MarketBotsLabTransparency
Options Income Lab

Options Income Lab · The Wheel

Run the full rotation

Cash-secured put → assignment → covered call → called away, then repeat. Each tile below replays the canonical wheel cycle over the last 2 years of daily bars using the 30D / 5.0% CSP & 30D / 5.0% CC preset.

Wheel backfill at a glance
Best avg cycle P&L
$117.78 META
Median full-cycle rate
66.7%
Tickers modeled
10

Backfill over 2-year daily bars.
as of Aug 25, 2026

MODELSource: Black-Scholes 60-day HV (CSP + CC legs)Confidence Very low
Modeled premiums may differ materially from live tradable bid/ask quotes. Treat yields as directional estimates, not executable fills.
Risk disclosure — Wheel strategy risk

Wheel strategy risk

  • The wheel can accumulate losses if the underlying trends down through multiple cycles.
  • Premium income may not offset large stock declines from the assigned basis.
  • Strategy can become capital-inefficient when stuck holding stock.
  • Low cycle count makes results unreliable — n < 5 is directional only.
  • Strong uptrends create opportunity cost while assigned shares are sold via covered calls.

Universal options-income risk

  • Premium income does not eliminate stock risk.
  • Annualized short-DTE returns can be unstable — extrapolation across cycles is unreliable.
  • Modeled premiums may not match live executable quotes.
  • Bid/ask spreads and slippage can materially reduce realised returns.
  • Taxes, commissions, and assignment fees are not modelled unless explicitly enabled.
  • Event risk around earnings and dividends can change outcomes meaningfully.
  • Backtests are historical simulations, not forecasts.

Each tile shows what the canonical wheel cycle would have produced over the last 2 years. Click a tile ledger to drill into per-cycle leg detail — the dense tables there are the raw simulated trades.

Cross-ticker ranking

sorted by avg cycle P&L · 10/10 wheel-friendly

Each row is a backtest, not a forecast. Rankings with fewer than 5 completed cycles are flagged low-N — the sample is too small to call the result repeatable. Treat low-N rows as candidates to research further, not signals to size against.

RankTickerCyclesDoneAvg P&LPremiumStock P&LDays-in-stock
1META21$117.78$205.35$30.2147.0%WHEELS · low-N (1)
2TSLA32$98.10$228.78$65.5269.5%WHEELS · low-N (2)
3SPY21$74.99$44.73$105.2656.4%WHEELS · low-N (1)
4AMD43$54.18$178.88$37.8655.5%WHEELS · low-N (3)
5QQQ32$41.18$71.17$52.3612.7%WHEELS · low-N (2)
6MSFT21$34.71$49.45$19.9851.6%WHEELS · low-N (1)
7GOOGL32$31.73$64.71$30.4938.8%WHEELS · low-N (2)
8AMZN32$26.59$59.03$20.7434.7%WHEELS · low-N (2)
9AAPL44$25.55$36.08$66.1054.5%WHEELS · low-N (4)
10NVDA54$23.88$77.62$41.7629.6%WHEELS · low-N (4)

