
V 59% +$121.00 1.4 30 30
NOW 52% +$119.00 1.2 30 30
HLT 61% +$110.00 1.4 42 21
NDX 60% +$107.00 1.1 40 21
SAP 59% +$103.00 1.3 30 30

Backtested results are not a guarantee of future performance.