Hi Tom

When buying option spreads do you prefer the long side to be in the money, at the money, or out of the money? Is it ever possible for the option spread to have all of the signs of winner but for some reason does not increase in value? I ask this question because I have heard there are times when the value of an option fails to increase even though the future's price is moving in the right direction. Can you explain why this happens and how is this avoided? Thanks.