VT wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Vanguard Total World Stock ETF · ETFs · $159.13 close on Oct 2, 2026
What the Oct 2, 2026 close says about VT
At 12.7% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $7.38 (4.6%) in VT by Nov 20, 2026, 49 days out.
Selling the $155 put (−0.27Δ) for $1.61 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $153.39, 3.6% below the $159.13 close.
The 140-day 0.30Δ put pays 2.2× the premium of the 49-day one for 2.9× the time — more premium per day on the 49-day contract ($0.033 vs $0.025).
At 0.30Δ on the Nov 20 expiry the put yields 1.04% on its strike and the call 1.01% on spot: puts and calls pay within 10% of each other on VT this session.
Moving down to the $152 put (−0.20Δ) buys 1.9% more room below spot and keeps 59% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 3,424 contracts; the largest single line is the $170 call expiring Nov 20 with 612 (17.9% of the window).
By options volume VT ranks #146 of 441 names in our universe.
Near-the-money options volume (490) is 11% above its 4-session average.
The builder re-quotes every leg from the live chain when it opens; tracking is free to start.
Cash-secured puts on VT
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $155 | −0.27 | $1.61 Oct 2 | $161.00 | $15,500 | 1.04% | 7.7% | $153.39 | 45 | 2 |
| 0.20Δ | $152 | −0.20 | $0.95 Oct 2 | $95.00 | $15,200 | 0.63% | 4.7% | $151.05 | 50 | 4 |
Snapshot #1282 · session 2026-10-02 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 49
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $155 | −0.33 | $3.52 Oct 2 | $352.00 | $15,500 | 2.27% | 5.9% | $151.48 | 4 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | $145 | −0.18 | $1.80 Oct 2 | $180.00 | $14,500 | 1.24% | 3.2% | $143.20 | 65 | 2 |
Snapshot #1282 · session 2026-10-02 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 140
Covered calls on VT
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $163 | 0.33 | $1.61 Oct 2 | $161.00 | 1.01% | 7.5% | 3.44% | 25.7% | 68 | 3 |
| 0.20Δ | $166 | 0.21 | $0.87 Oct 2 | $87.00 | 0.55% | 4.1% | 4.86% | 36.2% | 18 | 5 |
Snapshot #1282 · session 2026-10-02 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 49
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | Unavailable1 | |||||||||
| 0.20Δ | $175 | 0.19 | $1.53 Oct 2 | $153.00 | 0.96% | 2.5% | 10.93% | 28.5% | 39 | 1 |
Snapshot #1282 · session 2026-10-02 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 140
VT volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 12.7%session 2026-10-02
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable2
- Next earnings
- Unavailable3
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 28, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 3,424 contractssession 2026-10-02
- Largest open-interest line
- $170 call · Nov 20 · 612
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable4
- Options liquidity rank
- #146 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 (5 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.