Also known as: Call Debit Spread · Vertical Call Spread · Long Call Spread
Buy lower-strike call + sell higher-strike call. Defined risk; bull call debit spread.
Shape illustration on a normalized underlying — open the Lab below to price it on a real option chain.
Buy a call and sell a higher-strike call, same expiration. The short call pays for part of the long call — smaller debit, capped profit at the spread width minus cost.
When you are bullish to a level, not to the moon. The sold call finances the trade and softens time decay; you give up the unlimited upside you probably were not going to get anyway.
Maximum loss is the net debit; maximum profit is the width between strikes minus that debit. Both are known at entry — this is the defined-risk way to express direction.
Similar: Both defined-risk bullish debits.
Different: The naked call keeps unlimited upside but costs more and decays faster; the spread is the probability play.
Similar: Both cap risk and reward around a target.
Different: The butterfly is a pin-point bet on ONE price with a bigger payoff; the vertical pays across an entire region.
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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.