what is a bull spread 
a bull spread is an optimistic options strategy designed to profit from a moderate rise in the price of a security or asset a variety of vertical spread a bull spread involves the simultaneous purchase and sale of either call options or put options with different strike prices but with the same underlying asset and expiration date whether a put or a call the option with the lower strike price is bought and the one with the higher strike price is sold a bull call spread is also called a debit call spread because the trade generates a net debt to the account when it is opened the option purchased costs more than the option sold 1understanding a bull spreadif the strategy uses call options it is called a bull call spread if it uses put options it is called a bull put spread the practical difference between the two lies in the timing of the cash flows for the bull call spread you pay upfront and seek profit later when it expires for the bull put spread you collect money upfront and seek to hold on to as much of it as possible when it expires both strategies involve collecting a premium on the sale of the options so the initial cash investment is less than it would be by purchasing options alone 1