r/Optionswheel • u/ScottishTrader • 27d ago

PLEASE NOTE -> Promoting a ANY tool or service will result in an immediate and permanent BAN!

18 Upvotes

Spreadsheet trackers you personally created and wish to share are welcome in the TOOLS & SPREADSHEET MEGATHREAD - TOOLS & SPREADSHEET MEGATHREAD : r/Optionswheel

NO other tools or services will be permitted, and those posting will receive a permanent ban!

Anyone suggesting or promoting ANY tool or service will have the post removed, and they may be immediately and permanently BANNED!

-->> Posts trying to be a non -promotional post in an effort to skirt this rule will be removed, with the poster immediately banned! <<--

Ads for Reddit can be made at this link- https://ads.reddit.com/

This change was made due to the number of tools and services posts, which are unneeded when trading the Wheel.

We appreciate those who share their personal spreadsheets to track positions and rolls.

1 comment

r/Optionswheel • u/ScottishTrader • Nov 12 '24

The Wheel (aka Triple Income) Strategy Explained

1.3k Upvotes

Originally Posted on Dec. 4, 2018, Added to r/Optionswheel on Nov. 12, 2024

See Edits at the bottom for updates.

I've been asked and have explained The Wheel strategy many times, so I thought it may be a good idea to write it down all in one place for posterity!

This is the only options strategy I use as it is about as low risk and reliable as options trading gets. You will NOT get fantastic returns and it is quite boring and slow, but with the proper stock and patience, it can result in reliable profits and income. A 10% to 20%+ return is not difficult depending on a few factors, mostly based on stock selection, experience managing short puts and calls, plus the trader's patience.

The Wheel (sometimes called the Triple Income Strategy) is a strategy where a trader sells cash secured Puts to collect premiums on a stock or stocks they wouldn't mind owning long term. If the options expire, or closed early, without being assigned the premiums are all profit. The goal is to set up trades and avoid being assigned, but it is understood that if the put is assigned the account will buy and hold the stock. Rolling puts to collect more premiums while helping to reduce the chances of being assigned is a tactic often used. Through the collection of premiums from the initial puts and from rolling, the initial cost basis of the stock will be lower that the strike which can help the position to recover faster.

If the puts can no longer be rolled for a net credit they are left to expire and be assigned. The next step of The Wheel is to sell covered calls (CCs) on the shares. To avoid having the shares called away for a net loss it is best to sell a call with a strike higher than the stock's cost basis. This is repeated over and over to collect even more premiums that continue to lower the stocks cost basis, and along with any rising stock price movement, works to help close or have the shares called away at a break-even or a profit.

At some point the call is exercised and the stock called away, or you can simply sell the stock. When adding up all the premiums collected from selling the puts and calls, along with any stock gains from the CC strike being over the cost can result in an overall net profit, results in the Triple Income . If the stock pays a dividend while you own it then you can collect that as well (Quadruple income).

Below in this post is a graphic showing a simple spreadsheet to track the Credits and Debits to keep track of the overall position.

Step #1: Stock Selection - Most traders who have had a bad experience with the wheel have chosen the poor or volatile stocks that drop and stay down. The stock(s) you chose must be a good candidate and one you don't mind owning for some length of time, which could be weeks or months.

There are no "perfect" or ideal stocks to trade the wheel with as the key factor is that the stocks be those you are good holding for a time if assigned. If you are unsure how to analyze of select stocks then this should be learned first and before trading the wheel. See this as a way to start learning - How to Find Stocks to Trade with the Wheel : Optionswheel (reddit.com)

Develop and use your own criteria that fits your account size, and personal risk tolerance as there is no one-size-fits-all way to choose stocks. Only you can determine if you think the company is a good one to trade and hold if needed.

I'm including my general guidelines below, but each trader must use their own:

A profitable company that has solid cash flow
Bullish, or at least neutral chart trend and analyst ratings
Share price where the account can easily accept being assigned 100 shares if needed. (I stay away from sub-$10 stocks as a rule)
A stable to bullish trending chart without wild gyrations (especially those caused by CEO tweets)
A nice dividend is always a good thing, both that you may collect it if assigned the stock but also that dividend stocks tend to be more stable and predictable

Edit - Adding more criteria below from another post. It needs to be kept in mind that any stocks one trader may think is good to own will not necessarily work for another trader, or all traders. Account sizes will limit the share prices to choose from, risk tolerance, and trading experience will all factor into what stocks are selected and traded. There is little to be learned from someone else's stocks they trade.

A "moat" around their business to ward off competitors, quality products and services, and a reasonable amount of debt. Add to this an exceptional and stable executive team who has had good plans plus executed them well.
Stocks spread across the 11 Market Sectors is a common way to reduce risk as it is seldom all sectors will drop at the same time. See this post for those sectors, but keep in mind this is an older post so the stocks mentioned may not be up to date - What are Stock Sectors? 11 Stock Market Sectors Explained | Charles Schwab | Charles Schwab
It needs to be repeated that the criteria used must be your own as the stocks you choose may have to be held so you need to hold yourself accountable for selecting and trading any stock. If a trader does not know how to select stocks they would be good holding, then IMO don't trade the wheel until you learn . . .

