Spreads, liquidity, and realistic option fills

The displayed midpoint is not automatically the price a buyer can trade.

The boundary buyers miss

Options markets can have wide bid-ask spreads, thin strikes, uneven open interest, and fast changes around news. A published entry at a midpoint may be a useful reference, but it is not the same as a fill. The difference matters because a premium can lose a large percentage before the underlying has moved far.

What the record should show

A buyer should record bid, ask, midpoint, size, timestamp, and the actual exit assumption. Compare the quoted contract with the liquidity available in the session that produced the result. A strategy that looks strong at a midpoint can have a different expectancy after crossing the spread.

How to use the test

Evaluate fills with the same discipline as the signal: include spread, commissions, slippage, partial fills, and the possibility that an exit was unavailable at the displayed level. A record that cannot state those assumptions should be treated as a published reference, not a personal account result.

Bottom line

A timestamp anchors what was published. It does not guarantee that every subscriber received the same premium or exit.

Read the options field brief · Compare provider evidence · Back to Best Options Signals