XLU wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF · ETFs · $39.71 close on Sep 29, 2026
What the Sep 29, 2026 close says about XLU
At 19.1% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $2.21 (5.6%) in XLU by Oct 30, 2026, 31 days out.
Selling the $39 put (−0.34Δ) for $0.51 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $38.49, 3.1% below the $39.71 close.
The 80-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.4× the premium of the 31-day one for 2.6× the time — more premium per day on the 31-day contract ($0.016 vs $0.009).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 1.31% on its strike and the call 1.13% on spot: puts pay 1.2× what calls do on XLU this session.
Moving down to the $38 put (−0.21Δ) buys 2.5% more room below spot and keeps 63% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 158,105 contracts; the largest single line is the $42 call expiring Dec 18 with 46,498 (29.4% of the window).
By options volume XLU ranks #32 of 441 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 XLU
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $39 | −0.34 | $0.51 Sep 29 | $51.00 | $3,900 | 1.31% | 15.4% | $38.49 | 1,152 | 9 |
| 0.20Δ | $38 | −0.21 | $0.32 Sep 29 | $32.00 | $3,800 | 0.84% | 9.9% | $37.68 | 3,920 | 22 |
Snapshot #298 · session 2026-09-29 · captured 22:00 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 31
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $38.50 | −0.32 | $0.72 Sep 29 | $72.00 | $3,850 | 1.87% | 8.5% | $37.78 | 3,032 | 20 |
| 0.20Δ | $37.50 | −0.22 | $0.46 Sep 29 | $46.00 | $3,750 | 1.23% | 5.6% | $37.04 | 10,926 | 2 |
Snapshot #298 · session 2026-09-29 · captured 22:00 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 80
Covered calls on XLU
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $41 | 0.31 | $0.45 Sep 29 | $45.00 | 1.13% | 13.3% | 4.38% | 51.6% | 2,980 | 319 |
| 0.20Δ | $42 | 0.19 | $0.25 Sep 29 | $25.00 | 0.63% | 7.4% | 6.40% | 75.3% | 188 | 109 |
Snapshot #298 · session 2026-09-29 · captured 22:00 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 31
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $42.50 | 0.26 | $0.57 Sep 29 | $57.00 | 1.44% | 6.5% | 8.46% | 38.6% | 1,381 | 72 |
| 0.20Δ | $44 | 0.17 | $0.31 Sep 29 | $31.00 | 0.78% | 3.6% | 11.58% | 52.9% | 25,641 | 21,005 |
Snapshot #298 · session 2026-09-29 · captured 22:00 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 80
XLU volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 19.1%session 2026-09-29
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 29, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 158,105 contractssession 2026-09-29
- Largest open-interest line
- $42 call · Dec 18 · 46,498
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #32 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.
- 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.