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Filter settings

This page controls how strictly the algorithmic candidate selection filters and sorts options for this IBKR account. Every setting has a safe default — you do not need to change anything to get started. The explanations below are kept intentionally simple.

Note: These values only influence how the app filters and sorts candidates. Every trade is still sent to IBKR by you manually. No value is a recommendation, forecast, or investment advice.

Panel „Risk"

These values are technical filters you set yourself. They stop the app from surfacing candidates that would exceed the limits you have set.

Note: Purely technical filters you set yourself — no collection or assessment of personal circumstances or risk appetite, no investment advice.

Max positions

How many short options (puts + calls combined) may be open at once.

  • Example: With „7" the app will suggest at most 7 open puts and

calls together. Once the limit is reached, no new suggestions appear until you close a position.

  • Rule of thumb: 5 – 10 works well for a 50k – 100k USD account.

Anyone going higher should be sure they can keep the overview.

Max portfolio risk

Share of your account value that all open short puts together may tie up (strike × 100 per contract).

  • Example: 100k USD account, limit 30 % → all short puts may

carry at most 30k USD of assignment risk.

  • Full? New put suggestions are rejected or marked in yellow —

the reason is visible on the trade.

Position size factor (important)

A multiplier the app applies to the calculated contract count per trade. It kicks in after the „how many contracts fit into my risk?" calculation.

  • Default 1.125 = the app is allowed to go slightly above the

raw math. In practice this means: a few suggestions come with 1 contract instead of 0 when your budget only just covers it.

  • Value 1.0 = exactly as many contracts as your limits allow.

Strict interpretation of your limits.

  • Value 0.5 = the app deliberately proposes **half as many

contracts** as possible → stricter filter, fewer candidates, lower premium.

  • Value 1.5 = the app may propose 50 % more contracts →

looser filter, more candidates and more premium, but capital binding and cluster risk rise accordingly.

  • Worked example: For a 45 put your limits would allow 2

contracts (= 9,000 USD cash reserve). With factor 1.125 the app can still show 2 contracts even when portfolio risk is already at 90 %. With factor 0.5 you would only see 1 contract.

If in doubt: set to 1.0. Every suggestion then stays strictly inside your other guardrails.

Minimum buying power buffer

How much free cash (as a percentage of your account value) should always stay untouched. The app removes this buffer from the pool before proposing a put.

  • Example: 100k USD account, buffer 15 % → 15k USD are treated

as reserve. Suggestions only fire if enough cash would remain to service every open put on assignment.

  • Purpose: peace of mind. Even a wave of assignments leaves your

account liquid.

Max sector exposure

Share of your portfolio that any single sector (e.g. „Financial Services", „Technology") may hold.

  • Example: at 50 %, bank stocks plus open bank puts together

may not exceed 50 % of the portfolio.

  • Purpose: keeps the wheel automation from parking your capital

in a single market segment.

Symbol cluster threshold after assignment

Warning threshold for a single ticker. As soon as one holding (after a possible assignment) exceeds this share of the portfolio, the app flags it.

  • Example: at 30 % with a 100k USD portfolio, single-ticker

positions from about 30k USD upward are flagged.

  • In practice: you see immediately when one name is dominating

your portfolio.

Sector warn threshold (yellow)

Sector share at which a sector chip turns yellow in the overview.

  • Guideline: ~20 %. Yellow means „watch closely, still fine".

Sector hard threshold (red + block)

Sector share at which the chip turns red and the proposal dialog blocks new trades in this sector until you consciously override the block.

  • Guideline: ~30 %. Must always be greater than or equal to

the warn threshold.

Panel „Portfolio"

Initial capital

Your current account value (Net Liquidation Value). Auto-updated on IBKR sync. Only set manually when sync is not available. All the percentage limits above are calculated against this value.

Panel „PUT level 1" (puts without stock holding)

  • Minimum annualized premium – how much premium (annualized) a

put must offer to be surfaced. Default ~1 %. Higher = stricter, fewer candidates.

  • Delta range – how far out-of-the-money the strike must sit.

Smaller delta = further from spot = safer but less premium.

  • ATR distance min / max – additional strike distance from spot,

measured in daily average moves (ATR). Higher minimum = larger safety distance = stricter filter, fewer candidates.

Panel „PUT level 2" (puts with stock holding)

Same values as level 1 but for puts on names you already own. Plus:

  • Size relative to level 1 – default 0.5. Means: per name at

most half as many level-2 puts as level-1 puts. Keeps clusters in check.

Panel „Covered call"

  • Minimum annualized premium – how much premium a call must

offer.

  • Delta range / ATR distance – analogous to the puts, for calls.
  • Covered calls only above cost basis – an **opt-in filter (off by

default)** that you switch on yourself. When enabled, the app never proposes a strike below your stock cost basis.

  • Formula: exclude every strike ≤ the cost basis of the held

shares.

  • Purpose: avoid arithmetically realized book losses on exercise.
  • Note: a purely arithmetic filter, not a suitability judgment,

not investment advice, and no account of risk tolerance, investment strategy or any other personal circumstances. The cost basis is used solely as an arithmetic input for strike selection and is not an assessment of the suitability of the position.

Panel „Profit taking"

  • Profit taking put / call – at which residual option value a

buy-to-close suggestion is triggered (as a percentage of the sell proceeds). Default 50 %. Higher = wait longer, more premium, but longer capital binding too.

Panel „Event blockers"

  • Blocked days put / call before ex-dividend – how many days

before a dividend date no new trades are proposed.

  • Earnings block – expiry inside the earnings window triggers a

warning that has to be acknowledged.

How the values interact

WheelTrading.io resolves every effective value through four layers:

  1. System default – a safe starting value.
  2. Plan caps – your subscription (Basic, Premium, Master)

raises or lowers individual defaults.

  1. Account-size scaling – with auto-scaling on, a larger

portfolio may e.g. carry more positions.

  1. Your override – the value you set in the UI wins, provided

the field is unlocked by your plan.

Fields your plan does not unlock are greyed out. The „reset" button next to each field restores the default; „reset settings" does the same for every field on that account.

Safety notice

The values above are filter and sorting parameters, not trading decisions. Even with very strict filter settings a wheel trade can lose money (large price gaps, delistings, take-overs, issuer insolvency, and so on). Review every suggestion consciously before submitting it to IBKR.