SMH wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
VanEck Semiconductor ETF · ETFs · $600.01 close on Sep 28, 2026
What the Sep 28, 2026 close says about SMH
At 35.0% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $62.13 (10.4%) in SMH by Oct 30, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $572.50 put (−0.30Δ) for $13.05 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $559.45, 6.8% below the $600.01 close.
The 81-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.9× the premium of the 32-day one for 2.5× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.408 vs $0.305).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 2.28% on its strike and the call 1.74% on spot: puts pay 1.3× what calls do on SMH this session.
Moving down to the $552.50 put (−0.20Δ) buys 3.3% more room below spot and keeps 61% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 88,345 contracts; the largest single line is the $450 put expiring Dec 18 with 6,972 (7.9% of the window).
By options volume SMH ranks #76 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 SMH
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $572.50 | −0.30 | $13.05 Sep 28 | $1,305.00 | $57,250 | 2.28% | 26.0% | $559.45 | 61 | 17 |
| 0.20Δ | $552.50 | −0.20 | $7.90 Sep 28 | $790.00 | $55,250 | 1.43% | 16.3% | $544.60 | 45 | 11 |
Snapshot #233 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:41 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 | $560 | −0.30 | $24.70 Sep 28 | $2,470.00 | $56,000 | 4.41% | 19.9% | $535.30 | 1,930 | 50 |
| 0.20Δ | $525 | −0.20 | $13.22 Sep 28 | $1,322.00 | $52,500 | 2.52% | 11.3% | $511.78 | 1,023 | 5 |
Snapshot #233 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:41 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 81
Covered calls on SMH
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $640 | 0.29 | $10.45 Sep 28 | $1,045.00 | 1.74% | 19.9% | 8.41% | 95.9% | 156 | 3 |
| 0.20Δ | $660 | 0.19 | $6.18 Sep 28 | $618.00 | 1.03% | 11.7% | 11.03% | 125.8% | 453 | 42 |
Snapshot #233 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:41 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 | $665 | 0.31 | $19.63 Sep 28 | $1,963.00 | 3.27% | 14.7% | 14.10% | 63.6% | 152 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | $705 | 0.20 | $10.71 Sep 28 | $1,071.00 | 1.78% | 8.0% | 19.28% | 86.9% | 91 | 2 |
Snapshot #233 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:41 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 81
SMH volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 35.0%session 2026-09-28
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 28, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 88,345 contractssession 2026-09-28
- Largest open-interest line
- $450 put · Dec 18 · 6,972
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #76 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.