IWM wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
iShares Russell 2000 ETF · ETFs · $281.97 close on Sep 25, 2026
What the Sep 25, 2026 close says about IWM
At 18.4% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $16.08 (5.7%) in IWM by Oct 30, 2026, 35 days out.
Selling the $274 put (−0.29Δ) for $3.20 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $270.80, 4.0% below the $281.97 close.
The 84-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.8× the premium of the 35-day one for 2.4× the time — more premium per day on the 35-day contract ($0.091 vs $0.068).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 1.17% on its strike and the call 1.07% on spot: puts and calls pay within 10% of each other on IWM this session.
Moving down to the $268 put (−0.20Δ) buys 2.1% more room below spot and keeps 65% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 868,531 contracts; the largest single line is the $270 put expiring Dec 18 with 81,859 (9.4% of the window).
The builder re-quotes every leg from the live chain when it opens; tracking is free to start.
Cash-secured puts on IWM
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $274 | −0.29 | $3.20 Sep 25 | $320.00 | $27,400 | 1.17% | 12.2% | $270.80 | 349 | 50 |
| 0.20Δ | $268 | −0.20 | $2.08 Sep 25 | $208.00 | $26,800 | 0.78% | 8.1% | $265.92 | 3,207 | 43 |
Snapshot #3 · session 2026-09-25 · captured 08:07 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 35
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $271 | −0.31 | $5.70 Sep 25 | $570.00 | $27,100 | 2.10% | 9.1% | $265.30 | 0 | 11 |
| 0.20Δ | $261 | −0.20 | $3.55 Sep 25 | $355.00 | $26,100 | 1.36% | 5.9% | $257.45 | 14 | 56 |
Snapshot #3 · session 2026-09-25 · captured 08:07 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 84
Covered calls on IWM
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $291 | 0.31 | $3.02 Sep 25 | $302.00 | 1.07% | 11.2% | 4.27% | 44.6% | 241 | 38 |
| 0.20Δ | $296 | 0.20 | $1.64 Sep 25 | $164.00 | 0.58% | 6.1% | 5.56% | 58.0% | 4,722 | 130 |
Snapshot #3 · session 2026-09-25 · captured 08:07 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 35
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $297 | 0.31 | $4.60 Sep 25 | $460.00 | 1.63% | 7.1% | 6.96% | 30.3% | 0 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | $305 | 0.20 | $2.62 Sep 25 | $262.00 | 0.93% | 4.0% | 9.10% | 39.5% | 15,637 | 7 |
Snapshot #3 · session 2026-09-25 · captured 08:07 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 84
IWM volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 18.4%session 2026-09-25
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 27, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 868,531 contractssession 2026-09-25
- Largest open-interest line
- $270 put · Dec 18 · 81,859
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- Unavailable4
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.
- Not ranked yet — liquidity ranks are computed at the weekly re-rank of the whole universe.