VEA wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF · ETFs · $69.86 close on Oct 8, 2026
What the Oct 8, 2026 close says about VEA
At 18.2% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $4.36 (6.2%) in VEA by Nov 20, 2026, 43 days out.
Selling the $67 put (−0.26Δ) for $0.72 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $66.28, 5.1% below the $69.86 close.
The 71-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.7× the premium of the 43-day one for 1.7× the time — about the same premium per day either way.
At 0.30Δ on the Nov 20 expiry the put yields 1.07% on its strike and the call 1.36% on spot: calls pay 1.3× what puts do on VEA this session.
Moving down to the $65 put (−0.17Δ) buys 2.9% more room below spot and keeps 69% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 6,136 contracts; the largest single line is the $80 call expiring Dec 18 with 894 (14.6% of the window).
By options volume VEA ranks #102 of 514 names in our universe.
Near-the-money options volume (1.8k) is 469% above its 3-session average.
The builder re-quotes every leg from the live chain when it opens; tracking is free to start.
Cash-secured puts on VEA
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $67 | −0.26 | $0.72 Oct 8 | $72.00 | $6,700 | 1.07% | 9.1% | $66.28 | 2 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | $65 | −0.17 | $0.50 Oct 8 | $50.00 | $6,500 | 0.77% | 6.5% | $64.50 | 19 | 5 |
Snapshot #2397 · session 2026-10-08 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 43
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $67 | −0.31 | $1.20 Oct 8 | $120.00 | $6,700 | 1.79% | 9.2% | $65.80 | 102 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | $65 | −0.22 | $0.85 Oct 8 | $85.00 | $6,500 | 1.31% | 6.7% | $64.15 | 21 | 1 |
Snapshot #2397 · session 2026-10-08 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 71
Covered calls on VEA
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $72 | 0.34 | $0.95 Oct 8 | $95.00 | 1.36% | 11.5% | 4.42% | 37.5% | 751 | 23 |
| 0.20Δ | $74 | 0.20 | $0.44 Oct 8 | $44.00 | 0.63% | 5.3% | 6.56% | 55.6% | 130 | 849 |
Snapshot #2397 · session 2026-10-08 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 43
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | Unavailable1 | |||||||||
| 0.20Δ | $76 | 0.15 | $0.47 Oct 8 | $47.00 | 0.67% | 3.5% | 9.46% | 48.6% | 198 | 9 |
Snapshot #2397 · session 2026-10-08 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 71
VEA volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 18.2%session 2026-10-08
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable2
- Next earnings
- Unavailable3
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Oct 5, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 6,136 contractssession 2026-10-08
- Largest open-interest line
- $80 call · Dec 18 · 894
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable4
- Options liquidity rank
- #102 of 514 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 (4 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.