“Swissquote’s Options Strategy Builder lets you send one order for two options instead of two separate orders, and shows the payoff, breakevens and maximum profit and loss before you place it.”
This guide explains why a single order matters and what the tool covers today. It shows how to choose a strategy from a market view and read its payoff through a worked example. It ends with how to roll, close and amend orders and a checklist to run before you execute.
Why is one order for two options the main advantage?
The main advantage is that you place a single order for both options instead of two separate orders. Before the Strategy Builder, you had to execute one option, then the other. That created two problems:
- Legging risk: while you execute the first option, the price of the second can change quickly, so the strategy may end up costing more than you planned.
- Two bid-ask spreads: each option has its own bid-ask spread, and you had to manage both.
With the Strategy Builder, you place one order for the whole strategy and manage one bid-ask spread.
The trade mask also shows an indicative mid price to help you set your limit. Swissquote calculates this mid price, so it is a reference without any guarantee of execution at that level.
What does the Options Strategy Builder cover today?
Today, the Options Strategy Builder covers two-leg strategies on US stock options traded on OPRA. Strategies with more than two legs and other markets are not available yet.
Within that scope, you can build Straddles, Strangles and Vertical, Calendar and Diagonal Spreads. For each strategy, the tool lists the two legs with their strike, expiry and whether each is bought or sold. It also explains the structure, tags it by market view and displays the maximum profit, maximum loss, breakevens and payoff curve. It does not predict what the market will do. Its purpose is to make the mechanics of a strategy clear before you trade.
The tool is designed to evolve. Swissquote aims to extend it to strategies with three or four legs and to other markets in future developments. Check the Options & Futures page for the current scope.
How do you choose a strategy from your market view?
Start from your market view, not from a strategy name. Ask what you expect from the underlying: a rise, a fall, a stay within a range, a large move in an unknown direction, or a move that plays out over time. The table matches each view with the strategies available in the tool.
| Market view | Strategies | Risks and opportunities to know |
|---|---|---|
| Moderately bullish | Bull Call Spread (net debit), Bull Put Spread (net credit, bullish to neutral) | Profit and loss both capped |
| Moderately bearish | Bear Put Spread (net debit), Bear Call Spread (net credit, bearish to neutral) | Profit and loss both capped |
| Large move, direction unknown | Long Straddle, Long Strangle | Loss limited to the premium paid; a Strangle needs a larger move to break even |
| Range bound, falling volatility | Short Straddle, Short Strangle | Undefined risk: the short call can lose without limit |
| Neutral or directional over time | Calendar Spread (same strike, two expiries), Diagonal Spread (different strikes and expiries) | Debit versions risk the net cost paid |
These are simplified descriptions, not recommendations. How a strategy behaves depends on the strikes, expiries, premiums and market conditions you select.
Starting from the view changes the question from “Which strategy should I trade?” to “Which structure best expresses the scenario I expect?”
How do you read a strategy’s payoff, breakeven and maximum loss?
Read the payoff curve for three things: where you lose money, where you break even and where the strategy reaches its maximum profit or loss. A Bull Call Spread shows how.
Imagine an underlying trading at USD 100. You buy a call with a USD 100 strike for USD 6 and sell a call with a USD 110 strike for USD 2, both with the same expiry. The net premium paid is USD 4.
- Maximum loss: USD 4, the net premium, if both options expire worthless.
- Breakeven: USD 104, the long call strike plus the net premium.
- Maximum profit: USD 6, the USD 10 strike difference minus the USD 4 premium.
| Underlying at expiry | Simplified outcome |
|---|---|
| Below USD 100 | Maximum loss of USD 4 |
| USD 104 | Breakeven |
| Between USD 104 and USD 110 | Profit increases as the underlying rises |
| USD 110 or above | Maximum profit of USD 6 |
This example is hypothetical and excludes costs, taxes and contract multipliers. Three points follow from it:
If the underlying rises to USD 102, the strategy is still below the USD 104 breakeven at expiry. With options, the size and timing of the move can matter just as much as its direction.
This spread is a net debit, because you pay more premium than you receive. In a net credit, such as a Bull Put Spread, you receive more than you pay. A credit is never free income, because the sold option creates obligations.
For a defined-risk spread, maximum profit and loss are known in advance, but the maximum loss can still be large relative to your capital. Ask how much you could lose compared with what you are prepared to risk.
Payoff curves differ by strategy. A defined-risk spread flattens on both sides. A long Straddle gains from a large move in either direction. A short Straddle or Strangle has a capped profit and an undefined loss. Calendar and Diagonal Spreads are harder to read, because the longer option still holds time value when the shorter one expires, so their payoff at that date depends on volatility as well as price.
How do you find, roll, close and amend a strategy?
You find the Strategy Builder under the option chain and from the account overview of your existing positions.
From the account overview, you can roll or close an existing position as a strategy directly. Rolling means closing a position and opening a similar one with a later expiry, a different strike or both. Closing as a strategy means you close both legs with a single order.
Once an order is placed, you can amend its limit from the account overview or directly from the option chain. Use the indicative mid price in the trade mask as a reference for the new limit, keeping in mind that it carries no guarantee of execution.
What should you check before executing a two-leg trade?
The Strategy Builder makes the structure transparent but does not remove market risk. Options can lose value rapidly, and a payoff curve is a starting point, not the whole trade. Check at least the following:
- Liquidity: bid-ask spreads and trading activity in each option.
- Expiry: a strategy with seven days left behaves very differently from one with three months left.
- Strikes: a change can alter the premium, the breakeven and the maximum profit or loss.
- Implied volatility: it can move option prices even if the underlying does not move.
- Assignment: US stock options are American style, so a sold option can be assigned before expiry.
- Costs: two contracts mean two sets of costs.
- Position size: defined risk does not mean appropriate risk.
If you are new to options, start with our guides to "What options are" and "How call and put options work" before you start trading in options.
Swissquote’s Options Strategy Builder lets you send one order for two options, with one bid-ask spread and without the legging risk of executing each option separately. It shows the payoff, breakevens and maximum profit and loss before you trade. Today it covers two-leg strategies on US stock options (OPRA), and Swissquote aims to extend it to more legs and more markets.
Remember three points. Start from your market view and risk budget, not a strategy name. Check liquidity, volatility and assignment before you execute. Size the position for the maximum loss you can accept, because defined risk is not low risk.
The tool makes the structure transparent. It does not make options safe or outcomes predictable.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Strategy Builder cover today?
Two-leg strategies on US stock options traded on OPRA. Swissquote aims to extend it to three or four legs and to other markets in future developments.
Is the indicative mid price a guaranteed price?
No. Swissquote calculates the mid price shown in the trade mask to help you set your limit, but it carries no guarantee of execution.
Which strategies carry undefined risk?
Short Straddles and Short Strangles, because the short call can lose without limit if the underlying rises sharply. Vertical spreads, which combine one bought and one sold option of the same type, have a capped loss.
The content in this article is provided for educational and marketing purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or financial recommendations.
