CAT wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Caterpillar Inc. · Industrials · $605.28 close on Nov 12, 2026
What the Nov 12, 2026 close says about CAT
At 41.6% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $78.99 (13.0%) in CAT by Dec 18, 2026, 36 days out.
Selling the $570 put (−0.28Δ) for $16.00 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $554.00, 8.5% below the $605.28 close.
The 64-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.2× the premium of the 36-day one for 1.8× the time — more premium per day on the 36-day contract ($0.444 vs $0.305).
At 0.30Δ on the Dec 18 expiry the put yields 2.81% on its strike and the call 2.45% on spot: puts pay 1.1× what calls do on CAT this session.
Moving down to the $550 put (−0.20Δ) buys 3.3% more room below spot and keeps 63% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 33,685 contracts; the largest single line is the $600 put expiring Jan 15 with 3,205 (9.5% of the window).
By options volume CAT ranks #188 of 679 names in our universe.
Near-the-money options volume (1.0k) is 284% above its 5-session average.
The builder re-quotes every leg from the live chain when it opens; tracking is free to start.
Cash-secured puts on CAT
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $570 | −0.28 | $16.00 Nov 12 | $1,600.00 | $57,000 | 2.81% | 28.5% | $554.00 | 927 | 18 |
| 0.20Δ | $550 | −0.20 | $10.02 Nov 12 | $1,002.00 | $55,000 | 1.82% | 18.5% | $539.98 | 607 | 202 |
Snapshot #9328 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:01 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 36
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $560 | −0.28 | $19.55 Nov 12 | $1,955.00 | $56,000 | 3.49% | 19.9% | $540.45 | 1,234 | 42 |
| 0.20Δ | $540 | −0.22 | $14.05 Nov 12 | $1,405.00 | $54,000 | 2.60% | 14.8% | $525.95 | 2,350 | 31 |
Snapshot #9328 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:01 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 64
Covered calls on CAT
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $650 | 0.32 | $14.81 Nov 12 | $1,481.00 | 2.45% | 24.8% | 9.84% | 99.7% | 350 | 93 |
| 0.20Δ | $680 | 0.20 | $8.00 Nov 12 | $800.00 | 1.32% | 13.4% | 13.67% | 138.6% | 431 | 109 |
Snapshot #9328 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:01 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 36
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $680 | 0.28 | $15.78 Nov 12 | $1,578.00 | 2.61% | 14.9% | 14.95% | 85.3% | 3,127 | 69 |
| 0.20Δ | $700 | 0.22 | $11.50 Nov 12 | $1,150.00 | 1.90% | 10.8% | 17.55% | 100.1% | 1,224 | 112 |
Snapshot #9328 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:01 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 64
CAT volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 41.6%session 2026-11-12
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Nov 9, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 33,685 contractssession 2026-11-12
- Largest open-interest line
- $600 put · Jan 15 · 3,205
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #188 of 679 optionable names by options volume
How these numbers are made
One end-of-day snapshot per session from a 15-minute-delayed feed. A premium is a contract’s last trade, used only if it printed that session, sits above intrinsic value and is in order with its neighbours; deltas are the feed’s own. Expiries are the first at least 30 and 60 days out, and nothing under 30 days is annualized. Not investment advice. Full methodology.
- We are building our own daily implied-volatility history (34 of 252 sessions so far); IV rank and percentile need a full year of it.
- Our data provider does not license announced earnings dates, and we do not publish estimates.
- Our data feed carries last trades, not live bid/ask quotes, so we cannot show a spread.