Leaderboard

Yes, that could make sense. Another thing to do is to track the calendar price over the last few days in 5-15 minute intervals, see how much it moves around, and then try to enter at a low point.

If calendar RV is steadily rising you'd like the RV to be in-line or below prior cycles (you don't want it sky high). If calendar RV is flat then you only want to enter if current RV is very low compared to prior cycles. I'm not sure what you mean by 1/3 of the distance? short leg is always earnings week, the long leg is usually the next monthly expiration out for better liquidity. However, it if is a very high dollar stock we'll use 1-week calendars to keep the price lower.

Calendar break-even points are not 100% accurate as the short and long IV will be rising at much different rates, we generally use the ATM +/- implied move as a quick reference for how much stock price movement is too much. Calendars are typically entered for 2 scenarios: steadily rising calendar RV heading into earnings. current RV is cheap based on prior cycles. Good if both are true, but either one can be a sign for a good entry point.