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The market opened with a nasty gap Thursday morning, and while most traders were panicking, I was setting up one of my favorite plays — a zero-days-till-expiration (0DTE) bull put spreads positioned at extreme levels.
Here’s what happened…
I placed bull put spreads at the 6,550/6,545 SPX strikes for a $1.00 credit, targeting levels that were sitting around 150% to 200% of the Average True Range (ATR) below current prices.
These aren’t random strikes — they represent extreme moves that typically don’t hold during regular trading hours.
The beauty of this setup is in the timing and positioning. When the market gaps down hard, implied volatility spikes, and those put spreads become incredibly attractive from a premium collection standpoint.
Understanding the 0DTE Bull Put Spread
A 0DTE bull put spread is a strategy that involves selling a put option while simultaneously buying a lower strike put option with the same expiration date — in this case, expiring the day of.
This creates a credit spread — a simple vertical spread — where you collect the premium upfront. The goal is to have both options expire worthless by the end of the day, allowing you to keep the entire premium as profit.
To execute this, you first identify a support level where you believe the market won’t drop below by the close. You then sell a put option at that strike and buy another put option at a lower strike to hedge your position.
The difference in the premiums of the two options is your credit. The key is to position these spreads at levels where significant market moves are unlikely, allowing you to capitalize on the market’s tendency to revert to the mean after a gap down.
The Quick Win Mentality
Within 30 minutes, that same spread was trading for around 50-60 cents, representing a solid 40-50% profit on the position. This is exactly why I love 0DTE strategies — when they work, they work fast.
But here’s the key insight that separates profitable traders from those who give it all back…
I took the profit when the spread dropped to around 40-50 cents rather than holding for max gain. Too many traders get greedy and end up watching their winners turn into losers, so I took the money and ran.
When I’m already up 50% on a trade, it’s not worth keeping it on for an extra 20 cents of potential profit. I like to take the win and move on to the next setup.
Why This Strategy Works
The magic happens during those gap openings when fear is elevated and the market is pricing in continued downside that rarely materializes.
By positioning bull put spreads at extreme ATR levels, you’re essentially betting that the market won’t close below those panic lows — and history shows that’s usually the right bet.
The risk management is built right into the structure. You know your maximum loss upfront — the distance between the two strikes minus the credit you get — and when volatility contracts as the market settles, those spreads lose value quickly in your favor.
This trade was a perfect example of why I focus on taking quick profits rather than swinging for the fences. Consistency beats home runs over the long haul, especially in 0DTE strategies where time decay works in your favor.
I’ll see you in the markets.
Chris Pulver
Chris Pulver Trading
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*This is for informational and educational purposes only. There is inherent risk in trading, so trade at your own risk.
P.S. D.O.G.E. Can’t Save Us From the Debt Crisis
I was looking at the D.O.G.E. clock the other day…
From what it shows, it’s been able to save close to $650 billion with a target to save $2 trillion by July 2026.
Now let’s assume for a second that they succeed and by some miracle, our total debt doesn’t go up at all until then.
That still leaves us with over a third of a hundred trillion dollars in national debt.
These aren’t numbers anyone should overlook.
And when this massive pile comes crashing down…
Only those with regular “cash flow” will be able to keep up with higher gas and grocery prices, increased taxes, rent, bills and many more.
That’s why I’ve been trying to tee you in on my most consistent source of weekly cash flow from the market.
For six months running, we’ve not missed any of our shots at weekly income.
And right now, we’re setting up for the final trades of Q3 with a bunch more opportunities opening up in Q4.
There’s room for you to get in on the one opening up right now.
But first, I’d like to show you what goes into these weekly trades.
I’ll admit I can’t make any absolute guarantees on what happens in the future, but…
If you’d like to see more…
We develop tools and strategies to the best of our ability, but no one can guarantee the future. There is always a risk of loss when trading past performance is not indicative of future results. From 9/30/24 – 9/19/25 on live trades the win rate is 97%, 17% average return, with an average hold time of 12 days.
