VLO wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Valero Energy Corporation · Energy · $433.31 close on Oct 19, 2026
What the Oct 19, 2026 close says about VLO
At 54.5% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $69.97 (16.1%) in VLO by Nov 20, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $410 put (−0.32Δ) for $16.50 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $393.50, 9.2% below the $433.31 close.
The 60-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.2× the premium of the 32-day one for 1.9× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.516 vs $0.318).
At 0.30Δ on the Nov 20 expiry the put yields 4.02% on its strike and the call 2.77% on spot: puts pay 1.5× what calls do on VLO this session.
Moving down to the $390 put (−0.22Δ) buys 4.6% more room below spot and keeps 59% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 41,096 contracts; the largest single line is the $320 put expiring Dec 18 with 15,907 (38.7% of the window).
By options volume VLO ranks #210 of 608 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 VLO
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $410 | −0.32 | $16.50 Oct 19 | $1,650.00 | $41,000 | 4.02% | 45.9% | $393.50 | 2,169 | 8 |
| 0.20Δ | $390 | −0.22 | $9.80 Oct 19 | $980.00 | $39,000 | 2.51% | 28.7% | $380.20 | 155 | 5 |
Snapshot #4413 · session 2026-10-19 · 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 | $400 | −0.30 | $19.05 Oct 19 | $1,905.00 | $40,000 | 4.76% | 29.0% | $380.95 | 3,968 | 128 |
| 0.20Δ | $380 | −0.22 | $12.19 Oct 19 | $1,219.00 | $38,000 | 3.21% | 19.5% | $367.81 | 711 | 53 |
Snapshot #4413 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:41 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 60
Covered calls on VLO
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $480 | 0.30 | $12.01 Oct 19 | $1,201.00 | 2.77% | 31.6% | 13.55% | 154.5% | 213 | 36 |
| 0.20Δ | $500 | 0.21 | $7.70 Oct 19 | $770.00 | 1.78% | 20.3% | 17.17% | 195.8% | 434 | 25 |
Snapshot #4413 · session 2026-10-19 · 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 | $490 | 0.32 | $16.20 Oct 19 | $1,620.00 | 3.74% | 22.7% | 16.82% | 102.3% | 100 | 35 |
| 0.20Δ | $540 | 0.18 | $8.90 Oct 19 | $890.00 | 2.05% | 12.5% | 26.68% | 162.3% | 146 | 15 |
Snapshot #4413 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:41 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 60
VLO volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 54.5%session 2026-10-19
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Oct 19, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 41,096 contractssession 2026-10-19
- Largest open-interest line
- $320 put · Dec 18 · 15,907
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #210 of 608 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.