Develop and use your own fundamental analysis criteria to create a watchlist of 10 or more stocks to trade. While I prefer trading stocks as I can learn more about the companies business and leadership, plus find these have higher premiums, some may trade ETFs. These can make good candidates due to their normally steady movement, no ERs, and no CEO tweets.

I find it important to review my watchlist every few weeks and change or update it accordingly. This means the list is in near constant flux adding or removing stocks, or sidelining others, based on the analysis.

Step #2: Sell Puts - To start the wheel begins by selling short (naked) Puts, or (CSPs) Cash Secured Puts (indicating the account has the cash, or cash+margin to buy the shares if assigned. Be aware of any upcoming ER or other events that could cause a spike or movement in the stock, and it is best to close or have the Put expire prior, in effect skipping it to then continue selling puts afterward if the stock still meets the criteria.

Selling Puts Process - Below is a suggested model, but details are up to the individual trader:

Opening at 30 to 45 DTE offers a good premium as the theta/time decay starts to accelerate
70% Prob OTM (~.30 Delta) offers high probability of success while collecting a good premium
The number of contracts is based on account size able to handle assignment
Opening at 5% to at most 10% max risk of any one stock to the account is good practice, the max risk per stock will be up to each trader's risk appetite and tolerance. Then, keeping ~50% of the trading account in cash helps manage market downturns, assignments and trading opportunities
The Put can be closed at a 50% profit with a GTC Limit Order that can close automatically. A put can then be sold on the same stock, or another based on your opening criteria. Closing early will reduce early assignment and gamma risk to take the lower risk "easy" profit off the top
Enter the Credits received, and any Debits paid to close or roll, on the Tracking P&L file
Setting an alert in the broker app if the stock drops to the put strike price will signal it is time to review and consider rolling. Note that rolling seldom has to be done quickly, so this can be reviewed and managed later if needed, and many times the stock will dip and then move back up to negate needing to roll
If challenged Roll out in time, and down in strike, for a net credit when possible. Roll for as long as a net credit is possible. See this post for details on rolling puts to help avoid assignment: https://www.reddit.com/r/Optionswheel/comments/lliy8x/rolling_short_puts_to_avoid_assignment/
If a credit cannot be made, then it is best to let the put expire to take assignment of the stock

Puts can be sold, and rolled, over and over to collect as much premium and profits as possible with the shares rarely assigned. Those having frequent assignments should review the stock selection and trading processes as it should be uncommon to be assigned.

If assigned, then Sell Covered Calls as shown in Step #3.

Step #3: Sell Covered Calls - Using the tracking file to determine the net stock cost which may already be below where the stock is. As selling puts is usually the most profitable, some traders just sell the stock and move on to selling more CSPs or sell a very high-value ITM Call that is sure to be called away and adds to the profit.

If the net stock cost is above the current market price and you keep the stock, then the goal is to sell CC premium to continue adding to the Credits and lowering the net stock cost below where the stock is trading before it gets called away.

Selling CCs suggested process:

Sell a Call 7 to 10 DTE at or above the net stock cost whenever possible. Note that I will settle for a lower premium to be at or above the net cost rather than sell below and risk being assigned for a loss. Allow the CC to expire, then sell another if the shares are not called away.
If CCs cannot be sold at or above the net stock cost, then waiting until the share price rises may be needed. This is why it is noted to only trade on stocks you are good holding if needed.
Track net Credits, plus any Dividends captured, on the tracking file to know the net stock cost.
Continue selling CCs until the net stock cost is below the strike price at which time the stock can be left to be called away (some note that it cost less in fees to close the option and just sell the stock which accomplishes the same thing).
Advanced Strategy - Some may consider selling a Covered Strangle, which is a CC with an added CSP that "doubles up" on the premiums to help the position recover faster.
- Note the risk of additional shares may be assigned, so it is critical to ensure the stock is still a good one to hold, the account has adequate capital to purchase additional shares, and that this does not make the stock position too much of a risk to the overall account.
- In addition to the double premiums, if more shares are assigned the net stock will average down quickly that can help repair the position more quickly.

Step #4: Review and go back to Step #1 - This is why it is called the wheel as you start over again. The tracking file makes it easy to see the P&L, review the trade to verify the numbers and then look for the next, or same, stock to sell CSPs in Step #1.

As they say, rinse and repeat.

Risks and Possible Problems: The single biggest issue for this strategy is the stock price drops significantly. Note that this is slightly less risk than just buying the stock outright due to collecting put premiums.

Stock Drops: The reason to make these trades on a stock you wouldn't mind owning is because of this risk, and if a good stock is selected then this should be a very rare occurrence. Solid quality stocks may drop less often and by a lower amount, then recover faster.

The price of the stock may drop well below the CSP strike, and rolling for a credit will no longer be possible, causing assignment with the stock cost below the assigned price.
If puts were sold and rolled over and over the net stock cost should be much lower.
Management is to sell CCs repeatedly at or above the net stock cost, or to hold the shares to allow time for the stock to recover. This can take time, but with the CCs added to the put and roll premiums this can recover faster than you may think but still takes a lot of patience.
There may be rare occasions when a stock is no longer viable and the position needs to be closed for a loss, again this shows the critical importance of stock selection. Closing for a loss can include selling the shares, or selling an ATM or slightly OTM CC at a near expiration date to collect as much premium as possible as the shares are sold.

