VTI wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF · ETFs · $380.60 close on Oct 5, 2026
What the Oct 5, 2026 close says about VTI
At 13.4% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $18.12 (4.8%) in VTI by Nov 20, 2026, 46 days out.
Selling the $370 put (−0.27Δ) for $3.50 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $366.50, 3.7% below the $380.60 close.
The 74-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.5× the premium of the 46-day one for 1.6× the time — more premium per day on the 46-day contract ($0.076 vs $0.071).
At 0.30Δ on the Nov 20 expiry the put yields 0.95% on its strike and the call 1.00% on spot: puts and calls pay within 10% of each other on VTI this session.
Moving down to the $365 put (−0.21Δ) buys 1.3% more room below spot and keeps 79% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 6,550 contracts; the largest single line is the $390 call expiring Dec 18 with 2,063 (31.5% of the window).
By options volume VTI ranks #190 of 514 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 VTI
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $370 | −0.27 | $3.50 Oct 5 | $350.00 | $37,000 | 0.95% | 7.5% | $366.50 | 106 | 14 |
| 0.20Δ | $365 | −0.21 | $2.75 Oct 5 | $275.00 | $36,500 | 0.75% | 6.0% | $362.25 | 44 | 10 |
Snapshot #1564 · session 2026-10-05 · captured 22:40 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 46
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $370 | −0.31 | $5.25 Oct 5 | $525.00 | $37,000 | 1.42% | 7.0% | $364.75 | 96 | 3 |
| 0.20Δ | $355 | −0.17 | $3.30 Oct 5 | $330.00 | $35,500 | 0.93% | 4.6% | $351.70 | 104 | 2 |
Snapshot #1564 · session 2026-10-05 · captured 22:40 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 74
Covered calls on VTI
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $390 | 0.33 | $3.80 Oct 5 | $380.00 | 1.00% | 7.9% | 3.47% | 27.5% | 175 | 34 |
| 0.20Δ | $395 | 0.23 | $2.19 Oct 5 | $219.00 | 0.58% | 4.6% | 4.36% | 34.6% | 151 | 50 |
Snapshot #1564 · session 2026-10-05 · captured 22:40 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 46
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | Unavailable1 | |||||||||
| 0.20Δ | $400 | 0.23 | $2.65 Oct 5 | $265.00 | 0.70% | 3.4% | 5.79% | 28.6% | 542 | 2 |
Snapshot #1564 · session 2026-10-05 · captured 22:40 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 74
VTI volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 13.4%session 2026-10-05
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable2
- Next earnings
- Unavailable3
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Oct 5, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 6,550 contractssession 2026-10-05
- Largest open-interest line
- $390 call · Dec 18 · 2,063
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable4
- Options liquidity rank
- #190 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 (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.