Per-ticker wheel cycles

10 tickers · click a ledger to drill in

AAPL

500 bars
Cycles4
Completed4 (100.0%)
Avg cycle days167.8
Premium income$36.08
Stock P&L$66.10
Days in stock54.5%
Avg cycle P&L$25.55
4 cycles — click to drill into legs
#SpanDaysPutsCallsPremStock P&LTotalState
12024-09-24 → 2025-09-2636748$15.94$12.08$28.02called away
Show 12 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2024-09-242024-10-24$216.00$1.59expired OTM
csp2024-10-242024-11-25$219.04$1.66expired OTM
csp2024-11-252024-12-26$221.23$0.77expired OTM
csp2024-12-262025-01-27$246.07$0.43assigned
cc2025-01-272025-02-26$253.70$1.01expired OTM
cc2025-02-262025-03-28$253.70$2.37expired OTM
cc2025-03-282025-04-28$253.70$0.41expired OTM
cc2025-04-282025-05-28$253.70$6.20expired OTM
cc2025-05-282025-06-27$253.70$0.06expired OTM
cc2025-06-272025-07-28$253.70$0.00expired OTM
cc2025-07-282025-08-27$253.70$0.00expired OTM
cc2025-08-272025-09-26$253.70$1.44called away
22025-09-26 → 2026-02-2515241$7.95$14.77$22.72called away
Show 5 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-09-262025-10-27$242.69$3.26expired OTM
csp2025-10-272025-11-26$255.37$2.24expired OTM
csp2025-11-262025-12-26$263.67$0.54expired OTM
csp2025-12-262026-01-26$259.73$0.28assigned
cc2026-01-262026-02-25$268.18$1.63called away
32026-02-25 → 2026-05-279112$7.72$24.53$32.25called away
Show 3 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2026-02-252026-03-27$260.52$4.06assigned
cc2026-03-272026-04-27$269.28$0.29expired OTM
cc2026-04-272026-05-27$280.99$3.37called away
42026-05-27 → 2026-07-276111$4.48$14.72$19.20called away
Show 2 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2026-05-272026-06-26$295.31$1.01assigned
cc2026-06-262026-07-27$309.02$3.47called away

MSFT

500 bars
Cycles2
Completed1 (50.0%)
Avg cycle days349.5
Premium income$49.45
Stock P&L$19.98
Days in stock51.6%
Avg cycle P&L$34.71
2 cycles — click to drill into legs
#SpanDaysPutsCallsPremStock P&LTotalState
12024-09-24 → 2025-05-2824653$30.35$19.98$50.33called away
Show 8 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2024-09-242024-10-24$407.71$1.70expired OTM
csp2024-10-242024-11-25$403.49$0.94expired OTM
csp2024-11-252024-12-26$397.85$5.15expired OTM
csp2024-12-262025-01-27$416.20$2.07expired OTM
csp2025-01-272025-02-26$412.83$3.29assigned
cc2025-02-262025-03-28$419.72$4.93expired OTM
cc2025-03-282025-04-28$419.67$1.38expired OTM
cc2025-04-282025-05-28$419.67$10.90called away
22025-05-28 → 2026-08-2445368$19.10$0.00$19.10holding stock
Show 14 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-05-282025-06-27$434.49$5.86expired OTM
csp2025-06-272025-07-28$471.14$0.18expired OTM
csp2025-07-282025-08-27$486.88$0.29expired OTM
csp2025-08-272025-09-26$481.40$3.20expired OTM
csp2025-09-262025-10-27$485.89$1.42expired OTM
csp2025-10-272025-11-26$504.94$0.85assigned
cc2025-11-262025-12-26$517.80$2.95expired OTM
cc2025-12-262026-01-26$517.80$2.19expired OTM
cc2026-01-262026-02-25$517.80$1.07expired OTM
cc2026-02-252026-03-27$517.80$0.80expired OTM
cc2026-03-272026-04-27$517.80$0.00expired OTM
cc2026-04-272026-05-27$517.80$0.17expired OTM
cc2026-05-272026-06-26$517.80$0.00expired OTM
cc2026-06-262026-07-27$517.80$0.13expired OTM

NVDA

500 bars
Cycles5
Completed4 (80.0%)
Avg cycle days139.8
Premium income$77.62
Stock P&L$41.76
Days in stock29.6%
Avg cycle P&L$23.88
5 cycles — click to drill into legs
#SpanDaysPutsCallsPremStock P&LTotalState
12024-09-24 → 2025-02-2615541$23.18$5.95$29.13called away
Show 5 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2024-09-242024-10-24$114.83$5.52expired OTM
csp2024-10-242024-11-25$133.39$3.21expired OTM
csp2024-11-252024-12-26$129.22$3.43expired OTM
csp2024-12-262025-01-27$132.93$2.38assigned
cc2025-01-272025-02-26$124.34$8.63called away
22025-02-26 → 2025-05-289112$11.34$6.05$17.40called away
Show 3 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-02-262025-03-28$124.72$3.65assigned
cc2025-03-282025-04-28$127.12$2.49expired OTM
cc2025-04-282025-05-28$127.12$5.20called away
32025-05-28 → 2025-12-2621261$18.85$20.91$39.76called away
Show 7 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-05-282025-06-27$128.07$2.39expired OTM
csp2025-06-272025-07-28$149.86$1.79expired OTM
csp2025-07-282025-08-27$167.91$1.75expired OTM
csp2025-08-272025-09-26$172.52$1.42expired OTM
csp2025-09-262025-10-27$169.28$3.04expired OTM
csp2025-10-272025-11-26$181.92$3.17assigned
cc2025-11-262025-12-26$189.27$5.29called away
42025-12-26 → 2026-04-2712231$10.07$8.85$18.91called away
Show 4 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-12-262026-01-26$181.00$2.84expired OTM
csp2026-01-262026-02-25$177.15$1.74expired OTM
csp2026-02-252026-03-27$185.78$4.22assigned
cc2026-03-272026-04-27$185.83$1.27called away
52026-04-27 → 2026-08-2411921$14.18$0.00$14.18holding stock
Show 3 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2026-04-272026-05-27$205.78$2.90expired OTM
csp2026-05-272026-06-26$201.97$4.96assigned
cc2026-06-262026-07-27$203.81$6.31expired OTM