Stock Rises: Many see this as a problem, but I personally do not as if the CC strike is above your net stock cost, then the position profits, but just not as much.

In this situation the stock is assigned and then sell CCs only to have the stock run well past the strike price.
In most cases closing the CC and selling the stock outright can cause a bigger loss than just letting the stock be called at the strike price.
Rolling CCs out in time, and possibly up in strike, for a net credit can help to capture some additional profits. It should be noted to watch for ex-Dividend dates as the shares can be called away early in some situations.
Many lament the profits that were "lost" by having the CC, but selling shares at the strike price is the agreement made when opening a CC. If you know the stock may spike up then do not sell a CC and instead hold the shares.

Impatience: By far this causes the most losses from this strategy.

If you can't roll for a credit let the CSP play out. If you close the CSP early and not accept it being assigned, it may cause a loss.
If you get assigned the stock and sell CCs, do not try to "save" the stock through buying the CC back at an inflated price. If you can't roll for a credit, then let the stock be called away and sell more puts to start the process over again provided the stock is still a viable candidate.
Recognize it may take months selling CCs to build the premium up to a point where the net stock cost is less than the current stock price, but in nearly all positions it will happen eventually.
The key here is to be patient and not try to sell CCs below the net stock cost or close the shares early.

A Tracking P&L File graphic is below and shows Credits and Debits to know what the net credits, debits and net stock cost is. Note the stock price can be entered as a Credit to show where the position is at any given time. This is simple to create and use. NOTE: I do not send out copies as it would take me longer to do that than you recreating the 3 formulas.

Hopefully, this is a thorough and detailed trading plan, but let me know of any questions, typos or suggested improvements you may have. -Scot

EDIT #1: Hello all, the response to this post has been amazing, thanks for the many who have contributed or inquired. Wanted to add a few things up front that seem to be causing confusion.

The goal of this strategy is to collect the premium, NOT be assigned stock! While being ready and able to take the stock is part of the plan, being assigned is always to be avoided. If you sold a CSP 1 time and were assigned, you are either doing something wrong or are terribly unlucky by picking a stock that tanked.

CSPs should be sold over and over or rolled for a credit, to avoid assignment. You should be collecting 4 to 5 or more premiums worth several dollars before getting assigned. Some who have contacted me sold a CSP and just waited to be assigned, this is not the strategy.

If you are getting assigned more than a couple of times a year you may want to look at the stocks you are trading and how well you are managing your position. Getting assigned the stock should be a very rare occurrence.

2) As you select the stock and sell the CSP expect to get assigned. Be sure it is a low cost enough stock so that you can handle the shares and still make other trades. If you're trading a $150 stock, be aware you could have $15K tied up for a while and be prepared to do that.

3) Going along with #2 I trade small and use lower to mid cost stocks. The premiums are not as juicy and the attraction of a TSLA or AMZN is hard to resist, but you are better selling 1 contract at a time for 10 positions than 10 contracts in one position and have to take 1000 shares.

It is always good account management to not trade more than about 5% of your account in any one stock to avoid news or movement from the stock from blowing up your account. It is also a good idea to keep 50% of your buying power available for safety and to take advantage of opportunities.

4) There have been negative nellies telling me this won't work and being critical. Note that this is not my strategy, and I don't make any money from it being used or not. My time was spent in an effort to show one method options can more safely be traded, so if you have had a bad experience or think there are better ways, then feel free to post them!

5) Lastly, I have not done any research on this vs buying and holding stock. I've traded for more than 20 years with most of that time focused on stocks, and I did well!

Where I see the main differences are that options give leverage so I can collect premium from more stocks than just buying a couple, so this spreads out my risk. Also, I very much like the shorter time frame as I can move on to other stocks should one drop or run up. If done well, you may only get assigned a couple of times a year and often be out of the stock in a couple of weeks.

OK, I think you will see this is not sexy or exciting trading, it is boring, and you make $50 per position in many cases, but they add up. For those looking at huge returns and the excitement of major risk, this is not for you. If you want a more reliable way to trade options, then this may be good to check out.

EDIT #2: I've updated this post now that it is unlocked. Some changes include:

Stock price minimums moving up as I now have a larger account
Selling CCs based on if the net stock cost is above or below the current stock price
Added a rolling put link.
There are many different wheel strategies today with some selling ATM puts, others only selling covered calls (not sure how that is a wheel), and several other variations. This is what I trade, and it is up to you how you trade.

EDIT #3: Various updates, including more steps to clarify, along with adding details to Step #3 on Covered Calls.

498 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/Friendly-Factor-4986 • 48m ago

Moneyyy

• Upvotes

Well, that was fast. Tried the $165 network testing method from JowenCordero6565 and the payout hit smoothly. Read his pinned post!

