MELI wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Mercado Libre, Inc · Industrials · $1,475.09 close on Nov 12, 2026
What the Nov 12, 2026 close says about MELI
At 37.4% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $173.36 (11.8%) in MELI by Dec 18, 2026, 36 days out.
Selling the $1400 put (−0.29Δ) for $33.50 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $1,366.50, 7.4% below the $1,475.09 close.
The 64-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.3× the premium of the 36-day one for 1.8× the time — more premium per day on the 36-day contract ($0.931 vs $0.687).
At 0.30Δ on the Dec 18 expiry the put yields 2.39% on its strike and the call 2.16% on spot: puts pay 1.1× what calls do on MELI this session.
Moving down to the $1360 put (−0.21Δ) buys 2.7% more room below spot and keeps 69% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 6,692 contracts; the largest single line is the $1500 call expiring Jan 15 with 506 (7.6% of the window).
By options volume MELI ranks #160 of 679 names in our universe.
Near-the-money options volume (308) is 13% below 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 MELI
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $1400 | −0.29 | $33.50 Nov 12 | $3,350.00 | $140,000 | 2.39% | 24.3% | $1,366.50 | 293 | 8 |
| 0.20Δ | $1360 | −0.21 | $23.25 Nov 12 | $2,325.00 | $136,000 | 1.71% | 17.3% | $1,336.75 | 471 | 48 |
Snapshot #9429 · 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 | $1380 | −0.29 | $43.94 Nov 12 | $4,394.00 | $138,000 | 3.18% | 18.2% | $1,336.06 | 21 | 3 |
| 0.20Δ | $1300 | −0.18 | $24.80 Nov 12 | $2,480.00 | $130,000 | 1.91% | 10.9% | $1,275.20 | 132 | 26 |
Snapshot #9429 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:11 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 64
Covered calls on MELI
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $1580 | 0.30 | $31.88 Nov 12 | $3,188.00 | 2.16% | 21.9% | 9.27% | 94.0% | 30 | 8 |
| 0.20Δ | $1640 | 0.22 | $16.52 Nov 12 | $1,652.00 | 1.12% | 11.4% | 12.30% | 124.7% | 191 | 4 |
Snapshot #9429 · 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 | $1620 | 0.31 | $43.38 Nov 12 | $4,338.00 | 2.94% | 16.8% | 12.76% | 72.8% | 26 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | $1700 | 0.21 | $23.50 Nov 12 | $2,350.00 | 1.59% | 9.1% | 16.84% | 96.0% | 121 | 43 |
Snapshot #9429 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:11 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 64
MELI volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 37.4%session 2026-11-12
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Nov 9, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 6,692 contractssession 2026-11-12
- Largest open-interest line
- $1500 call · Jan 15 · 506
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #160 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.
- We are building our own daily implied-volatility history (29 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.