Daily Options Plays — Top 2 Picks
Overview
Create a simple, disciplined options watchlist for beginners. Keep the output narrow: scan after 9:45 AM ET, rank setups, give only the best 2 plays, and translate each idea into a paper-trade plan with entry, stop, target, contract guidance, and a short plain-English thesis.
Workflow
- Run only on U.S. stock market trading days. Skip weekends and market holidays when the market is closed.
- Wait until at least 9:45 AM ET for same-day trade ideas. Do not issue opening-drive signals in the first 15 minutes.
- Review the user’s stock universe or use a small liquid default list if none is provided.
- Score setups using price action, volume, trend, support/resistance, catalyst context, and market tone.
- Return only the top 2 plays. Fewer is better if conviction is weak.
- For each play, provide:
- ticker and direction
- entry
- stop / invalidation
- first target and stretch target when useful
- confidence from 1-10
- short rationale with key risk
- 1-2 week near-the-money options guidance
- Default to paper-trade-first language unless the user explicitly asks for live execution framing.
- Re-check the watchlist roughly once per hour, not every few minutes, unless the user requests a live drill-down.
Output Rules
- Keep the writeup concise and easy to scan.
- Prefer liquid large-cap names and obvious levels over exotic setups.
- Avoid more than 2 trade ideas in the final answer.
- If the market is messy, say no clean setup instead of forcing picks.
- Never promise outcomes. Use probability language.
- Explicitly mention that this is educational planning, not guaranteed financial advice.
Contract Guidance
Translate the stock setup into beginner-friendly options guidance:
- Prefer calls for bullish ideas and puts for bearish ideas.
- Prefer near-the-money strikes.
- Prefer expirations about 1-2 weeks out.
- Avoid very short-dated contracts unless the user knowingly wants faster decay and higher risk.
- If implied volatility or liquidity looks problematic, say so and reduce confidence.
Monitoring Philosophy
Use an hourly monitoring mindset by default:
- Check whether price is holding above/below the planned entry zone.
- Check whether stop or invalidation is close.
- Check whether the thesis still matches market tone and news.
- If price hits target 1, discuss partial-profit logic or stop tightening.
- If the thesis breaks, say exit or stand aside. Do not rationalize a bad setup.
Recommended Response Shape
Use this structure when generating the watchlist:
- Market tone: 1-3 bullets
- Macro / News Context: explicitly say if it is an FOMC day, CPI day, earnings-heavy day, major geopolitical/world-event day, or if there is no major market-moving news
- Play 1
- Play 2
- No-trade note or risk note
- Paper-trade reminder
References
Read references/watchlist-framework.md when you need the exact scan checklist, ranking criteria, or an example output format.
1---2name: daily-options-plays-top-2-picks3description: Build a simple stock-options watchlist and paper-trade plan after the first 15 minutes of the market session. Use when the user wants a 9:45 AM ET scan, only the top 2 stock plays, clear entry/stop/target levels, 1-2 week near-the-money contract guidance, hourly check-in logic, or a no-hype paper-trading workflow with explicit risks and no guarantees.4---56# Daily Options Plays — Top 2 Picks78## Overview910Create a simple, disciplined options watchlist for beginners. Keep the output narrow: scan after 9:45 AM ET, rank setups, give only the best 2 plays, and translate each idea into a paper-trade plan with entry, stop, target, contract guidance, and a short plain-English thesis.1112## Workflow13141. Run only on U.S. stock market trading days. Skip weekends and market holidays when the market is closed.152. Wait until at least 9:45 AM ET for same-day trade ideas. Do not issue opening-drive signals in the first 15 minutes.163. Review the user’s stock universe or use a small liquid default list if none is provided.173. Score setups using price action, volume, trend, support/resistance, catalyst context, and market tone.184. Return only the top 2 plays. Fewer is better if conviction is weak.195. For each play, provide:20 - ticker and direction21 - entry22 - stop / invalidation23 - first target and stretch target when useful24 - confidence from 1-1025 - short rationale with key risk26 - 1-2 week near-the-money options guidance276. Default to paper-trade-first language unless the user explicitly asks for live execution framing.287. Re-check the watchlist roughly once per hour, not every few minutes, unless the user requests a live drill-down.2930## Output Rules3132- Keep the writeup concise and easy to scan.33- Prefer liquid large-cap names and obvious levels over exotic setups.34- Avoid more than 2 trade ideas in the final answer.35- If the market is messy, say no clean setup instead of forcing picks.36- Never promise outcomes. Use probability language.37- Explicitly mention that this is educational planning, not guaranteed financial advice.3839## Contract Guidance4041Translate the stock setup into beginner-friendly options guidance:4243- Prefer calls for bullish ideas and puts for bearish ideas.44- Prefer near-the-money strikes.45- Prefer expirations about 1-2 weeks out.46- Avoid very short-dated contracts unless the user knowingly wants faster decay and higher risk.47- If implied volatility or liquidity looks problematic, say so and reduce confidence.4849## Monitoring Philosophy5051Use an hourly monitoring mindset by default:5253- Check whether price is holding above/below the planned entry zone.54- Check whether stop or invalidation is close.55- Check whether the thesis still matches market tone and news.56- If price hits target 1, discuss partial-profit logic or stop tightening.57- If the thesis breaks, say exit or stand aside. Do not rationalize a bad setup.5859## Recommended Response Shape6061Use this structure when generating the watchlist:6263- Market tone: 1-3 bullets64- Macro / News Context: explicitly say if it is an FOMC day, CPI day, earnings-heavy day, major geopolitical/world-event day, or if there is no major market-moving news65- Play 166- Play 267- No-trade note or risk note68- Paper-trade reminder6970## References7172Read `references/watchlist-framework.md` when you need the exact scan checklist, ranking criteria, or an example output format.
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