TLT wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF · ETFs · $79.72 close on Nov 12, 2026
What the Nov 12, 2026 close says about TLT
At 13.3% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $3.34 (4.2%) in TLT by Dec 18, 2026, 36 days out.
Selling the $78 put (−0.31Δ) for $0.68 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $77.32, 3.0% below the $79.72 close.
The 64-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.4× the premium of the 36-day one for 1.8× the time — more premium per day on the 36-day contract ($0.019 vs $0.015).
At 0.30Δ on the Dec 18 expiry the put yields 0.87% on its strike and the call 0.87% on spot: puts and calls pay within 10% of each other on TLT this session.
Moving down to the $77 put (−0.21Δ) buys 1.3% more room below spot and keeps 62% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 2,612,866 contracts; the largest single line is the $90 call expiring Dec 18 with 263,171 (10.1% of the window).
By options volume TLT ranks #5 of 679 names in our universe.
Near-the-money options volume (24k) is 133% above its 5-session average.
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 | $78 | −0.31 | $0.68 Nov 12 | $68.00 | $7,800 | 0.87% | 8.8% | $77.32 | 76,651 | 2,797 |
| 0.20Δ | $77 | −0.21 | $0.42 Nov 12 | $42.00 | $7,700 | 0.55% | 5.5% | $76.58 | 44,970 | 805 |
Snapshot #9523 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 36
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $78 | −0.34 | $0.95 Nov 12 | $95.00 | $7,800 | 1.22% | 6.9% | $77.05 | 27,025 | 987 |
| 0.20Δ | $76 | −0.19 | $0.44 Nov 12 | $44.00 | $7,600 | 0.58% | 3.3% | $75.56 | 10,601 | 200 |
Snapshot #9523 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 64
Covered calls on TLT
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $81 | 0.34 | $0.69 Nov 12 | $69.00 | 0.87% | 8.8% | 2.47% | 25.1% | 34,809 | 846 |
| 0.20Δ | $82 | 0.23 | $0.41 Nov 12 | $41.00 | 0.51% | 5.2% | 3.37% | 34.2% | 87,026 | 2,308 |
Snapshot #9523 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 36
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $82 | 0.29 | $0.74 Nov 12 | $74.00 | 0.93% | 5.3% | 3.79% | 21.6% | 29,775 | 2,343 |
| 0.20Δ | $83 | 0.22 | $0.53 Nov 12 | $53.00 | 0.66% | 3.8% | 4.78% | 27.3% | 91,954 | 68,970 |
Snapshot #9523 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 64
TLT volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 13.3%session 2026-11-12
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Nov 9, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 2,612,866 contractssession 2026-11-12
- Largest open-interest line
- $90 call · Dec 18 · 263,171
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #5 of 679 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 (34 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.