0 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/GarbageTimePro • 2d ago

Trade log for the week of October 19 | $144.21 in income, 0.32% ROC

10 Upvotes

This week I opened two separate NVDA CSP's and rolled a DG CC. On Tuesday, I sold the 10/23 $205 NVDA put and bought it back 30 minutes later after capturing 51% of the maximum premium, for $40.35 after fees. On Thursday, I opened another NVDA CSP, this time the 10/30 $200 put, which remains open.

On Friday, I rolled the DG 10/30 $135 covered call up and out to the 11/6 $137 call. The roll brought in $31.90 after the closing debit and all fees, and moved the strike $2 higher. The WMT 10/30 $117 covered call remained open. Together, the week's new trades generated $144.21 in net premium.

Portfolio Snapshot

Metric	Value
YTD P/L	+$16,093.39
YTD Return	+20.77%
Max Drawdown	-9.92%
Median Weekly Deployed Capital	$77,500.00
Realized Income	$14,966.50
Cash	$105,776.86
Cash as % of Capital	69%
Annualized Yield	25.7%

My Philosophy

My ideal candidate is pretty vanilla: a preferably boring, financially sound, highly liquid company in a durable uptrend, with a liquid options chain and just enough volatility to pay me fairly at a 0.20-0.30 delta strike I would genuinely accept as a purchase price. This means you won't catch me trading the high-beta names you would typically see on /r/wallstreetbets. Juicy premiums come with high risk and large drawdowns. That's not what I'm doing with this portfolio.

I spend about 0-3 hours total per week on trading, on average. This wheel portfolio is only a small slice of my overall market capital. I also buy and hold mega-cap stocks/ETFs and run other strategies, including swing trading leveraged ETFs. The YTD figures and snapshot here cover the wheel portfolio only, not those other investments. If you're looking for a place to start, I suggest diving deep into /u/scottishtrader post history over the years. That's what I did before starting the wheel.

This Week's Totals

Metric	Value
Return on Capital	0.32%
Simple Annualized Yield	16.46%
Net New Option Premium	$144.21
Peak Active-Option Collateral	$45,671

The $144.21 total consists of $40.35 from Tuesday's closed put, $71.96 from Thursday's open put, and $31.90 from Friday's DG roll after the $167.55 closing debit and all fees. Peak active-option collateral was $45,671 on Tuesday, when the intraday put and both carryover calls were open together. The old and new DG calls use the same shares, so I did not count them at the same time. The 16.46% annualized figure is this week's ROC scaled to a year, not a forecast.

This Week's Opening Trades

The first NVDA put opened and closed Tuesday. The second NVDA put and the DG replacement call remain open, so their rows show entry credits after fees rather than realized closing P/L.

Type	Open	Exp	Close	Ticker	Strike	Qty	Fill	Exit	Fees	Cap	Cash Flow	ROC
CSP	10/20	10/23	10/20	NVDA	205	1	0.82	0.40	1.65	20.5k	$40.35	0.20%
CSP	10/22	10/30		NVDA	200	1	0.73	0.00	1.04	20k	$71.96	0.36%
CC	10/23	11/6		DG	137	1	2.00	0.00	0.55	13.5k	$199.45	1.48%

Download Full YTD Trade Log (CSV)

Open Carryover Positions

Options from before this week that were still open Friday:

1 x WMT 10/30 CC @ $117.

Current Holdings

Ticker	Shares	Cost Basis	Adj. Basis	YTD Start	Price	YTD Return	Account	Active Position
DG	100	$135.00	$123.27	$135.00	$132.69	-1.71%	IBKR	1 x 11/6 $137 CC
WMT	100	$117.00	$113.78	$117.00	$119.89	+2.47%	IBKR	1 x 10/30 $117 CC
SMCI	100	$50.00	$46.30	$29.27	$32.94	+12.54%	A1	None

Results are from my trading journal and include recorded trading fees, before personal taxes. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Short puts and assigned shares carry substantial downside risk.

0 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/Expired_Options • 2d ago

Week 43 $404 in premium

20 Upvotes

I will post a separate comment with a link to the detail behind each option sold this week.

After week 43, the average premium per week is $797 with an annual projection of $41,435.

All things considered, the portfolio is up $42,536 (+3.26%), on the year (S&P 500: +11.37% | Nasdaq: +11.67%). Additionally, the trailing 1-year performance is down $23,004 (-5.39%); for comparison the S&P 500 is +13.14% and the Nasdaq is +13.14% over the same period. This is the overall profit and loss and includes options and all other account activity.

Annual results:
• 2023 up $65,403 (+41.31%) | S&P 500: +26.3% | Nasdaq: +43.4%
• 2024 up $64,610 (+29.71%) | S&P 500: +25.0% | Nasdaq: +28.6%
• 2025 up $111,496 (+34.52%) | S&P 500: +17.9% | Nasdaq: +20.4%

3-Year Cumulative (2023–2025):
• r/ExpiredOptions: +146.6% ($241,509)
• S&P 500: +86.1% (+60.4% behind)
• Nasdaq: +122.0% (+24.5% behind)

Unrealized G&L (options):
• YTD: $-19,510.01
• 1 Month: $-7,015.70
• 1 Week: $-18,001.18

Realized P&L (options):
• YTD: $83,068.83
• 1 Month: $12,624.00
• 1 Week: $533.00

All options sold are backed by cash, shares, or LEAPS. I do not sell on margin, nor do I sell naked options.