AMZN

500 bars
Cycles3
Completed2 (66.7%)
Avg cycle days233.0
Premium income$59.03
Stock P&L$20.74
Days in stock34.7%
Avg cycle P&L$26.59
3 cycles — click to drill into legs
#SpanDaysPutsCallsPremStock P&LTotalState
12024-09-24 → 2025-06-2727654$23.19$10.57$33.76called away
Show 9 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2024-09-242024-10-24$184.26$2.45expired OTM
csp2024-10-242024-11-25$177.06$1.28expired OTM
csp2024-11-252024-12-26$191.38$4.31expired OTM
csp2024-12-262025-01-27$215.70$2.64expired OTM
csp2025-01-272025-02-26$223.65$1.69assigned
cc2025-02-262025-03-28$225.07$2.55expired OTM
cc2025-03-282025-04-28$221.85$0.83expired OTM
cc2025-04-282025-05-28$221.85$4.47expired OTM
cc2025-05-282025-06-27$221.85$2.97called away
22025-06-27 → 2026-04-2730482$29.83$10.17$40.00called away
Show 10 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-06-272025-07-28$212.14$1.55expired OTM
csp2025-07-282025-08-27$221.15$0.69expired OTM
csp2025-08-272025-09-26$217.66$5.25expired OTM
csp2025-09-262025-10-27$208.79$2.43expired OTM
csp2025-10-272025-11-26$215.62$2.56expired OTM
csp2025-11-262025-12-26$217.70$7.12expired OTM
csp2025-12-262026-01-26$220.89$0.97expired OTM
csp2026-01-262026-02-25$226.50$2.48assigned
cc2026-02-252026-03-27$221.17$4.21expired OTM
cc2026-03-272026-04-27$213.61$2.57called away
32026-04-27 → 2026-08-2411921$6.01$0.00$6.01holding stock
Show 3 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2026-04-272026-05-27$248.06$3.01expired OTM
csp2026-05-272026-06-26$258.26$1.56assigned
cc2026-06-262026-07-27$266.37$1.43expired OTM

GOOGL

500 bars
Cycles3
Completed2 (66.7%)
Avg cycle days233.0
Premium income$64.71
Stock P&L$30.49
Days in stock38.8%
Avg cycle P&L$31.73
3 cycles — click to drill into legs
#SpanDaysPutsCallsPremStock P&LTotalState
12024-09-24 → 2025-07-2830755$25.00$15.65$40.65called away
Show 10 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2024-09-242024-10-24$154.18$1.64expired OTM
csp2024-10-242024-11-25$154.58$0.43expired OTM
csp2024-11-252024-12-26$159.27$2.86expired OTM
csp2024-12-262025-01-27$185.82$3.68expired OTM
csp2025-01-272025-02-26$182.22$1.79assigned
cc2025-02-262025-03-28$181.37$3.98expired OTM
cc2025-03-282025-04-28$180.40$0.60expired OTM
cc2025-04-282025-05-28$180.40$2.81expired OTM
cc2025-05-282025-06-27$180.98$4.51expired OTM
cc2025-06-272025-07-28$187.46$2.70called away
22025-07-28 → 2026-04-2727372$23.72$14.84$38.56called away
Show 9 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-07-282025-08-27$182.95$0.55expired OTM
csp2025-08-272025-09-26$197.11$1.44expired OTM
csp2025-09-262025-10-27$234.21$4.86expired OTM
csp2025-10-272025-11-26$255.81$2.73expired OTM
csp2025-11-262025-12-26$303.95$6.69expired OTM
csp2025-12-262026-01-26$297.83$2.41expired OTM
csp2026-01-262026-02-25$316.60$1.26assigned
cc2026-02-252026-03-27$328.54$3.33expired OTM
cc2026-03-272026-04-27$311.50$0.45called away
32026-04-27 → 2026-08-2411921$15.98$0.00$15.98holding stock
Show 3 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2026-04-272026-05-27$332.82$4.02expired OTM
csp2026-05-272026-06-26$369.39$9.32assigned
cc2026-06-262026-07-27$373.86$2.65expired OTM

