MSCI wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
MSCI, Inc. · Industrials · $563.49 close on Oct 19, 2026
What the Oct 19, 2026 close says about MSCI
At 35.8% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $59.75 (10.6%) in MSCI by Nov 20, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $540 put (−0.33Δ) for $13.00 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $527.00, 6.5% below the $563.49 close.
The 60-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.1× the premium of the 32-day one for 1.9× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.406 vs $0.234).
At 0.30Δ on the Nov 20 expiry the put yields 2.41% on its strike and the call 1.80% on spot: puts pay 1.3× what calls do on MSCI this session.
Moving down to the $520 put (−0.21Δ) buys 3.5% more room below spot and keeps 63% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 2,711 contracts; the largest single line is the $510 put expiring Nov 20 with 323 (11.9% of the window).
By options volume MSCI ranks #91 of 608 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 MSCI
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $540 | −0.33 | $13.00 Oct 19 | $1,300.00 | $54,000 | 2.41% | 27.5% | $527.00 | 15 | 59 |
| 0.20Δ | $520 | −0.21 | $8.20 Oct 19 | $820.00 | $52,000 | 1.58% | 18.0% | $511.80 | 159 | 29 |
Snapshot #4311 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:22 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 | $530 | −0.28 | $14.03 Oct 19 | $1,403.00 | $53,000 | 2.65% | 16.1% | $515.97 | 20 | 5 |
| 0.20Δ | $510 | −0.19 | $9.85 Oct 19 | $985.00 | $51,000 | 1.93% | 11.7% | $500.15 | 166 | 16 |
Snapshot #4311 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:22 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 60
Covered calls on MSCI
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $590 | 0.33 | $10.15 Oct 19 | $1,015.00 | 1.80% | 20.5% | 6.51% | 74.2% | 13 | 1,329 |
| 0.20Δ | $610 | 0.21 | $5.47 Oct 19 | $547.00 | 0.97% | 11.1% | 9.22% | 105.2% | 28 | 95 |
Snapshot #4311 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:22 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 | $600 | 0.32 | $11.77 Oct 19 | $1,177.00 | 2.09% | 12.7% | 8.57% | 52.1% | 40 | 234 |
| 0.20Δ | $630 | 0.18 | $5.45 Oct 19 | $545.00 | 0.97% | 5.9% | 12.77% | 77.7% | 92 | 17 |
Snapshot #4311 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:22 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 60
MSCI volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 35.8%session 2026-10-19
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Oct 19, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 2,711 contractssession 2026-10-19
- Largest open-interest line
- $510 put · Nov 20 · 323
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #91 of 608 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.