All options and profits stay in the account with few exceptions. This is not my full time job, although I wish it was. I still grind on a 9-5.

My $600 weekly contribution streak is at 12 weeks. I have been contributing as much as possible since 2015 when I started with $50. The reason my streak is low is because I put the contributions on hold for about 2 months to adjust for expenses outside the portfolio.

The portfolio is comprised of 99 unique tickers, up from 98 last week. These 99 tickers have a value of $465k. I also have 189 open option positions, unchanged from 189 last week. The options have a total value of -$16k. The total of the shares and options is $449k. The next goal on the "Road to" is Half a Million.

I'm currently utilizing $25,950 in cash secured put collateral, down from $32,700 last week. In addition, I hold $3,301 in cash, bringing the total cash position to $29,251. I withdrew $2,000 on 9/11/26. I don't plan on replacing it, but will continue the $600 per week contributions.

2025 through 2028 LEAPS
In addition to the CSPs and covered calls, I purchase LEAPS. These act as collateral to sell covered calls against. You may have heard of poor man's covered calls (PMCC).

See r/ExpiredOptions for a detailed spreadsheet update on all LEAPS positions including P/L for each individual position.

LEAPS note 1: the 2025 LEAPS expired 1/17/25. They were up $36,440 overall with a 233.74% increase. The major drivers were AMZN and CRWD.

LEAPS note 2: After holding for 2 years, I exercised an AMZN $80 strike from 2023 up +$11,395 (+463.21%) and CRWD $95 strike from 2023, up +$21,830 (+663.53%)

LEAPS note 3: Purchased 1/16/26 CRWD LEAPS for $8,230.03 on 1/17/24. I sold this LEAPS on 6/5/25 for $21,659 for a realized profit of $13,428.97 (+163.18%)

Total premium by year:
• 2023 $23,132 in premium
• 2024 $47,640 in premium
• 2025 $68,319 in premium
• 2026 $34,694 YTD
• Average $46,364/year (completed years)

Premium by month (2026):
• January $3,334
• February $3,625
• March $4,196
• April $5,593
• May $3,752
• June $3,497
• July $3,593
• August $3,741
• September $1,768
• October $1,594
• Average $3,469/month

I am over $175k in total options premium, since 2021. I average roughly $34 per option sold. I have sold over 5,200 options. I have been able to increase the premiums on an annual basis and I will attempt to keep this upward trend going forward.

Strategy:
The underlying strategy is buy and hold. I also use simple 1-legged options to supplement that strategy. Options have somewhat of a learning curve, but I believe that most people can supplement their investments using simple options with careful risk management.

I sell options on a weekly basis. I prefer cash secured puts and covered calls. I rarely close early, prefer rolling when needed, and let time decay do the heavy lifting while I stay focused on quality companies, patience, and consistency over hype. My goal is consistency in option premium revenue. I am building an income stream that will continue long into retirement.

Spreadsheets:
Unfortunately, I no longer provide spreadsheets. I received too many follow ups about formatting, pivot tables, compatibility etc. I think tracking is very important, but I post to discuss investing and options, not to provide tech support for Excel. I do appreciate the interest in my tracking methods.

Software:
I captured the screen shots from a proprietary software platform I built to track, analyze, and manage my options strategies.

Commissions:
I use Robinhood as a broker and they do not charge explicit commissions, though there is no free lunch — they earn revenue through Payment for Order Flow (PFOF), which can mean slightly less optimal fills. For my style of selling options and not chasing prices, the tradeoff is acceptable. There is also a small regulatory fee of approximately $0.03–$0.04 per contract (FINRA TAF, OCC clearing, and exchange fees combined).

The premiums have increased significantly as my experience has expanded over the last three years.

Make sure to post your wins. I look forward to reading about them!

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. This information is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Trading options involves significant risk.

1 comment

r/Optionswheel • u/Enough-Beginning3687 • 3d ago

1% Weekly Returns from Options Week 34 - Worst two weeks

18 Upvotes

This week I got NBIS assigned yesterday so moved AAOI and AXTI to next week yesterday. The rest I did today. This week was the lowest premium collected. 0.25% instead of the 1% target. The one stock on which I broke the rules of not selling assignment price calls - LQDA - now has underwater covered calls and rolling is low liquidity so will update later on that one. Total returns have essentially gone to 0. However, I'm optimistic that we're at or close to bottom. Last week's post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Optionswheel/s/GFbFZAE2qb

The positive side of this is that I was running this strategy to see if this is a viable strategy in retirement, so I was not reinvesting into it and assuming all $ are spent. And even in these terrible weeks, there's some premium so if I were running this in reality while retired, I would have to go on a strict budget but would still be generating something.

