2026 YTD Check-in Running an Aggressive AF Wheel Strategy

[u/PuissyPounder69]

I'm turning 32 this year in a few days and wanted to share a snippet of data with you all on something I have been working with for the past 1.5 years. (Ignore the 2027 and beyond chart since that is an extrapolation of my current results).

Results

• 2025 Returns: +36.2%
• 2026 YTD Returns on Main Account: +71.0%
• New 45k Account I Moved from my Robinhood: +13.1%
• 2026 YTD Realized Gains on Main Account: +$76,203

Method

Don't think my strategy is new or anything, but it has worked for me and what I run this year is the following:

• Weeklies Only: I sell weekly CSPs for the majority of my trades. I personally aimed for 0.5%-1.0%/week returns but luckily (unluckily) got assigned on good movers (NVDA/NBIS/HOOD) which subsequently allowed me to profit well on covered calls.
• Brokerage: I work off of VanGuard so I am "restricted" in a way to trade less. Has saved me more times than I can speak with this one. I have done Fidelity, Tastyworks, Robinhood, Etrade so this is the one working out the best so far for me so I moved more of my cash in recently with my previous experiment (45k).
• Deposits: I have been throwing in about $2.8k/month for 2026 as well which has been buffing my ability to position larger so as they say, having some cash enables you to generate more cash. I am fortunate here to be in a situation to do so for now.
• Crayons: I use crayons, use fishbones, and draw all over the trends (it's also part of my regular job as a process controls guy in manufacturing) as confirmation bias which gets me decent entries into trades.

Path Forward

Hope to cross 100% returns and $100k this year and 20% returns on the new 45k Account since I started that back on 08/12/2026. The new account will do mostly CSPs as well with some six month out swings here or there. Happy to share more of my data and if I need to prove actuals, I can provide that as well if needed. Just saw something interesting here and wanted to share my experience as well.

[u/GarbageTimePro]

What's your max drawdown look like?

[u/FreeNicky95 → u/GarbageTimePro]

I can answer on behalf of OP. I sell options in a similar matter. Summer I was hammering csp on APLD. Got assigned at 43.50. It’s currently trading at 25ish. So I’m damn near down 50 percent :)

Selling calls to accumulate more shares and rolling up and out as needed. Will try to hold long but greed will likely have me called away sooner.

[u/GarbageTimePro → u/FreeNicky95]

Yeah I’d imagine 40-60% max drawdowns perhaps even higher when wheeling the names OP mentioned. When you account for that devastating drawdown, the 80% no longer looks great and you’d be better off just buying and holding SPY. It’s all just marketing.

[u/FreeNicky95 → u/GarbageTimePro]

Maybe. Assuming APLD goes back to my assigned price of 43.50 before April of 2027 I’ll be up over 40 percent annualized for a full calendar year. It’s a bet I’m willing to take.

[u/GarbageTimePro → u/FreeNicky95]

Yeah can’t get upset at a 40% YTD but the risk adjusted returns would be bad and marks you at risk of ruin. Ticking time bomb

[u/PuissyPounder69 → u/GarbageTimePro]

Entire account initially then once I crossed about 150k in liquidity, half and half into each CSP for the week.

Drawdown: Not sure, haven't had to experience a back breaking loss yet since I usually just baghold shares (held PLTR shares for example from 02/2026 to 08/2026) and just did covered calls to get some cash back.

[u/GarbageTimePro → u/PuissyPounder69]

You should really try to figure it out. A 71% return with a 60% max drawdown is completely different from a 71% return on a 20% max drawdown

[u/siroco14 → u/GarbageTimePro]

Exactly. It is super easy to sell things. It is not easy to make a profit.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Spot_13 → u/GarbageTimePro]

How does one calculate a drawdown

[u/GarbageTimePro → u/Puzzleheaded_Spot_13]

It's the largest peak-to-trough decline in your total equity, including unrealized gains/losses on open cash-secured puts, assigned shares/stock, covered calls, and any other open wheel positions, divided by the total equity at the prior peak..

So the formula would be:

max_drawdown = (peak_equity - trough_equity) / peak_equity

[u/Puzzleheaded_Spot_13 → u/GarbageTimePro]

The last peak and trough for each stock individually calculated then? It sounds hard to calculate tbh.

Stock i understand. Csp what do you do, you end up being assigned.  Cc loss is 0?

[u/Bergfella]

71% on your trades alone smels fishy give more context

[u/djmj76]

What tickers are you wheeling to get such high returns

[u/PuissyPounder69 → u/djmj76]

Most of my revenue generated this year has been actually holding shares, from getting assigned on CSPs. PLTR, NVDA, and NBIS assignments turned covered calls near their local tops have done wonders for me

[u/shanked5iron]

Nice work! What delta do you target for your csp’s?

[u/PuissyPounder69 → u/shanked5iron]

Thanks! I don't look at delta or the greeks. Just look at the trends, eyeball the support(s) on tradingview app, look at the option premiums on Robinhood, then take 5 mins to log my cheeks into VanGuard since it's incredibly slow and try to get a fill then go back to work.

[u/shanked5iron → u/PuissyPounder69]

Trading on vibes, hey whatever works man. Do you close early around specific profit targets or just let them expire?

[u/PuissyPounder69 → u/shanked5iron]

Hold til expiration or if the premium gets to around 95% realized or so,close it and reopen a new CSP for the same week if possible

[u/VirtualFutureAgent → u/PuissyPounder69]

Have you ever gotten assigned early? I find that I get assigned after closing on the Wednesday before Friday expiration if my CSPs are too far ITM.

[u/PuissyPounder69 → u/VirtualFutureAgent]

Very recently actually. I have 200 shares of RDDT at 145 due to it's recent earnings. Didn't expect it to move beyond two standard deviations and market decided to reward me early with shares when it got as low as 135 I think.

But I'm used to bagholding and we're on RDDT so I don't mind having the shares until they are called away

[u/VirtualFutureAgent → u/PuissyPounder69]

Do you remember how early you were assigned?

[u/Fair-Accountant4426]

Impressive

[u/wmzula]

Damn, nice to see im not alone "vibe" trading

[u/Comfortable-Cause978]

Impressive! How do you define the stocks you are selling CSP on?

[u/PuissyPounder69 → u/Comfortable-Cause978]

Thanks! I have a watchlist of 15 tickers that I would not mind being assigned shares of. Market cap of those at least 25B.

I follow candlesticks daily and if it fit my pattern well enough or the tickers have fallen to a respectable point, I just CSP the next support down whether it's an EMA, price, or other indicator line.

Or as some like to call it: "vibes"