Does selling OTM put and put spread tend to have negative EV? For EV to be positive, the probability of ITM has to be very small. 

    I sell OTM put and put spread. Today I surprisingly realized that all of my positions have negative EV using delta as a proxy of prob. ITM.  For EV to be positive, the real probability of ITM has to be insanely small. 

    Here is one position on my book as an illustration. Was I stupid trading these? Or is it generally the case for OTM puts? 

    TQQQ 66/69 put spread, expiring 2026-05-22: based on TQQQ at $78.95 as of 2026-05-14, position size short 40 put spreads, short leg 69 put, premium $864, gross exposure $12,000, max loss $11,136, EV = 0.90 × 864 – 0.10 × 11,136 = 777.60 – 1,113.60 = -$336.00; positive EV requires real-world loss probability below 864 / 12,000 = 7.20%.

    Does selling OTM put and put spread tend to have negative EV?
    byu/zhaoc033 inoptions



    Posted by zhaoc033

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