Also known as: Horizontal Call Spread · Time Spread
Sell near-dated call + buy farther-dated call at the SAME strike.
Sell a near-dated call and buy a longer-dated call at the same strike. You harvest the faster time decay of the short-dated option while holding the slower-decaying long one.
When you expect the stock to sit near the strike through the near expiration, or when near-dated implied volatility is rich relative to longer-dated.
A big move in either direction hurts — the structure wants stillness first, movement later. Because the legs expire at different times, the payoff cannot be drawn as one expiration curve; model it in the Strategy Lab.
Similar: Both sell near-term premium against a longer-dated long.
Different: The calendar uses the SAME strike; the diagonal shifts strikes to add a directional lean.
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Educational content — not investment advice. Options involve substantial risk and are not suitable for every investor. All trading on Opus Options Trading is simulated.