META

500 bars
Cycles2
Completed1 (50.0%)
Avg cycle days349.5
Premium income$205.35
Stock P&L$30.21
Days in stock47.0%
Avg cycle P&L$117.78
2 cycles — click to drill into legs
#SpanDaysPutsCallsPremStock P&LTotalState
12024-09-24 → 2025-05-2824662$66.19$30.21$96.40called away
Show 8 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2024-09-242024-10-24$535.16$4.18expired OTM
csp2024-10-242024-11-25$539.39$3.48expired OTM
csp2024-11-252024-12-26$536.85$7.19expired OTM
csp2024-12-262025-01-27$573.18$8.12expired OTM
csp2025-01-272025-02-26$626.89$8.23expired OTM
csp2025-02-262025-03-28$640.02$4.48assigned
cc2025-03-282025-04-28$634.56$10.50expired OTM
cc2025-04-282025-05-28$634.56$20.02called away
22025-05-28 → 2026-08-2445368$139.17$0.00$139.17holding stock
Show 14 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-05-282025-06-27$611.40$13.66expired OTM
csp2025-06-272025-07-28$696.95$7.55expired OTM
csp2025-07-282025-08-27$681.75$2.23expired OTM
csp2025-08-272025-09-26$710.01$22.26expired OTM
csp2025-09-262025-10-27$706.56$3.12expired OTM
csp2025-10-272025-11-26$713.28$6.85assigned
cc2025-11-262025-12-26$690.49$16.86expired OTM
cc2025-12-262026-01-26$696.45$6.61expired OTM
cc2026-01-262026-02-25$705.98$11.62expired OTM
cc2026-02-252026-03-27$690.49$20.68expired OTM
cc2026-03-272026-04-27$690.49$0.23expired OTM
cc2026-04-272026-05-27$712.55$16.52expired OTM
cc2026-05-272026-06-26$690.49$9.68expired OTM
cc2026-06-262026-07-27$690.49$1.30expired OTM

TSLA

500 bars
Cycles3
Completed2 (66.7%)
Avg cycle days233.0
Premium income$228.78
Stock P&L$65.52
Days in stock69.5%
Avg cycle P&L$98.10
3 cycles — click to drill into legs
#SpanDaysPutsCallsPremStock P&LTotalState
12024-09-24 → 2025-09-2636748$143.70$17.95$161.66called away
Show 12 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2024-09-242024-10-24$241.56$9.94expired OTM
csp2024-10-242024-11-25$247.46$19.00expired OTM
csp2024-11-252024-12-26$321.66$22.21expired OTM
csp2024-12-262025-01-27$431.42$21.12assigned
cc2025-01-272025-02-26$417.01$18.95expired OTM
cc2025-02-262025-03-28$377.10$1.30expired OTM
cc2025-03-282025-04-28$377.10$4.54expired OTM
cc2025-04-282025-05-28$377.10$10.82expired OTM
cc2025-05-282025-06-27$377.10$12.86expired OTM
cc2025-06-272025-07-28$377.10$11.40expired OTM
cc2025-07-282025-08-27$377.10$6.23expired OTM
cc2025-08-272025-09-26$377.10$5.33called away
22025-09-26 → 2025-12-269121$48.39$47.57$95.96called away
Show 3 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-09-262025-10-27$418.38$14.06expired OTM
csp2025-10-272025-11-26$429.80$15.40assigned
cc2025-11-262025-12-26$447.91$18.93called away
32025-12-26 → 2026-08-2424116$36.69$0.00$36.69holding stock
Show 7 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-12-262026-01-26$451.43$9.38assigned
cc2026-01-262026-02-25$464.15$8.77expired OTM
cc2026-02-252026-03-27$464.15$3.50expired OTM
cc2026-03-272026-04-27$464.15$0.12expired OTM
cc2026-04-272026-05-27$464.15$1.70expired OTM
cc2026-05-272026-06-26$464.15$10.92expired OTM
cc2026-06-262026-07-27$464.15$2.29expired OTM

