MSFT wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Microsoft Corp · Technology · $516.17 close on Sep 25, 2026
What the Sep 25, 2026 close says about MSFT
At 33.8% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $54.03 (10.5%) in MSFT by Oct 30, 2026, 35 days out.
Selling the $495 put (−0.30Δ) for $10.90 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $484.10, 6.2% below the $516.17 close.
The 84-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.4× the premium of the 35-day one for 2.4× the time — more premium per day on the 35-day contract ($0.311 vs $0.178).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 2.20% on its strike and the call 1.79% on spot: puts pay 1.2× what calls do on MSFT this session.
Moving down to the $480 put (−0.21Δ) buys 2.9% more room below spot and keeps 64% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 454,024 contracts; the largest single line is the $575 call expiring Dec 18 with 132,004 (29.1% of the window).
The builder re-quotes every leg from the live chain when it opens; tracking is free to start.
Cash-secured puts on MSFT
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $495 | −0.30 | $10.90 Sep 25 | $1,090.00 | $49,500 | 2.20% | 23.0% | $484.10 | 324 | 112 |
| 0.20Δ | $480 | −0.21 | $6.95 Sep 25 | $695.00 | $48,000 | 1.45% | 15.1% | $473.05 | 329 | 145 |
Snapshot #6 · session 2026-09-25 · captured 08:07 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 35
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $485 | −0.29 | $14.97 Sep 25 | $1,497.00 | $48,500 | 3.09% | 13.4% | $470.03 | 976 | 39 |
| 0.20Δ | $465 | −0.21 | $10.00 Sep 25 | $1,000.00 | $46,500 | 2.15% | 9.3% | $455.00 | 1,271 | 54 |
Snapshot #6 · session 2026-09-25 · captured 08:07 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 84
Covered calls on MSFT
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $550 | 0.30 | $9.22 Sep 25 | $922.00 | 1.79% | 18.6% | 8.34% | 87.0% | 1,451 | 1,506 |
| 0.20Δ | $565 | 0.21 | $6.15 Sep 25 | $615.00 | 1.19% | 12.4% | 10.65% | 111.1% | 83 | 63 |
Snapshot #6 · session 2026-09-25 · captured 08:07 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 35
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $565 | 0.31 | $13.43 Sep 25 | $1,343.00 | 2.60% | 11.3% | 12.06% | 52.4% | 1,214 | 91 |
| 0.20Δ | $590 | 0.21 | $8.16 Sep 25 | $816.00 | 1.58% | 6.9% | 15.88% | 69.0% | 1,675 | 57 |
Snapshot #6 · session 2026-09-25 · captured 08:07 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 84
MSFT volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 33.8%session 2026-09-25
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- Ex-div Nov 19, 2026 · $0.98 declaredchecked Sep 27, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 454,024 contractssession 2026-09-25
- Largest open-interest line
- $575 call · Dec 18 · 132,004
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- Unavailable4
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.
- Not ranked yet — liquidity ranks are computed at the weekly re-rank of the whole universe.