I want to have a long position on the spy.
The price is at 480. I buy 500 shares.
So 480 x 500 = $240,000 to be debited from my account.
Otherwise, I sell 5 ITM puts at delta 1 with no time value.
It comes down to the same thing.
However, this only costs me $15,000 in margin and increases my cash flow.
I will try to take the same position on the SPX or XPS index but the spread is very wide.
Thank you for your answers.
You said the time value of your puts is zero or near zero. That's probably why you get assigned. I think if time value is near zero, then the long option holder can exercise the option at no loss of time value.
If your goal is to get exposure to the S&P 500 with little capital requirement, why don't you just buy /ES or /MES futures?
Another possibility would be to sell at the money options, which typically have about -0.5 delta.