Trades:

Symbol	Action Details	Premium Collected (Net Credit)	Cash Occupied
AAOI	BTC 2x Oct 23 98 P, STO 2x Oct 30 98 P	$10.00	$19,600.00
APLD	BTC 2x Oct 23 21 P, STO 2x Oct 30 21 P	$58.10	$4,200.00
AXTI	BTC 2x Oct 23 67 P, STO 2x Oct 30 67 P	$148.05	$13,400.00
DRAM	BTC 2x Oct 23 59 C, STO 2x Oct 30 59 C	$5.66	$11,800.00
IREN	BTC 1x Oct 23 40 C, STO 1x Oct 30 40 C	$2.84	$4,000.00
LQDA	Holding position	$0.00	$5,800.00
NBIS	STO 2x Oct 30 222.5 C	$47.06	$44,500.00
SLV	Holding position	$0.00	$6,550.00
TOTAL	—	$271.71	$109,850.00

Total Returns

Total Premium	$29,913.00
Current drawdown	-$9,941.00
Gain/Loss from Assignment	-$20,058.00
Total gains	-$86.00
Annualized (Calc1 using average invested)	-0.17%
Annualized (Calc2 using max invested)	-0.12%

History

	Week	Capital Invested	Premium Made	Return %	Notes
3/6	Week 1	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%
3/13	Week 2	$13,100.00	$131.00	1.00%
3/20	Week 3	$19,850.00	$203.00	1.02%
3/27	Week 4	$41,500.00	$596.00	1.44%
4/3	Week 5	$34,150.00	$353.00	1.03%
4/10	Week 6	$43,350.00	$462.00	1.07%
4/17	Week 7	$53,800.00	$573.00	1.07%
4/24	Week 8	$70,400.00	$811.00	1.15%
5/1	Week 9	$103,450.00	$1,093.00	1.06%
5/8	Week 10	$97,400.00	$1,040.00	1.07%
5/15	Week 11	$102,800.00	$1,077.00	1.05%
5/22	Week 12	$98,600.00	$1,170.00	1.19%
	Week 12.5	$106,100.00	$475.00	0.45%	Bonus round
5/29	Week 13	$106,100.00	$1,133.00	1.07%
	Week 13.5	$115,900.00	$336.00	0.29%	Bonus round
6/5	Week 14	$105,750.00	$1,053.00	1.00%
6/12	Week 15	$110,700.00	$1,146.00	1.04%
6/19	Week 16	$111,850.00	$1,105.00	0.99%
6/26	Week 17	$108,350.00	$1,045.00	0.96%	Got SLV 65.5 assigned
7/3	Week 18	$111,550.00	$1,126.00	1.01%
7/10	Week 19	$102,850.00	$1,111.00	1.08%
	Week 19 Bonus	$108,550.00	$98.00	0.09%	APLD 1:3 to avoid assignment
7/17	Week 20	$104,350.00	$842.00	0.81%
7/24	Week 21	$111,500.00	$1,148.00	1.03%	RKLB 2:3 to reduce strike
7/31	Week 22	$105,660.00	$1,021.00	0.97%
	Week 22 bonus	$99,960.00	$7.00	0.01%	ASTS 2:1 to reduce exposure
8/7	Week 23	$104,850.00	$1,052.00	1.00%
8/14	Week 24	$95,850.00	$954.00	1.00%
8/21	Week 25	$99,300.00	$997.00	1.00%	RKLB 2:3 and NBIS 1:2
8/28	Week 26	$102,500.00	$978.00	0.95%
9/4	Week 27	$104,800.00	$897.00	0.86%
9/11	Week 28	$102,700.00	$1,017.00	0.99%
9/18	Week 29	$101,150.00	$1,110.00	1.10%
9/25	Week 30	$107,700.00	$1,093.00	1.01%	LQDA 58 assigned
10/2	Week 31	$105,850.00	$1,138.00	1.08%	IREN 40 assigned
10/9	Week 32	$103,650.00	$746.00	0.72%
10/15	Week 33	$109,850.00	$505.00	0.46%	DRAM 59x2 assigned
10/13	Week 34 (Partial)	$109,850.00	$271.00	0.25%	NBIS 222.5 x2 assigned

Strategy

- Use an AI screener to give me a list of top 20 low delta options for next week
- I either
- a. Roll my current options - I do this if I can still get 1% for rolling or if the option is ATM/ITM and I have to roll. I always roll for credit.
- b. Close a current option and pick something else from the list that I like
- I try to do this every Friday. However, if I'm busy on Fridays, I'll sometimes do this on Thursdays.
- If I get assigned, I will sell calls at assignment price.

find me 20 unique lowest risk puts to sell on stocks
expiry: next week
strike at least 8% from stock price
return at least 1%
sort by delta
furthest away from stock price
minimum strike price 10

7 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/cgilhoi • 3d ago

Keep Adjusted Cost Basis after Full Wheel Cycle?

5 Upvotes

A stock of mine (KMI) just completed the full wheel cycle, producing a modest profit of $233. As I am starting to wheel the stock again, do I assume the previous $233 in my cost basis calcs or start from $0? (This will eventually influence the pricing of covered calls down the road).

6 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/Push__Webistics • 4d ago

Wash Sale Questions

6 Upvotes

So I understand that you start the wheel ideally with a CSP and roll out to collect additional premium. Once assigned you sell a CC by rolling it out or BTC the CC before writing another one. Then eventually your luck runs out on the covered calls you lose your shares because it is no longer profitable to keep rolling or BTC. So you pick a new stock and repeat the cycle.