AMD

500 bars
Cycles4
Completed3 (75.0%)
Avg cycle days174.8
Premium income$178.88
Stock P&L$37.86
Days in stock55.5%
Avg cycle P&L$54.18
4 cycles — click to drill into legs
#SpanDaysPutsCallsPremStock P&LTotalState
12024-09-24 → 2025-07-2830728$21.64$13.24$34.88called away
Show 10 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2024-09-242024-10-24$150.40$4.98expired OTM
csp2024-10-242024-11-25$145.77$3.03assigned
cc2024-11-252024-12-26$148.19$5.81expired OTM
cc2024-12-262025-01-27$144.65$0.71expired OTM
cc2025-01-272025-02-26$144.65$0.22expired OTM
cc2025-02-262025-03-28$144.65$0.01expired OTM
cc2025-03-282025-04-28$144.65$0.05expired OTM
cc2025-04-282025-05-28$144.65$1.68expired OTM
cc2025-05-282025-06-27$144.65$0.05expired OTM
cc2025-06-272025-07-28$151.00$5.10called away
22025-07-28 → 2026-01-2618242$52.12$13.03$65.14called away
Show 6 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-07-282025-08-27$164.98$4.01expired OTM
csp2025-08-272025-09-26$158.77$5.29expired OTM
csp2025-09-262025-10-27$151.49$2.83expired OTM
csp2025-10-272025-11-26$246.69$21.84assigned
cc2025-11-262025-12-26$224.95$12.67expired OTM
cc2025-12-262026-01-26$225.74$5.47called away
32026-01-26 → 2026-04-279112$19.86$11.59$31.45called away
Show 3 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2026-01-262026-02-25$238.74$6.97assigned
cc2026-02-252026-03-27$243.36$10.51expired OTM
cc2026-03-272026-04-27$243.36$2.39called away
42026-04-27 → 2026-08-2411930$85.26$0.00$85.26holding stock
Show 3 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2026-04-272026-05-27$317.90$14.19expired OTM
csp2026-05-272026-06-26$470.76$36.67expired OTM
csp2026-06-262026-07-27$495.50$34.40assigned

SPY

500 bars
Cycles2
Completed1 (50.0%)
Avg cycle days349.5
Premium income$44.73
Stock P&L$105.26
Days in stock56.4%
Avg cycle P&L$74.99
2 cycles — click to drill into legs
#SpanDaysPutsCallsPremStock P&LTotalState
12024-09-24 → 2026-04-27580613$41.08$105.26$146.34called away
Show 19 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2024-09-242024-10-24$542.73$0.92expired OTM
csp2024-10-242024-11-25$550.28$0.15expired OTM
csp2024-11-252024-12-26$567.65$1.00expired OTM
csp2024-12-262025-01-27$571.27$0.92expired OTM
csp2025-01-272025-02-26$569.40$1.07expired OTM
csp2025-02-262025-03-28$564.81$0.21assigned
cc2025-03-282025-04-28$588.56$3.62expired OTM
cc2025-04-282025-05-28$588.56$19.60expired OTM
cc2025-05-282025-06-27$617.12$2.90expired OTM
cc2025-06-272025-07-28$645.66$0.53expired OTM
cc2025-07-282025-08-27$668.79$0.09expired OTM
cc2025-08-272025-09-26$678.96$1.04expired OTM
cc2025-09-262025-10-27$694.91$0.12expired OTM
cc2025-10-272025-11-26$719.50$1.88expired OTM
cc2025-11-262025-12-26$713.66$2.43expired OTM
cc2025-12-262026-01-26$724.83$0.22expired OTM
cc2026-01-262026-02-25$727.37$0.66expired OTM
cc2026-02-252026-03-27$727.81$1.38expired OTM
cc2026-03-272026-04-27$665.79$2.33called away
22026-04-27 → 2026-08-2411930$3.64$0.00$3.64open
Show 3 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2026-04-272026-05-27$679.41$1.17expired OTM
csp2026-05-272026-06-26$712.94$0.23expired OTM
csp2026-06-262026-07-27$692.54$2.24expired OTM

