IAU wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
iShares Gold Trust · ETFs · $77.50 close on Sep 28, 2026
What the Sep 28, 2026 close says about IAU
At 21.3% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $4.89 (6.3%) in IAU by Oct 30, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $75 put (−0.27Δ) for $0.84 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $74.16, 4.3% below the $77.50 close.
The 109-day 0.30Δ put pays 2.3× the premium of the 32-day one for 3.4× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.026 vs $0.018).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 1.12% on its strike and the call 1.24% on spot: calls pay 1.1× what puts do on IAU this session.
Moving down to the $74 put (−0.23Δ) buys 1.3% more room below spot and keeps 74% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 17,407 contracts; the largest single line is the $80 call expiring Jan 15 with 2,067 (11.9% of the window).
By options volume IAU ranks #149 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 IAU
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $75 | −0.27 | $0.84 Sep 28 | $84.00 | $7,500 | 1.12% | 12.8% | $74.16 | 4 | 57 |
| 0.20Δ | $74 | −0.23 | $0.62 Sep 28 | $62.00 | $7,400 | 0.84% | 9.6% | $73.38 | 1 | 3 |
Snapshot #144 · 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 | $74 | −0.30 | $1.91 Sep 28 | $191.00 | $7,400 | 2.58% | 8.6% | $72.09 | 384 | 5 |
| 0.20Δ | $72 | −0.22 | $1.26 Sep 28 | $126.00 | $7,200 | 1.75% | 5.9% | $70.74 | 52 | 8 |
Snapshot #144 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 109
Covered calls on IAU
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $81 | 0.28 | $0.96 Sep 28 | $96.00 | 1.24% | 14.1% | 5.75% | 65.6% | 28 | 181 |
| 0.20Δ | $82.50 | 0.22 | $0.57 Sep 28 | $57.00 | 0.74% | 8.4% | 7.19% | 82.0% | 10 | 10 |
Snapshot #144 · 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 | $84 | 0.32 | $2.00 Sep 28 | $200.00 | 2.58% | 8.6% | 10.97% | 36.7% | 259 | 4 |
| 0.20Δ | $88 | 0.20 | $1.15 Sep 28 | $115.00 | 1.48% | 5.0% | 15.03% | 50.3% | 330 | 11 |
Snapshot #144 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 109
IAU volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 21.3%session 2026-09-28
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 28, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 17,407 contractssession 2026-09-28
- Largest open-interest line
- $80 call · Jan 15 · 2,067
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #149 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.