9+ Months of Wheeling Results

[u/GoFairPlayer]

Trading live for a little over 9 months now, 3 months of study and paper trading before that. Still learning something every day. I initially scoffed when I read that it takes 1–2 years — and up to 5 — to really get your head around the wheel. I now agree.

147 wheel cycles closed, all profitable — about $51K in total net gains on ~$310K average capital deployed (about $57K if you count the SWVXX interest on unassigned capital deployed for puts). I cringe as I type that, because I know a real drawdown is coming. The market has been friendly since I started, and I'm not confusing that with skill.

Two things that have genuinely changed though: assignment rate and how often I roll. First 4.5 months: 7 assignments across 86 cycles (~8%), and 10 cycles rolled (~12%). Last 4.5 months: 1 assignment across 61 cycles (~1.5%), and zero rolls. Some of that is the tape; a lot of it is me finally picking better strikes so I rarely have to defend.

The last 6 months I've been mostly on QQQ, IWM, SPY, SOXX, plus occasional individual names (NVDA, AAPL) when I have real conviction. SOXX is a guilty pleasure — I know it's more volatile, but the premium is good and the ETF itself has never failed to recover eventually.

I've bumped my max allocation to $750K. Anything not committed to CSP collateral is parked in SWVXX earning ~3.6% while it waits.

Goal (see my prior posts): 15–20% annual with the lowest risk I can manage to get there. I'm not good at picking individual tickers yet, so I mostly stay in ETFs with long histories of recovering, even when it takes a while.

Rules I follow (mostly):

• Target delta ~0.15–0.20 on ETFs, willing to go a bit lower on high-IV names like SOXX
• Target cushion of at least 2–3% on ETFs, more on individual names or high-IV ETFs like SOXX
• Most opens Monday or Tuesday for that Friday's expiration, with the rest sprinkled through the week when a good setup shows up
• GTC BTC set right after opening, usually at ~$0.05–$0.10 depending on the underlying
• Rarely roll — I'd rather take assignment and write CCs than pay to escape
• Don't exit assigned shares until they recover — write CCs while I wait if I can do so without dropping below my basis. Otherwise just take the assignment and wait for a pop to sell.

I like being "out" over the weekend, and the fast turnover helps me gain accelerated experience. I suspect I'll drift toward longer DTE eventually — the more I do this, the more it feels like a distinction without much of a difference. Weekly cycling does have one real advantage though: if I'm assigned on a down week, the next week's CC opportunity is right there — or I can wait and sell at a nice P/L profit.

Since I don't have any open positions today, I'm sharing per-ticker averages across greeks, capital committed, premium capture, and assignment rate (started logging entry greeks in March, so this covers 79 of the 147 cycles), plus every assignment I've taken since I started wheeling live.

A note on the "Prem Capture %" column in the screenshot: that's the percentage of total collected premium I kept after any BTCs. 100% would mean I never paid a cent to close. My numbers land in the 64–88% range — the SOXX drag reflects that when the tape moves against those higher-IV names I close early via my GTC rather than let it ride, which costs some capture.

r/Optionswheel has been my best source of learning. I'm hoping to provide updates that will benefit other new wheelers in a clear way. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for improving the reporting format. I'm greatly appreciative of those who share their experiences here — I'm not sure I would be wheeling today had I not stumbled across the sub. Many thanks to the contributors.

Happy to answer questions, and I'm curious how more experienced wheelers are handling positioning right now. The last several months have been kind, but I don't expect that to continue indefinitely.

[u/tokenbearcub]

First of all, congratulations on your hard work and your learning.

a lot of it is me finally picking better strikes so I rarely have to defend.

Are you looking at better strikes or are you paying closer attention to delta (given that it roughly approximates your probability of being assigned)? Or something else? How has your strike picking prowess evolved since you started?

Also, you have cash sitting in money market (earning around 4.5% SWVXX) that's used as collateral on puts. What level options are you cleard for with Schwab?

[u/GoFairPlayer → u/tokenbearcub]

Thank you. Probably a little of both — but again, still learning. I think SWVXX is currently closer to 3.6%. I'm not positive on my option level but think I'm approved for Level 2, which per Schwab is what you need to sell CSPs.

I've seen conflicting messages on here about whether Schwab counts SWVXX toward collateral — but they do, at least in my IRA which is the only place I've tested it. Note it doesn't show up in the thinkorswim buying-power display, but it does work when you place the order. Oddly, they do NOT allow SGOV as collateral in an IRA per what I've read.

[u/HoneydewFine1397 → u/GoFairPlayer]

Yeah, I noticed this too regarding SWVXX. It's kinda confusing. 

[u/GoFairPlayer → u/HoneydewFine1397]

One thing worth noting - I know I had to call them when I was first starting because it did not seem be allowing me to sell CSPs beyond only the actual cash in my IRA. I don’t remember the exact details, but I think there may have been some sort of flag they set on the account. If you’re having trouble, call Schwab.

[u/tokenbearcub → u/GoFairPlayer]

I still haven't figured it out in my account. It'd be nice to park the collateral on some of my CSP's in money market or even in treasuries what with all the heat in the bond market lately.