MRK wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare · $148.69 close on Sep 28, 2026
What the Sep 28, 2026 close says about MRK
At 33.9% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $14.92 (10.0%) in MRK by Oct 30, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $142 put (−0.30Δ) for $3.25 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $138.75, 6.7% below the $148.69 close.
The 81-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.6× the premium of the 32-day one for 2.5× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.102 vs $0.064).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 2.29% on its strike and the call 2.29% on spot: puts and calls pay within 10% of each other on MRK this session.
Moving down to the $138 put (−0.22Δ) buys 2.7% more room below spot and keeps 62% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 42,101 contracts; the largest single line is the $170 call expiring Dec 18 with 13,508 (32.1% of the window).
By options volume MRK ranks #153 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 MRK
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $142 | −0.30 | $3.25 Sep 28 | $325.00 | $14,200 | 2.29% | 26.1% | $138.75 | 7 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | $138 | −0.22 | $2.00 Sep 28 | $200.00 | $13,800 | 1.45% | 16.5% | $136.00 | 17 | 1 |
Snapshot #181 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:32 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 | $140 | −0.31 | $5.20 Sep 28 | $520.00 | $14,000 | 3.71% | 16.7% | $134.80 | 1,331 | 8 |
| 0.20Δ | $130 | −0.18 | $2.42 Sep 28 | $242.00 | $13,000 | 1.86% | 8.4% | $127.58 | 1,414 | 21 |
Snapshot #181 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:32 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 81
Covered calls on MRK
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $157.50 | 0.31 | $3.40 Sep 28 | $340.00 | 2.29% | 26.1% | 8.21% | 93.7% | 68 | 6 |
| 0.20Δ | $162.50 | 0.21 | $1.44 Sep 28 | $144.00 | 0.97% | 11.0% | 10.26% | 117.0% | 31 | 14 |
Snapshot #181 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:32 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 | $165 | 0.28 | $3.70 Sep 28 | $370.00 | 2.49% | 11.2% | 13.46% | 60.6% | 1,115 | 55 |
| 0.20Δ | $170 | 0.22 | $2.66 Sep 28 | $266.00 | 1.79% | 8.1% | 16.12% | 72.6% | 13,508 | 8 |
Snapshot #181 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:32 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 81
MRK volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 33.9%session 2026-09-28
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 28, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 42,101 contractssession 2026-09-28
- Largest open-interest line
- $170 call · Dec 18 · 13,508
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #153 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.