What they're buying off-chain.

Options Part 3 Easy strategy selection One of the cool things about tastytrade is that it makes it quite easy to do various spread strategies. At the top of the screenshot in part 2 you can see at the top: "Strategy" and I have it selected for "Vertical Short Put". By expanding the expiry date I want, and then pressing the blue return button next to the strategy, will automatically select a trade matching that strategy in the window. I can then fine tune it using the trade overview buttons at the bottom, e.g. change the strike price, quantity and so on. For a bull put spread, this is also known as a vertical short put. I can change it to a bear call spread simply by changing it to "Vertical Short Call" (this is where you expect a stock price to decline and stay under your strikes). Generally though, since the link in the first post says "The S&P 500 has finished higher roughly 70% of all 30-day periods since 1950", you are 70% right by using "Vertical short put" Some other interesting strategies worth looking at (but with generally different risks and rewards) are calendar spreads (different expiries), covered calls (you can cover potential assignment). The rest are a bit more advanced and probably not worth going too deep into at an early stage.

Options Part 4 Placing the order When you place your trade, you will notice the slider at the bottom: BID (OPP) - MID - ASK (NAT) That's showing how your order price is being calculated/selected: - BID (OPP) = the bid price from the other side of the trade - MID = the midpoint between the bid and ask - ASK (NAT) = the ask price from the other side The abbreviations OPP and NAT are broker-specific terminology, but generally: - OPP = Opposite side → when you're buying, it references the bid; when you're selling, it references the ask. - NAT = Natural price → the price currently available from the other side of the market. So BID / MID / ASK is basically showing you the market's range for what you can realistically get filled at. Just because you place a trade, doesn't mean it will be filled immediately, nor does it mean it will be filled at all (it might not be). Oftentimes it's a waiting game, other times you might need to adjust your order, in which case you can right click it and click replace. You can move that slider around a bit, but be aware of the "profit/loss" will change as you do this... Remember to also select "Net Credit" (since you are looking to collect premiums), and then ensure you enter the time in force to be the option's expiry minus 1 day. You can also preview the "quick analysis" to see what the estimated payoff looks like (see the screenshot). Finally, before you submit the trade you can see what the effect is on your account (it's expected that you will reduce your balance because you still have to cover the potential assignment until this all expires or is closed out)