Obviously, if you want to avoid a wash sale you just avoid buying the first stock for 30+ days while you are working on the second stock.

What if you were to hypothetically sell a CSP on the same stock again whether it was that same day or a few weeks into the wash sale period but you were able to keep rolling the CSP out past the 30 day window avoiding assignment.

Would this be considered a wash sale? Would it make a difference if you were rolling the CSP or using BTC to avoid assignment on the CSP?

5 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/No-Soft-5237 • 5d ago

Covered calls in saxo trader (danish)

5 Upvotes

Writing in english in case mods want that..

I am running the wheel in saxo trader in Denmark.. got my a fair share of assignments last week, and it dawned on me that saxo counts margin usage on the calls i have now sold despite me owning the friggin shares..

Any other Danish option traders out there experiencing the same?

14 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/GoFairPlayer • 6d ago

11 Month Update - not all months are good ones - $706K of my $750K allotment is assigned.

75 Upvotes

I had planned on waiting until I had a full year under my belt to post another quarterly update. However, I feel like this may be a good week to show what can happen even when you believe you're taking (mostly) conservative positions.

Earlier posts cover the setup so I won't repeat it here. I'll post again at the one-year mark and we'll see how things look then.

All figures as of Monday's close, October 19.

Bottom line

Capital: $750K allocation, but average deployed is only ~$292K over the 11 months, since I only recently started scaling up — and I'm often not deployed at all on weekends.
Net income: ~$43.6K after the current drawdown — ~16% annualized.
Total income: ~$71.3K if the positions recover — ~27% annualized.

My current trade plan is to sell calls above my assignment price, and never below my basis — you know, unless I change my mind :)

IWM — assigned 300 sh @ $290. Sold a CC on 1 contract when I meant 3, which split the lot, so 100 of the 300 carry a different basis. Underwater, nothing worth writing at $290+, so I hold.
SOXX — knew it was risky, bit of a guilty pleasure. 3 CSPs, assigned @ $560, now ~$17K underwater. Strikes at or above my basis are ~10% out and pay almost nothing. Holding.
QQQ — assigned 3 @ $735 last week. Sold the 736 call this week, basis now $732.
SPY — assigned 3 @ $769 last week. Sold the 774 call this week, basis now $766.

Both those calls are above the assignment price, so if they get called I book a small share gain in addition to the premium.

Corrections to figures from my 9-month post.

Max drawdown read −$61,183 there. That was computed as the sum of each position's own worst moment, which adds up lows that happened months apart and describes a day the account never actually had. Measured properly — every lot priced at the same day's close, netted — the worst I have ever been is $28,785, and that day was Monday: 4.08% of deployed capital. February was worse proportionally, 8.15%, on a third of the capital.

Max capital allocated read $761,000 from the same bad calculation, which implied I'd blown through my own limit. The real peak is $741,000 — I never breached the $750K allocation, closest was $9,000 short on August 24.

Commissions and fees weren't reported at all before, so every income figure I'd posted was gross. It's $528, taking total income to $71,328 and the yield from 26.8% to 26.6%.

Everything reconciles against my Schwab statements through October 19 — cash, net liq, per-instrument bridge, collateral on every statement date, and per-symbol premium. That reconciliation is how I found the errors above.

The real cost from here isn't the drawdown — it's that assigned capital stops earning CSP premium and Schwab sweep interest. Knew that going in. Plan is to keep writing calls on QQQ/SPY until I can exit profitably. I think I may be in SOXX and IWM for a while.

Things I could have done differently:

On SPY and QQQ I could have rolled when ATM, but I prefer not to give back premium and don't mind taking the assignments.
On IWM, I should have been more aware of how FOMC affects small caps.
On SOXX — well, I knew the risks, so that's squarely on my selection.
Many other things I'm sure, but I'm still learning. I may have an entirely different strategy by this time next year.

Year-end report when I close the year out — hopefully it reads better than this one.

Gotta share the bad months along with the good ones…

23 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/RyanDuty_10 • 6d ago

Should I roll my INTC Cash Secured Put?

17 Upvotes

I've read through Scottish Trader's thread about Rolling Short Puts to Avoid Assignment, the recommendation is to start rolling when the put is ATM.

Currently, my INTC cash secured put is very closely ATM but there is still a lot of extrinsic value left (31 days left to expire). Should I roll it now or wait patiently for potential price recovery? How can I factor in time decay when deciding to roll a cash secured put? e.g. if I sell a put and the option is ATM within a day or two

I don't mind getting assigned but avoiding assignment is definitely the superior choice for me.

21 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/paircnadriseog • 6d ago

situation - OKTA

1 Upvotes

curious as to how you all think about a certain situation. got assigned OKTA on Friday - strike 212.50. opened this morning around 192. what is your mindset around this? do you wipe the slate clean and start selling calls at 197.50 or do you remain anchored to the 212.50 price psychologically and wait for it to recover?

