NRG wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
NRG Energy, Inc. · Utilities · $99.38 close on Oct 19, 2026
What the Oct 19, 2026 close says about NRG
At 59.8% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $17.60 (17.7%) in NRG by Nov 20, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $93 put (−0.31Δ) for $3.81 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $89.19, 10.3% below the $99.38 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 ($0.119 vs $0.071).
At 0.30Δ on the Nov 20 expiry the put yields 4.10% on its strike and the call 2.97% on spot: puts pay 1.4× what calls do on NRG this session.
Moving down to the $85 put (−0.17Δ) buys 8.0% more room below spot and keeps 41% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 32,469 contracts; the largest single line is the $120 call expiring Nov 20 with 11,609 (35.8% of the window).
NRG goes ex-dividend on Nov 2, 2026 ($0.48 declared), inside the Nov 20 covered-call window. A short call that is in the money before an ex-date can be assigned early.
By options volume NRG ranks #64 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 NRG
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $93 | −0.31 | $3.81 Oct 19 | $381.00 | $9,300 | 4.10% | 46.7% | $89.19 | 0 | 2 |
| 0.20Δ | $85 | −0.17 | $1.55 Oct 19 | $155.00 | $8,500 | 1.82% | 20.8% | $83.45 | 218 | 17 |
Snapshot #4324 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:30 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 | $90 | −0.28 | $4.25 Oct 19 | $425.00 | $9,000 | 4.72% | 28.7% | $85.75 | 2,424 | 2 |
| 0.20Δ | $85 | −0.20 | $2.71 Oct 19 | $271.00 | $8,500 | 3.19% | 19.4% | $82.29 | 292 | 5 |
Snapshot #4324 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:30 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 60
Covered calls on NRG
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $110 | 0.31 | $2.95 Oct 19 | $295.00 | 2.97% | 33.9% | 13.65% | 155.7% | 2,046 | 5,031 |
| 0.20Δ | $116 | 0.21 | $1.88 Oct 19 | $188.00 | 1.89% | 21.6% | 18.62% | 212.3% | 0 | 1 |
Snapshot #4324 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:30 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 | $115 | 0.29 | $3.56 Oct 19 | $356.00 | 3.58% | 21.8% | 19.30% | 117.4% | 1,267 | 2 |
| 0.20Δ | $120 | 0.23 | $2.70 Oct 19 | $270.00 | 2.72% | 16.5% | 23.47% | 142.7% | 419 | 10 |
Snapshot #4324 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:30 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 60
NRG volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 59.8%session 2026-10-19
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- Ex-div Nov 2, 2026 · $0.48 declaredchecked Oct 19, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 32,469 contractssession 2026-10-19
- Largest open-interest line
- $120 call · Nov 20 · 11,609
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #64 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.