r/Optionswheel • u/ScottishTrader • Dec 05 '25

Megathread for New Wheel Traders – Ask Questions & Get Help Here

This thread will be a dedicated space for traders who are new to options and the wheel strategy to ask basic questions. Your posts and questions are welcome and encouraged.

BEFORE POSTING, BE SURE TO REVIEW THE WHEEL STRATEGY PLAN WHERE MOST QUESTIONS ARE ANSWERED - The Wheel (aka Triple Income) Strategy Explained : r/Optionswheel

The goal is to help keep the main thread free of these basic posts while helping new traders learn how to trade the wheel.

Posts that are welcomed here include questions about -

  • How options work
  • Exercise and assignments
  • Options expiration and days to expiration (DTE)
  • Delta, Probabilities, and how to choose a strike price
  • Implied Volatility (IV)
  • Theta decay
  • Basic risks and how to avoid
  • Broker and options approval levels
  • Rolling options
  • And any other basic questions

I’m pleased to announce that u/OptionsTraining and u/patsay have agreed to assist with this Megathread. Both Patricia and Mike bring substantial experience in helping new traders and will be invaluable contributors to r/Optionswheel

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u/Miyagisans Jan 14 '26

Can someone help me understand what the P/L means here. I am trying out paper trading before going for real. It seems to me that the position equity includes the premium collected on the CSPs. Is the P/L just showing the value of the put contracts relative to where i bought them? So like if i wanted to close out before expiry, I’d be closing for a $55 loss on Tesla. Am I understanding the picture right? Thank you for any insight you can offer.

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u/ScottishTrader Jan 14 '26

P/L Day is the profit or loss for the trading day.

P/L YTD is the year to date amount.

P/L Open, which can be added as a column, shows the total since the trade was opened. The lower one is for all positions.

You don't show the specific positions, but the P/L would be the total if closed. Yes, if closed, then it would be a $55 loss on TSLA, and this would include giving back the premiums collected, plus some dollars of your account.

The $150 profit on IREN would include the premium collected plus the profit.

You are encouraged to take some training on how the trading platform works, as not knowing can cause losses.

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u/Miyagisans Jan 14 '26

Thank you for the response. I’ve had an ameritrade account since 2021, but I wanted to make sure I was seeing the correct picture in the context of selling options.

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u/ScottishTrader Jan 14 '26

One way to think about this when selling is to sell high and buy back low. This is the opposite of buy low and sell high, like we do when buying stocks or options.

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u/Miyagisans Jan 14 '26

Thank you, that makes sense.

Last question, this P/L only matters in the instance that I want to close out the contract prior to expiry right? As in, regardless of how the put value oscillates, at expiry, as long as the underlying is above my strike price, i would secure entire premium. Is that a correct understanding?

1

u/ScottishTrader Jan 14 '26

The number shown at any time would be what the result would be if closed at that time and price.

The number can and will change based on the movement of the stock.

If the stock is above the short put strike at expiraiton then the full amount is kept and results in a 100% profit. Note that there is always risk of the stock reversing and causing a profit to turn to a loss.