Daily Options Plays — Top 2 Picks

---

name: daily-options-plays-top-2-picks description: Build a simple stock-options watchlist and paper-trade plan after the first 15 minutes of the market session. Use when the user wants a 9:45 AM ET scan, only the top 2 stock plays, clear entry/stop/target levels, 1-2 week near-the-money contract guidance, hourly check-in logic, or a no-hype paper-trading workflow with explicit risks and no guarantees.

---

Daily Options Plays — Top 2 Picks

Overview

Create a simple, disciplined options watchlist for beginners. Keep the output narrow: scan after 9:45 AM ET, rank setups, give only the best 2 plays, and translate each idea into a paper-trade plan with entry, stop, target, contract guidance, and a short plain-English thesis.

Workflow

1. Run only on U.S. stock market trading days. Skip weekends and market holidays when the market is closed. 2. Wait until at least 9:45 AM ET for same-day trade ideas. Do not issue opening-drive signals in the first 15 minutes. 3. Review the user’s stock universe or use a small liquid default list if none is provided. 3. Score setups using price action, volume, trend, support/resistance, catalyst context, and market tone. 4. Return only the top 2 plays. Fewer is better if conviction is weak. 5. For each play, provide: - ticker and direction - entry - stop / invalidation - first target and stretch target when useful - confidence from 1-10 - short rationale with key risk - 1-2 week near-the-money options guidance 6. Default to paper-trade-first language unless the user explicitly asks for live execution framing. 7. Re-check the watchlist roughly once per hour, not every few minutes, unless the user requests a live drill-down.

Output Rules

Keep the writeup concise and easy to scan.

Prefer liquid large-cap names and obvious levels over exotic setups.

Avoid more than 2 trade ideas in the final answer.

If the market is messy, say no clean setup instead of forcing picks.

Never promise outcomes. Use probability language.

Explicitly mention that this is educational planning, not guaranteed financial advice.

Contract Guidance

Translate the stock setup into beginner-friendly options guidance:

Prefer calls for bullish ideas and puts for bearish ideas.

Prefer near-the-money strikes.

Prefer expirations about 1-2 weeks out.

Avoid very short-dated contracts unless the user knowingly wants faster decay and higher risk.

If implied volatility or liquidity looks problematic, say so and reduce confidence.

Monitoring Philosophy

Use an hourly monitoring mindset by default:

Check whether price is holding above/below the planned entry zone.

Check whether stop or invalidation is close.

Check whether the thesis still matches market tone and news.

If price hits target 1, discuss partial-profit logic or stop tightening.

If the thesis breaks, say exit or stand aside. Do not rationalize a bad setup.

Recommended Response Shape

Use this structure when generating the watchlist:

Market tone: 1-3 bullets

Macro / News Context: explicitly say if it is an FOMC day, CPI day, earnings-heavy day, major geopolitical/world-event day, or if there is no major market-moving news

Play 1

Play 2

No-trade note or risk note

Paper-trade reminder

References

Read references/watchlist-framework.md when you need the exact scan checklist, ranking criteria, or an example output format.