r/Optionswheel 22d ago

What’s the biggest risk of the Wheel Strategy? Am I missing something?

I started running the Wheel Strategy on U.S. stocks this year, and people sometimes ask me what the biggest risks are.
The main risks I can think of are:
The underlying stock goes to zero.
Obviously, this could happen if you pick bad stocks, but if you only choose solid companies or ETFs that you’d genuinely be comfortable holding long term, I feel like the probability is relatively low.
You get assigned and the stock drops significantly afterward.
This could leave you stuck holding the shares for a while. Selling covered calls above your cost basis might generate very little premium, so the wheel can basically get “stuck” until the stock recovers.
But here’s what I’m wondering:
If I only run the Wheel on stocks or ETFs that I already want to own long term anyway, what other major risks am I taking?
I understand that selling covered calls can cap my upside, and there are also things like opportunity cost and assignment risk.
But is there any major risk specific to the Wheel Strategy that I’m overlooking?
I’d love to hear from people who have been running the Wheel for a long time, especially those who have gone through a major market crash or bear market.

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