FCX wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Freeport-McMoran Inc. · Materials · $71.96 close on Sep 28, 2026
What the Sep 28, 2026 close says about FCX
At 49.2% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $10.47 (14.6%) in FCX by Oct 30, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $68 put (−0.31Δ) for $2.40 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $65.60, 8.8% below the $71.96 close.
The 81-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.4× the premium of the 32-day one for 2.5× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.075 vs $0.040).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 3.53% on its strike and the call 2.13% on spot: puts pay 1.7× what calls do on FCX this session.
Moving down to the $65 put (−0.21Δ) buys 4.2% more room below spot and keeps 57% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 73,677 contracts; the largest single line is the $60 put expiring Dec 18 with 13,709 (18.6% of the window).
FCX goes ex-dividend on Oct 15, 2026 ($0.08 declared), inside the Oct 30 covered-call window. A short call that is in the money before an ex-date can be assigned early.
By options volume FCX ranks #181 of 441 names in our universe.
The builder re-quotes every leg from the live chain when it opens; tracking is free to start.
Cash-secured puts on FCX
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $68 | −0.31 | $2.40 Sep 28 | $240.00 | $6,800 | 3.53% | 40.3% | $65.60 | 25 | 4 |
| 0.20Δ | $65 | −0.21 | $1.38 Sep 28 | $138.00 | $6,500 | 2.12% | 24.2% | $63.62 | 94 | 41 |
Snapshot #122 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 32
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $65 | −0.27 | $3.25 Sep 28 | $325.00 | $6,500 | 5.00% | 22.5% | $61.75 | 3,317 | 10 |
| 0.20Δ | $60 | −0.17 | $1.58 Sep 28 | $158.00 | $6,000 | 2.63% | 11.9% | $58.42 | 13,709 | 11 |
Snapshot #122 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 81
Covered calls on FCX
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $80 | 0.26 | $1.53 Sep 28 | $153.00 | 2.13% | 24.3% | 13.30% | 151.7% | 59 | 22 |
| 0.20Δ | $82 | 0.20 | $1.16 Sep 28 | $116.00 | 1.61% | 18.4% | 15.56% | 177.5% | 60 | 18 |
Snapshot #122 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 32
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $82.50 | 0.32 | $2.83 Sep 28 | $283.00 | 3.93% | 17.7% | 18.58% | 83.7% | 416 | 8 |
| 0.20Δ | $90 | 0.20 | $1.65 Sep 28 | $165.00 | 2.29% | 10.3% | 27.36% | 123.3% | 4,554 | 4 |
Snapshot #122 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 81
FCX volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 49.2%session 2026-09-28
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- Ex-div Oct 15, 2026 · $0.08 declaredchecked Sep 28, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 73,677 contractssession 2026-09-28
- Largest open-interest line
- $60 put · Dec 18 · 13,709
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #181 of 441 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 (1 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.