TLT wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF · ETFs · $78.62 close on Sep 28, 2026
What the Sep 28, 2026 close says about TLT
At 15.2% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $3.55 (4.5%) in TLT by Oct 30, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $77 put (−0.32Δ) for $0.81 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $76.19, 3.1% below the $78.62 close.
The 63-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.3× the premium of the 32-day one for 2.0× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.025 vs $0.017).
Moving down to the $76 put (−0.23Δ) buys 1.3% more room below spot and keeps 68% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 153,322 contracts; the largest single line is the $90 call expiring Oct 30 with 28,441 (18.5% of the window).
By options volume TLT ranks #5 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 TLT
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $77 | −0.32 | $0.81 Sep 28 | $81.00 | $7,700 | 1.05% | 12.0% | $76.19 | 2,989 | 1,507 |
| 0.20Δ | $76 | −0.23 | $0.55 Sep 28 | $55.00 | $7,600 | 0.72% | 8.3% | $75.45 | 1,590 | 437 |
Snapshot #254 · 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 | $76 | −0.29 | $1.04 Sep 28 | $104.00 | $7,600 | 1.37% | 7.9% | $74.96 | 2,984 | 74 |
| 0.20Δ | $74 | −0.18 | $0.62 Sep 28 | $62.00 | $7,400 | 0.84% | 4.9% | $73.38 | 465 | 14 |
Snapshot #254 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:41 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 63
Covered calls on TLT
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | Unavailable1 | |||||||||
| 0.20Δ | $82 | 0.16 | $0.29 Sep 28 | $29.00 | 0.37% | 4.2% | 4.67% | 53.2% | 8,946 | 2,663 |
Snapshot #254 · 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 | $81 | 0.31 | $0.84 Sep 28 | $84.00 | 1.07% | 6.2% | 4.10% | 23.7% | 3,324 | 452 |
| 0.20Δ | $83 | 0.17 | $0.42 Sep 28 | $42.00 | 0.53% | 3.1% | 6.11% | 35.4% | 2,440 | 1,267 |
Snapshot #254 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:41 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 63
TLT volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 15.2%session 2026-09-28
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable2
- Next earnings
- Unavailable3
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 28, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 153,322 contractssession 2026-09-28
- Largest open-interest line
- $90 call · Oct 30 · 28,441
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable4
- Options liquidity rank
- #5 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.
- No contract near 0.30Δ traded this session
- 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.