If you’ve ever built a watchlist of bull call spreads only to discover that half of them have bid-ask spreads wider than a country road (or virtually no volume), you already know the frustration. Good setups on paper can turn into painful fills—or no fills at all—when liquidity is missing.That’s exactly why so many self-directed options traders are now leaning heavily on liquidity-based screening before they ever place a trade. And in a recent live webinar, we walked through one of the cleanest, most practical ways to do it using a dedicated tool on Market Chameleon.Here’s what the session covered—and why it’s worth your time whether you’re relatively new to debit spreads or you’ve been trading them for years.The Three Liquidity Filters That Actually Move the NeedleWhen you’re scanning for bull call spreads, raw theoretical edge means very little if you can’t get filled at a reasonable price. The webinar focused on three core metrics you can filter instantly:
Option Volume & Open Interest – Higher numbers generally signal real trader interest and tighter markets.
Bid-Ask Spread (both in dollars and as a percentage of the mid-price) – This is your slippage meter. A spread that’s 0.05–0.15 wide on a $2.00–$4.00 debit is worlds apart from one quoting $0.60 wide.
Underlying Volume – Active stocks tend to have active options chains. Simple, but easy to overlook.
By dialing in minimum thresholds on all three, you can cut a universe of hundreds (or thousands) of possible bull call spreads down to a short, actionable list—often 5-15 candidates—in seconds.A Live Walk-Through You Can Replicate TodayThe real value came from watching the screener in action. Using Market Chameleon’s Bull Call Spread Screener (link below), the presenter set common-sense filters such as:
Minimum 500 contracts of open interest on both legs
Maximum $0.20 bid-ask on the spread itself
Minimum 1 million shares of daily average volume in the underlying
The result? A clean list of spreads on household-name stocks and ETFs with tight markets and genuine two-sided interest. From there it’s simply a matter of sorting by expiration, strike width, or cost-to-enter and digging into the setups that match your risk tolerance and market outlook.Tool used in the webinar: https://marketchameleon.com/Screeners/BullCallSpreadsWhy This Approach Feels Like a SuperpowerOnce you see the difference between an unfiltered scan and a liquidity-filtered one, it’s hard to go back. You stop wasting time analyzing spreads that look “cheap” but are practically untradable. You spend your energy on candidates that actually behave the way the charts suggest they will.And the best part: you don’t need a Bloomberg terminal or a six-figure platform subscription. Market Chameleon puts this level of filtering within reach of any self-directed trader.Give It a Try YourselfNext time you’re hunting for bullish debit spread ideas, start with the same three liquidity filters shown in the webinar. Run them on the Market Chameleon Bull Call Spread Screener here: https://marketchameleon.com/Screeners/BullCallSpreadsPlay with the thresholds, add extra criteria (delta range, days to expiration, maximum cost, etc.), and watch how quickly the noise disappears.Screening isn’t about finding “the perfect trade”—it’s about making sure the trades you do take have a fighting chance from the moment you click “confirm.”Financial Disclosure: The content above is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or a solicitation to buy or sell any securities or options. Options trading involves substantial risk and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Please consider your financial situation and risk tolerance before trading. The author may hold positions in securities or strategies discussed.