QQQ

500 bars
Cycles3
Completed2 (66.7%)
Avg cycle days233.0
Premium income$71.17
Stock P&L$52.36
Days in stock12.7%
Avg cycle P&L$41.18
3 cycles — click to drill into legs
#SpanDaysPutsCallsPremStock P&LTotalState
12024-09-24 → 2025-05-2824662$38.79$23.82$62.61called away
Show 8 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2024-09-242024-10-24$461.10$2.93expired OTM
csp2024-10-242024-11-25$467.70$0.73expired OTM
csp2024-11-252024-12-26$481.26$2.27expired OTM
csp2024-12-262025-01-27$503.12$2.63expired OTM
csp2025-01-272025-02-26$488.50$2.93expired OTM
csp2025-02-262025-03-28$488.83$0.89assigned
cc2025-03-282025-04-28$500.26$5.11expired OTM
cc2025-04-282025-05-28$500.26$21.29called away
22025-05-28 → 2026-04-27334101$17.17$28.54$45.71called away
Show 11 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2025-05-282025-06-27$492.96$2.56expired OTM
csp2025-06-272025-07-28$520.69$0.46expired OTM
csp2025-07-282025-08-27$539.73$0.03expired OTM
csp2025-08-272025-09-26$544.82$1.20expired OTM
csp2025-09-262025-10-27$566.17$0.15expired OTM
csp2025-10-272025-11-26$596.69$2.75expired OTM
csp2025-11-262025-12-26$583.56$3.90expired OTM
csp2025-12-262026-01-26$592.70$0.84expired OTM
csp2026-01-262026-02-25$594.19$0.64expired OTM
csp2026-02-252026-03-27$585.85$2.41assigned
cc2026-03-272026-04-27$599.45$2.23called away
32026-04-27 → 2026-08-2411930$15.22$0.00$15.22open
Show 3 legs
TypeWriteExpiryStrikePremiumOutcome
csp2026-04-272026-05-27$631.02$2.35expired OTM
csp2026-05-272026-06-26$692.98$1.84expired OTM
csp2026-06-262026-07-27$671.19$11.03expired OTM
Methodology — pricing, scoring, strategy mechanics

Pricing modes

  • Model — Black-Scholes premium estimated from 60-day historical volatility. Risk-free rate is implicit at zero. Greeks (delta) are computed from the same model.
  • Live chain — bid / ask / mid / IV / Greeks pulled from the option chain endpoint when available. Mid is used for yield math; risk-flag wide_spreadfires when bid/ask > 5%.
  • Hybrid — live chain when present; falls back to model. The status bar surfaces the actual source per request.

Strategy mechanics

  • Covered call — own 100 shares, sell a short call. Premium = income cap, strike = sell price ceiling. Breakeven = purchase price − premium received.
  • Cash-secured put — set aside strike × 100 cash, sell a short put. Breakeven = strike − premium. Capital required = strike × 100 per contract.
  • Wheel — sell CSPs until assigned, hold the stock, sell CCs until called away, then restart. Adjusted basis tracks premium received less stock losses.

Scoring (composite 0..100)

Each strategy decomposes into 6–8 weighted axes — premium quality, assignment fit, downside risk, liquidity, IV attractiveness, event risk, historical outcome, goal fit. The composite is multiplied by a risk-penalty product (each ≤ 1.0) so wide-spread, low-sample, model-only, or earnings- inside-DTE setups grade down even with a strong raw composite.

