MS wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Morgan Stanley · Financials · $193.64 close on Sep 28, 2026
What the Sep 28, 2026 close says about MS
At 33.5% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $19.22 (9.9%) in MS by Oct 30, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $185 put (−0.31Δ) for $4.35 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $180.65, 6.7% below the $193.64 close.
The 81-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.3× the premium of the 32-day one for 2.5× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.136 vs $0.070).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 2.35% on its strike and the call 1.88% on spot: puts pay 1.2× what calls do on MS this session.
Moving down to the $180 put (−0.21Δ) buys 2.6% more room below spot and keeps 64% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 14,484 contracts; the largest single line is the $170 put expiring Dec 18 with 2,265 (15.6% of the window).
By options volume MS ranks #242 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 MS
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $185 | −0.31 | $4.35 Sep 28 | $435.00 | $18,500 | 2.35% | 26.8% | $180.65 | 371 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | $180 | −0.21 | $2.80 Sep 28 | $280.00 | $18,000 | 1.56% | 17.7% | $177.20 | 31 | 15 |
Snapshot #184 · 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 | $180 | −0.28 | $5.70 Sep 28 | $570.00 | $18,000 | 3.17% | 14.3% | $174.30 | 987 | 23 |
| 0.20Δ | $175 | −0.22 | $4.15 Sep 28 | $415.00 | $17,500 | 2.37% | 10.7% | $170.85 | 1,129 | 10 |
Snapshot #184 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:32 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 81
Covered calls on MS
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $205 | 0.31 | $3.65 Sep 28 | $365.00 | 1.88% | 21.5% | 7.75% | 88.4% | 12 | 4 |
| 0.20Δ | $210 | 0.22 | $2.34 Sep 28 | $234.00 | 1.21% | 13.8% | 9.66% | 110.2% | 6 | 18 |
Snapshot #184 · 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 | $210 | 0.31 | $5.40 Sep 28 | $540.00 | 2.79% | 12.6% | 11.24% | 50.6% | 881 | 122 |
| 0.20Δ | $220 | 0.21 | $3.00 Sep 28 | $300.00 | 1.55% | 7.0% | 15.16% | 68.3% | 1,572 | 31 |
Snapshot #184 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:32 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 81
MS volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 33.5%session 2026-09-28
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 28, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 14,484 contractssession 2026-09-28
- Largest open-interest line
- $170 put · Dec 18 · 2,265
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #242 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.