MCD wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer discretionary · $233.60 close on Sep 28, 2026
What the Sep 28, 2026 close says about MCD
At 20.5% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $14.19 (6.1%) in MCD by Oct 30, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $225 put (−0.26Δ) for $2.35 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $222.65, 4.7% below the $233.60 close.
The 81-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.8× the premium of the 32-day one for 2.5× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.073 vs $0.052).
Moving down to the $220 put (−0.16Δ) buys 2.1% more room below spot and keeps 55% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 17,395 contracts; the largest single line is the $265 call expiring Dec 18 with 2,628 (15.1% of the window).
By options volume MCD ranks #62 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 MCD
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $225 | −0.26 | $2.35 Sep 28 | $235.00 | $22,500 | 1.04% | 11.9% | $222.65 | 369 | 106 |
| 0.20Δ | $220 | −0.16 | $1.29 Sep 28 | $129.00 | $22,000 | 0.59% | 6.7% | $218.71 | 126 | 92 |
Snapshot #172 · 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 | $220 | −0.27 | $4.25 Sep 28 | $425.00 | $22,000 | 1.93% | 8.7% | $215.75 | 1,474 | 24 |
| 0.20Δ | $215 | −0.20 | $3.20 Sep 28 | $320.00 | $21,500 | 1.49% | 6.7% | $211.80 | 153 | 44 |
Snapshot #172 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 81
Covered calls on MCD
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | Unavailable1 | |||||||||
| 0.20Δ | $250 | 0.16 | $1.33 Sep 28 | $133.00 | 0.57% | 6.5% | 7.59% | 86.6% | 997 | 627 |
Snapshot #172 · 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 | $250 | 0.29 | $4.50 Sep 28 | $450.00 | 1.93% | 8.7% | 8.95% | 40.3% | 1,359 | 525 |
| 0.20Δ | $260 | 0.19 | $2.54 Sep 28 | $254.00 | 1.09% | 4.9% | 12.39% | 55.8% | 1,260 | 55 |
Snapshot #172 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 81
MCD volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 20.5%session 2026-09-28
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable2
- Next earnings
- Unavailable3
- Next ex-dividend
- Ex-div Dec 1, 2026 · $1.93 declaredchecked Sep 28, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 17,395 contractssession 2026-09-28
- Largest open-interest line
- $265 call · Dec 18 · 2,628
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable4
- Options liquidity rank
- #62 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.
- No contract near 0.30Δ traded this session
- 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.