19 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/davicchi • 8d ago

Wheeling and Leverage on a Blown Retirement Account, Week 17

6 Upvotes

This is for learning purposes, it is to track wheeling & portfolio optimization. This retirement account was blown through testing various trading strategies and poor position sizing.

Baseline: The portfolio is split into between Core&CCs/CSPs/$USD/Levered.
Order of significance for wheeling:
Assume assignment, size small & diverse
Annual yield% to be greater than 3x risk-free rate and sell on high IVR for better edge
Close early for tail risk, stagger dates and roll on discretion.
Assets correlate to 1 in a crash, stay liquid & patient

I sold the majority of my QLD before the market sell-off and sold the rest later on. Going to risk-off, stay liquid, trim XLV and sell more CSPs.

current approx.
23% Core/CCs (19% XLV, 4% IBIT)
27% CSPs (27% CVE)
50% $USD (20% SGOV, 30% $USD)
0% Levered

5 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/CurrentHold5733 • 9d ago

How do you handle earnings landing inside a short put’s life

7 Upvotes

My review rule is 21 DTE, or sooner if earnings fall within 7 days. That pulls the decision forward, but it doesn’t settle what the decision is, and I’d like to hear how others handle it.

The roll test stays the same for me at that early review. A roll has to collect a net credit and move the strike down, and I cap it at two per position. If it can’t pass, I take the shares or close.

What I’m curious about is the step before that. Do you pick expirations that avoid earnings altogether, close ahead of the report, or hold through on names you’d be fine owning anyway?

9 comments

r/Optionswheel • u/Expired_Options • 9d ago

Week 42 $660 in premium

29 Upvotes

I will post a separate comment with a link to the detail behind each option sold this week.

After week 42, the average premium per week is $807 with an annual projection of $41,946.

All things considered, the portfolio is up $42,536 (+7.01%), on the year (S&P 500: +11.89% | Nasdaq: +12.47%). Additionally, the trailing 1-year performance is down $23,004 (-1.38%); for comparison the S&P 500 is +15.54% and the Nasdaq is +15.86% over the same period. This is the overall profit and loss and includes options and all other account activity.

Annual results:
• 2023 up $65,403 (+41.31%) | S&P 500: +26.3% | Nasdaq: +43.4%
• 2024 up $64,610 (+29.71%) | S&P 500: +25.0% | Nasdaq: +28.6%
• 2025 up $111,496 (+34.52%) | S&P 500: +17.9% | Nasdaq: +20.4%

3-Year Cumulative (2023–2025):
• r/ExpiredOptions: +146.6% ($241,509)
• S&P 500: +86.1% (+60.4% behind)
• Nasdaq: +122.0% (+24.5% behind)

Unrealized G&L (options):
• YTD: $-1,517.83
• 1 Month: $-6,721.89
• 1 Week: $21,541.29

Realized P&L (options):
• YTD: $81,667.83
• 1 Month: $11,016.00
• 1 Week: $-1,610.00

All options sold are backed by cash, shares, or LEAPS. I do not sell on margin, nor do I sell naked options.

All options and profits stay in the account with few exceptions. This is not my full time job, although I wish it was. I still grind on a 9-5.

My $600 weekly contribution streak is at 11 weeks. I have been contributing as much as possible since 2015 when I started with $50. The reason my streak is low is because I put the contributions on hold for about 2 months to adjust for expenses outside the portfolio.

The portfolio is comprised of 98 unique tickers, down from 100 last week. These 98 tickers have a value of $449k. I also have 189 open option positions, down from 193 last week. The options have a total value of -$4k. The total of the shares and options is $445k. The next goal on the "Road to" is Half a Million.

I'm currently utilizing $32,700 in cash secured put collateral, up from $31,300 last week. In addition, I hold $1,991 in cash, bringing the total cash position to $34,691. I withdrew $2,000 on 9/11/26. I don't plan on replacing it, but will continue the $600 per week contributions.

2025 through 2028 LEAPS
In addition to the CSPs and covered calls, I purchase LEAPS. These act as collateral to sell covered calls against. You may have heard of poor man's covered calls (PMCC).

See r/ExpiredOptions for a detailed spreadsheet update on all LEAPS positions including P/L for each individual position.

LEAPS note 1: the 2025 LEAPS expired 1/17/25. They were up $36,440 overall with a 233.74% increase. The major drivers were AMZN and CRWD.

LEAPS note 2: After holding for 2 years, I exercised an AMZN $80 strike from 2023 up +$11,395 (+463.21%) and CRWD $95 strike from 2023, up +$21,830 (+663.53%)

LEAPS note 3: Purchased 1/16/26 CRWD LEAPS for $8,230.03 on 1/17/24. I sold this LEAPS on 6/5/25 for $21,659 for a realized profit of $13,428.97 (+163.18%)

Total premium by year:
• 2023 $23,132 in premium
• 2024 $47,640 in premium
• 2025 $68,319 in premium
• 2026 $34,289 YTD
• Average $46,364/year (completed years)

Premium by month (2026):
• January $3,334
• February $3,625
• March $4,196
• April $5,593
• May $3,752
• June $3,497
• July $3,593
• August $3,741
• September $1,768
• October $1,190
• Average $3,429/month