MCD wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer discretionary · $273.63 close on Nov 12, 2026
What the Nov 12, 2026 close says about MCD
At 22.2% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $19.07 (7.0%) in MCD by Dec 18, 2026, 36 days out.
Selling the $265 put (−0.32Δ) for $4.14 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $260.86, 4.7% below the $273.63 close.
The 64-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.1× the premium of the 36-day one for 1.8× the time — more premium per day on the 36-day contract ($0.115 vs $0.072).
At 0.30Δ on the Dec 18 expiry the put yields 1.56% on its strike and the call 0.99% on spot: puts pay 1.6× what calls do on MCD this session.
Moving down to the $260 put (−0.23Δ) buys 1.8% more room below spot and keeps 65% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 46,126 contracts; the largest single line is the $300 call expiring Jan 15 with 6,576 (14.3% of the window).
MCD goes ex-dividend on Dec 1, 2026 ($1.93 declared), inside the Dec 18 covered-call window. A short call that is in the money before an ex-date can be assigned early.
By options volume MCD ranks #190 of 679 names in our universe.
Near-the-money options volume (2.2k) is 635% 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 MCD
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $265 | −0.32 | $4.14 Nov 12 | $414.00 | $26,500 | 1.56% | 15.8% | $260.86 | 687 | 152 |
| 0.20Δ | $260 | −0.23 | $2.71 Nov 12 | $271.00 | $26,000 | 1.04% | 10.6% | $257.29 | 1,142 | 157 |
Snapshot #9426 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:11 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 | $260 | −0.27 | $4.59 Nov 12 | $459.00 | $26,000 | 1.77% | 10.1% | $255.41 | 1,408 | 61 |
| 0.20Δ | $250 | −0.16 | $2.44 Nov 12 | $244.00 | $25,000 | 0.98% | 5.6% | $247.56 | 2,422 | 37 |
Snapshot #9426 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:11 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 64
Covered calls on MCD
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $285 | 0.27 | $2.71 Nov 12 | $271.00 | 0.99% | 10.0% | 5.15% | 52.2% | 1,209 | 70 |
| 0.20Δ | $290 | 0.18 | $1.71 Nov 12 | $171.00 | 0.62% | 6.3% | 6.61% | 67.0% | 2,456 | 92 |
Snapshot #9426 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:11 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 | $290 | 0.26 | $3.67 Nov 12 | $367.00 | 1.34% | 7.6% | 7.32% | 41.8% | 3,936 | 155 |
| 0.20Δ | Unavailable1 | |||||||||
Snapshot #9426 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:11 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 64
MCD volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 22.2%session 2026-11-12
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable2
- Next earnings
- Unavailable3
- Next ex-dividend
- Ex-div Dec 1, 2026 · $1.93 declaredchecked Nov 9, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 46,126 contractssession 2026-11-12
- Largest open-interest line
- $300 call · Jan 15 · 6,576
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable4
- Options liquidity rank
- #190 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.
- No contract near 0.20Δ traded this session
- 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.