Confidence grading

  • n < 5 — Very low (do not rank as strong)
  • 5..10 — Low
  • 10..20 — Moderate
  • 20..50 — Good
  • ≥ 50 — High

Model-only premium and missing liquidity data each downgrade by one tier.

Decision labels

  • Conservative income — low delta, broad breakeven, low assignment risk.
  • Balanced income — 0.20–0.35 delta band, moderate premium + assignment.
  • Aggressive income — higher delta, higher premium, frequent assignment.
  • Exit strategy — high-delta call on shares you want to exit.
  • Assignment candidate — CSP at a strike you want to own.
  • Avoid chasing premium — composite low or risk penalties dominate.

Limitations & disclaimer

Liquidity, spread, IV rank, open interest, earnings date, and ex-dividend date are surfaced only when the upstream provider supplies them. Missing fields render explicit fallback labels ( Unrated, N/A) — never fake values. Backtests assume entries from a deterministic rule and exit at expiration; real-world slippage, commissions, and early-assignment outcomes are not modelled. This page surfaces analytical projections derived from public market data — not personalised investment advice. Options involve risk, including loss of principal and the risk of assignment. Do your own due diligence and manage risk according to your situation.

Metric glossary
Success rate
Share of historical trades that finished above the short strike at expiration (CC) / above the put strike (CSP).
Strict success
Share of trades that hit success without ever touching the assignment zone intraday.
Premium yield
Premium received / capital required, per trade. CC denominator = stock cost; CSP denominator = strike × 100.
Annualized return
Mean of each historical trade's annualized total return, (1 + trade return) ^ (365 / DTE) − 1. Because it averages per-trade annualized ratios, short high-percentage winners pull it above annualizing the average return (Jensen's inequality) — read it as an upper bound, not a sustainable yield. The honest headline annualizes the mean return instead; the inflated_annualized risk flag fires when this figure exceeds 50%.
Median return
Median total return (premium + stock P&L) across the historical sample.
P10 / P90
10th / 90th percentile total return — the tails of the historical distribution.
Assigned
Share of historical trades where the short option finished ITM and shares were transferred at the strike.
OTM
Out-of-the-money at expiration — the short option expired worthless.
Deep ITM
Short option finished significantly past the strike (e.g. > 2% past) — missed upside on CC, larger loss on CSP.
Breakeven
CC: stock cost − premium received. CSP: strike − premium received.
Max profit
CC if assigned: strike − stock cost + premium. CSP if expires OTM: premium received.
Downside exposure
Stock value declines reduce CC returns; CSP loses if stock falls below breakeven.
Assignment probability
Probability the short option finishes ITM at expiration (delta is a rough proxy).
Early assignment risk
ITM short calls are at risk of assignment before expiration when ex-dividend falls inside the trade and remaining extrinsic value is below the dividend.
Opportunity cost
Returns forgone vs simply holding the stock — capped upside on CC, time-locked cash on CSP.
Missed upside
Gain above the strike that CC trader did not capture due to the cap.
Downside capture
Share of stock-only downside the strategy retained, even after premium offset.
Stock-only return
Hypothetical return of just holding the stock over the same window — baseline comparison.
CC excess return vs stock
Covered-call return minus stock-only return. Positive when premium > foregone upside.
CSP excess return vs cash
Premium yield on collateral minus cash / T-bill return over the same window.
Wheel cycle P&L
Total premium + stock P&L from one CSP → assignment → CC → called-away rotation.
Days in stock
Calendar days the wheel held assigned shares during the cycle.
Capital efficiency
Annualised return on capital, accounting for days-in-cash vs days-in-stock.
IV rank
Where current implied volatility sits in its 52-week range (0..100).
IV percentile
Share of days in the past 252 trading days where IV was below today's level.
Bid/ask spread
(ask − bid) / mid. Wide spreads make modelled mid yields harder to execute.
Open interest
Outstanding contracts on the strike. Below 100 makes the option illiquid.
Option volume
Today's traded contracts on the strike. Below 50/day is illiquid.
Liquidity grade
A / B / C / D / Unrated derived from bid/ask spread, OI, and volume.
Low-N sample warning
Backtest with n < 20 → low confidence; n < 5 → very low (do not treat as repeatable).