Manage Puts and Calls: The Wheel Strategy in Action

Name: Manage Puts and Calls: The Wheel Strategy in Action
Rating: 4.7 (12 reviews)

Build recurring income with The Wheel; manage trades at expiration using real examples and custom tracking tools

Created byPatricia Saylor

Last updated 6/2025

English

What you'll learn

Use puts, calls, dividends and capital gains to generate income and boost your returns.
Decide whether to do nothing, roll, or close an option contract.
Calculate annualized returns on options trades.
Create a personalized spreadsheet for ongoing trading records.
Find your breakeven point and determine profits and loss on a long-term campaign.
Analyze and plan for potential outcomes of an option trade.
Learn to roll straight out, roll down, roll up, or expand a trade.

Course content

6 sections • 27 lectures • 1h 18m total length

Introduction6:09
Learn how the wheel strategy combines selling cash-secured puts and covered calls to manage costs, collect premium, roll positions, and grow long-term stock returns with risk awareness.
Evaluate a Campaign, Not Just a Trade0:47
Evaluate the long-term success of your trade campaigns and develop clear management strategies; decide when to let time run, extend contracts, or close early to lock profits.
Review: Setting up Safe Trades1:41
Sell cash secured puts or covered calls on stocks or etfs to collect upfront income, accept outcome, use strike prices you're happy to pay, and hold collateral to avoid margin.
Make a Plan. Write instructions at Trade Set up; Start with the End in Mind2:08
Section 1: Review and Answer

Understand The Negative Number2:15
Sell to open creates a negative balance that shows your cost to close a contract. As expiration nears, out-of-the-money contracts fade to zero while time decay affects profit.
Other Choices; Do Nothing, Close, or Roll1:01
Managing Short Puts5:46
Manage short puts by choosing to do nothing, buy to close, or roll out or down to collect premium, adjust risk, and potentially realize profits as expiration approaches.
Managing Covered Calls5:59
Section 2: Review and Answer

Decision Points Introduction1:14
Dividends1:30
Understand how ex-dividend dates affect stock and option values, and how owning stock before the date ensures dividends. Learn to roll calls or accept puts around ex-dividends to manage assignments.
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Value9:17
Explore how intrinsic value and extrinsic value determine option worth, with in-the-money and out-of-the-money cases, assignment risk as expiration nears, and practical rolling strategies for puts and calls.
Breakeven Point2:08
Available Capital2:33
Original Trade Thesis and Instructions2:24
Annualized Returns; Apples to Apples Comparison8:29
Section 3: Review and Answer

Intro to Annualized Returns, A Deeper Look0:39
Calculating Premium0:48
Calculate premium by tallying income from selling a put or a call and the costs to open and close a position, with rolls yielding net credit.
Contract Length0:58
Calculate contract length by subtracting the opening date from the closing date and track days to expiration in a spreadsheet; rolling a covered call early can affect annualized return.
Sometimes You Must Adjust the Numbers1:16
Adjust numbers after rolling or closing early to update the annualized return and total income. Document these changes on a separate spreadsheet line, with a Disney put example.
Collateral Value Can Be a Little Trickier4:32
Learn to determine collateral value for cash secured puts and covered calls by selecting a 100-share value—cost basis, current value, or average cost—and assess annualized returns.
Section 4: Review and Answer

Introduction: A Walk Through the Spreadsheet1:46
Six Sheets1:05
Track trade campaigns with a six-sheet framework: log pages for each account, a sample trades sheet, collateral tracking for short puts, and blank and idea sheets for calculations and exploration.
Color Coding1:27
Describe a color coding system for a wheel strategy trade log: light green puts, light blue calls, fuchsia closed or historical, bright yellow interim and year-to-date calculations.
Annual Reconciling, Happy New Year!0:48
Trade Log; Column by Column7:31
Section 5: Review and Answer
Set up your own spreadsheet
Analyze a Hypothetical Trade

Requirements

Know how to sell cash secured puts and covered calls.
Have access to a brokerage account with options trading privileges, or a simulated account for practice.

Description

What if a trade doesn’t go the way you hoped?
This course helps you answer that question with skill and confidence—especially as your options contracts approach expiration.

You'll learn how to manage cash-secured puts and covered calls to generate recurring income, even when trades move against you. When you sell options backed by sufficient collateral (shares or cash), time decay works in your favor. The key is knowing how to manage your positions as expiration nears.

What You’ll Learn

How to roll, close, or let options expire—and how to decide which path is best
How to calculate annualized returns and compare choices across different expiration dates
How to track your trades with a custom spreadsheet (I’ll show you the formulas or direct you to a pre-built one)
How to factor in dividends, breakeven points, and extrinsic vs. intrinsic value when adjusting a position
How to earn recurring income safely—even when your trade doesn’t go as planned

Real-World Project

You’ll apply what you’ve learned to a hypothetical trade with both a cash-secured put and a covered call on the same stock. You’ll:

Enter the trade details in a spreadsheet
Analyze potential outcomes
Decide what action (if any) to take
Justify your management plan using your new tools

How This Relates to "The Wheel"

While the course doesn’t rely on buzzwords, many of the strategies taught here—especially managing covered calls and cash-secured puts on the same stock—are part of what’s often called The Wheel Strategy. If you’ve been looking for a clear, practical way to manage those trades at expiration, you’re in the right place.

Who This Course Is For

This course is designed as a follow-up to my beginner-friendly options classes on cash-secured puts and covered calls, but you’re welcome to dive in if you’re already comfortable selling options and want to learn how to manage them at expiration.

About Your Instructor

I’m Patricia Saylor, founder of Saylor Financial Fundamentals and author of The Novice Investor’s Guide to Stocks, Funds, and Options. I’ve taught students from over 60 countries through Udemy, 1:1 coaching, and seminars. I specialize in helping novice investors understand options trading clearly and confidently—without hype.

If you're ready to turn your options knowledge into recurring income and real results, let’s get started.

Who this course is for:

Investors who utilize cash secured puts and covered calls to build and strengthen a long-term portfolio.
Options traders who are interested in managing risk.
Options traders who would like to learn ways to manage positions that go in the money before expiration.

Manage Puts and Calls: The Wheel Strategy in Action

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction to Trade Management; Thinking Long Term4 lectures • 11min

Choices for Trade Management4 lectures • 15min

Decision Points7 lectures • 28min

Calculating Annualized Returns; A Deeper Look5 lectures • 8min

A Walk Through the Spreadsheet5 lectures • 13min

Final Notes2 lectures • 5min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: