Educational only, not tax or financial advice. Product specs and tax treatment (including Section 1256) are situation-specific — consult a professional and verify current specs.
SPY, SPX, XSP, QQQ, and IWM all offer liquid daily 0DTE options — but they differ in size, settlement, tax treatment, liquidity, and volatility. This hub links the deep-dives and helps you choose.
The individual vehicles
- SPX vs SPY: the core differences
- SPY vs SPX for 0DTE specifically
- XSP: the cash-settled, tax-friendly Mini-SPX
- QQQ 0DTE: scalping the Nasdaq's daily expiries
- IWM 0DTE: scalping small-cap volatility
How to choose
- The best index for 0DTE scalping: how to pick
- SPY vs QQQ for scalping: which should you trade?
- Cash-settled vs physically-settled: why it matters
- Section 1256 and the 60/40 tax treatment
- /ES futures vs SPY options for intraday S&P trading
Want the dealer map and one-click execution in one cockpit? That’s NoVo. See NoVo Trader, NoVo Analyst, or compare plans.
The sensible default
For most scalpers — especially starting out — SPY is the default: unmatched liquidity, the tightest spreads, and the deepest tool ecosystem. The others are deliberate trade-offs: SPX for size and tax treatment, XSP for those benefits in a small size, QQQ/IWM for more volatility. The dealer-structure and 0DTE discipline apply to all of them — and NoVo specializes in SPY, mapping its dealer levels and executing in one click.