QQQ wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 · ETFs · $744.50 close on Sep 25, 2026
What the Sep 25, 2026 close says about QQQ
At 19.6% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $45.12 (6.1%) in QQQ by Oct 30, 2026, 35 days out.
Selling the $725 put (−0.31Δ) for $9.58 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $715.42, 3.9% below the $744.50 close.
The 66-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.5× the premium of the 35-day one for 1.9× the time — more premium per day on the 35-day contract ($0.274 vs $0.215).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 1.32% on its strike and the call 1.02% on spot: puts pay 1.3× what calls do on QQQ this session.
Moving down to the $707 put (−0.20Δ) buys 2.4% more room below spot and keeps 61% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 281,083 contracts; the largest single line is the $700 put expiring Oct 30 with 23,562 (8.4% 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 QQQ
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $725 | −0.31 | $9.58 Sep 25 | $958.00 | $72,500 | 1.32% | 13.8% | $715.42 | 2,018 | 39,074 |
| 0.20Δ | $707 | −0.20 | $5.88 Sep 25 | $588.00 | $70,700 | 0.83% | 8.7% | $701.12 | 1,504 | 610 |
Snapshot #2 · 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 | $720 | −0.31 | $14.17 Sep 25 | $1,417.00 | $72,000 | 1.97% | 10.9% | $705.83 | 443 | 72 |
| 0.20Δ | $694 | −0.20 | $8.58 Sep 25 | $858.00 | $69,400 | 1.24% | 6.8% | $685.42 | 35 | 5 |
Snapshot #2 · session 2026-09-25 · captured 08:07 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 66
Covered calls on QQQ
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $770 | 0.30 | $7.56 Sep 25 | $756.00 | 1.02% | 10.6% | 4.44% | 46.3% | 3,417 | 157 |
| 0.20Δ | $785 | 0.18 | $3.85 Sep 25 | $385.00 | 0.52% | 5.4% | 5.96% | 62.1% | 2,868 | 514 |
Snapshot #2 · 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 | $783 | 0.30 | $10.74 Sep 25 | $1,074.00 | 1.44% | 8.0% | 6.61% | 36.6% | 40 | 2 |
| 0.20Δ | $800 | 0.21 | $6.23 Sep 25 | $623.00 | 0.84% | 4.6% | 8.29% | 45.9% | 603 | 1,234 |
Snapshot #2 · session 2026-09-25 · captured 08:07 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 66
QQQ volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 19.6%session 2026-09-25
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 27, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 281,083 contractssession 2026-09-25
- Largest open-interest line
- $700 put · Oct 30 · 23,562
- 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.