The Wheel, on today's prices

The Wheel sells a cash-secured put. If the put is assigned, you own the shares and sell covered calls on them. If the shares are called away, you're back to cash, and you start again.

This workspace shows a cash-secured put on XLF (Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund) and the same exposure built from shares and a call, at the same strike and the November 6, 2026 expiration, so you can compare them. The underlying was chosen to illustrate the idea; it isn't a recommendation. Quotes are delayed. Contracts last selected September 28, 2026.

You sell a put and set aside enough cash to buy 100 shares at the strike. The most you keep is the premium. Below the breakeven, the loss grows with every dollar the shares fall.

You own 100 shares and sell a call at the put's strike. Compare its chart with the one above: the shapes nearly match. The call is in the money here, because the strike is below today's price. In a real Wheel you'd sell the call after assignment, usually at or above what you paid for the shares. The shape is the same either way.

Change the expiration on either trade to one about 45 days out, and watch the premium and Win in range move. Nothing you change here is saved.

Read the lesson: The Wheel: one position in two phases. Models, not forecasts, and not investment advice: Disclosures & Model Limits.