VUG wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Vanguard Morningstar Growth ETF · ETFs · $88.82 close on Oct 19, 2026
What the Oct 19, 2026 close says about VUG
At 19.7% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $5.19 (5.8%) in VUG by Nov 20, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $86 put (−0.29Δ) for $1.05 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $84.95, 4.4% below the $88.82 close.
The 60-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.4× the premium of the 32-day one for 1.9× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.033 vs $0.025).
At 0.30Δ on the Nov 20 expiry the put yields 1.22% on its strike and the call 0.90% on spot: puts pay 1.4× what calls do on VUG this session.
Moving down to the $83 put (−0.17Δ) buys 3.4% more room below spot and keeps 50% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 12,973 contracts; the largest single line is the $85 put expiring Dec 18 with 2,370 (18.3% of the window).
By options volume VUG ranks #151 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 VUG
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $86 | −0.29 | $1.05 Oct 19 | $105.00 | $8,600 | 1.22% | 13.9% | $84.95 | 14 | 21 |
| 0.20Δ | $83 | −0.17 | $0.52 Oct 19 | $52.00 | $8,300 | 0.63% | 7.1% | $82.48 | 6 | 5 |
Snapshot #4417 · 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 | $85.83 | −0.31 | $1.52 Oct 19 | $152.00 | $8,583 | 1.77% | 10.8% | $84.31 | 2 | 2 |
| 0.20Δ | $83.33 | −0.22 | $1.02 Oct 19 | $102.00 | $8,333 | 1.22% | 7.4% | $82.31 | 16 | 7 |
Snapshot #4417 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:41 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 60
Covered calls on VUG
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $92 | 0.29 | $0.80 Oct 19 | $80.00 | 0.90% | 10.3% | 4.48% | 51.1% | 146 | 146 |
| 0.20Δ | $93 | 0.21 | $0.55 Oct 19 | $55.00 | 0.62% | 7.1% | 5.33% | 60.7% | 180 | 161 |
Snapshot #4417 · 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 | $93.33 | 0.29 | $1.15 Oct 19 | $115.00 | 1.29% | 7.9% | 6.37% | 38.8% | 291 | 18 |
| 0.20Δ | $95 | 0.21 | $0.70 Oct 19 | $70.00 | 0.79% | 4.8% | 7.75% | 47.1% | 1,284 | 45 |
Snapshot #4417 · session 2026-10-19 · captured 22:41 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 60
VUG volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 19.7%session 2026-10-19
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Oct 19, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 12,973 contractssession 2026-10-19
- Largest open-interest line
- $85 put · Dec 18 · 2,370
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #151 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.