PMCC Scanner
Finds optimal Poor Man's Covered Call setups by scoring symbols on option chain quality.
What is PMCC?
Buy deep ITM LEAPS call (delta ~0.80) + Sell short-term OTM call (delta ~0.20) against it. Cheaper alternative to covered calls.
Instructions
Note: Ifuvis not installed orpyproject.tomlis not found, replaceuv run pythonwithpythonin all commands below.
uv run python scripts/scan.py SYMBOLS [options]Arguments
SYMBOLS- Comma-separated tickers or path to JSON file from bullish scanner--min-leaps-days- Minimum LEAPS expiration in days (default: 270 = 9 months)--leaps-delta- Target LEAPS delta (default: 0.80)--short-delta- Target short call delta (default: 0.20)--output- Save results to JSON file
Scoring System (max possible: 14, range: -4 to 14)
| Category | Condition | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Delta Accuracy | LEAPS within ±0.05 | +2 |
| LEAPS within ±0.10 | +1 | |
| Short within ±0.05 | +1 | |
| Short within ±0.10 | +0.5 | |
| Liquidity | LEAPS vol+OI > 100 | +1 |
| LEAPS vol+OI > 20 | +0.5 | |
| Short vol+OI > 500 | +1 | |
| Short vol+OI > 100 | +0.5 | |
| Spread | LEAPS spread < 5% | +1 |
| LEAPS spread < 10% | +0.5 | |
| Short spread < 10% | +1 | |
| Short spread < 20% | +0.5 | |
| IV Level | 25-50% (ideal) | +2 |
| 20-60% | +1 | |
| Yield | Annual > 50% | +2 |
| Annual > 30% | +1 | |
| Trend | Price > SMA50 | +1 / -1 |
| RSI > 50 | +0.5 / -0.5 | |
| MACD > signal | +0.5 / -0.5 | |
| Earnings | Next earnings > 45 days | +1.0 |
| Earnings within 45 days | -1.0 | |
| Earnings within short expiry | -2.0 |
Output
Returns JSON with:
criteria- Scan parameters usedresults- Array sorted by score:
- symbol, price, iv_pct, pmcc_score, max_possible_score (always 14) - leaps - expiry, strike, delta, bid/ask, spread%, volume, OI - short - expiry, strike, delta, bid/ask, spread%, volume, OI - metrics - net_debit, short_yield%, annual_yield%, capital_required - score_breakdown - every scoring component as a <name>_delta (float) + <name> (explanation string) pair: - Base: leaps_delta, short_delta, leaps_liquidity, short_liquidity, leaps_spread, short_spread, iv, yield - Trend: trend_delta, trend (per-indicator dict) - Earnings: earnings_delta, earnings - All _delta values sum to pmcc_score
errors- Symbols that failed (no options, insufficient data)
Examples
# Scan specific symbols
uv run python scripts/scan.py AAPL,MSFT,GOOGL,NVDA
# Use output from bullish scanner
uv run python scripts/scan.py bullish_results.json
# Custom delta targets
uv run python scripts/scan.py AAPL,MSFT --leaps-delta 0.70 --short-delta 0.15
# Longer LEAPS (1 year minimum)
uv run python scripts/scan.py AAPL,MSFT --min-leaps-days 365
# Save results
uv run python scripts/scan.py AAPL,MSFT,GOOGL --output pmcc_results.jsonKey Constraints
- Short strike must be above LEAPS strike
- Options with bid = 0 (illiquid) are skipped
- Moderate IV (25-50%) scores highest
Interpretation
- Score > 12: Excellent candidate (strong structure + bullish trend + clear earnings runway)
- Score 10-12: Good candidate
- Score 6-10: Acceptable with caveats
- Score < 6: Poor structure, bearish trend, or earnings risk
max_possible_scoreis always 14 — usepmcc_score / max_possible_scoreto gauge how close a candidate is to perfect
Dependencies
numpypandasscipyyfinance