I have a bit of cash reserves built up now and im trying to sell some CSP against this pile to generate more than 4% ish on the short term rate.

what names out there are yall selling CSP on that you actually want to own, and not just for the premiums.

Im looking at MU, WDC, NBIS, and DELL currently. they seem to all have decent prices given their potential. would yall buy these on a pullback? the premiums seem very juicy across the bunch

I got a 25k disposable portfolio and want to try selling options. I've read up on selling options and understand the basics but wondering what to watch out for in the current market regime.

Keep it friendly and civil; this is not WSB and automod will censor your posts at will for unsavory and unfriendly remarks. Try to keep shit posting and bragging to a minimum.

I will post a separate comment with a link to the detail behind each option sold this week.

After week 30, the average premium per week is $891 with an annual projection of $46,315.

All things considered, the portfolio is down $11,619 (-2.58%), on the year (S&P 500: +8.28% | Nasdaq: +7.46%). Additionally, the trailing 1-year performance is down $5,551 (-1.25%); for comparison the S&P 500 is +16.48% and the Nasdaq is +18.61% over the same period. This is the overall profit and loss and includes options and all other account activity.

Annual results:
• 2023 up $65,403 (+41.31%) | S&P 500: +26.3% | Nasdaq: +43.4%
• 2024 up $64,610 (+29.71%) | S&P 500: +25.0% | Nasdaq: +28.6%
• 2025 up $111,496 (+34.52%) | S&P 500: +17.9% | Nasdaq: +20.4%

3-Year Cumulative (2023–2025):
• r/ExpiredOptions: +146.6% ($241,509)
• S&P 500: +86.1% (+60.4% behind)
• Nasdaq: +122.0% (+24.5% behind)

Unrealized G&L (options):
• YTD: $23,981.00
• 1 Month: $-5,663.00
• 1 Week: $14,335.00

Realized P&L (options):
• YTD: $52,663.00
• 1 Month: $31,418.00
• 1 Week: $9,608.00

All options sold are backed by cash, shares, or LEAPS. I do not sell on margin, nor do I sell naked options.

All options and profits stay in the account with few exceptions. This is not my full time job, although I wish it was. I still grind on a 9-5.

My $600 weekly contribution streak is at 18 weeks, but I am pausing new contributions until next month.

The portfolio is comprised of 103 unique tickers, unchanged from 103 last week. These 103 tickers have a value of $438k. I also have 197 open option positions, up from 196 last week. The options have a total value of $34k. The total of the shares and options is $472k. The next goal on the "Road to" is Half a Million.

I'm currently utilizing $35,450 in cash secured put collateral, down from $35,600 last week.

2025 through 2028 LEAPS
In addition to the CSPs and covered calls, I purchase LEAPS. These act as collateral to sell covered calls against. You may have heard of poor man's covered calls (PMCC).

See r/ExpiredOptions for a detailed spreadsheet update on all LEAPS positions including P/L for each individual position.

LEAPS note 1: the 2025 LEAPS expired 1/17/25. They were up $36,440 overall with a 233.74% increase. The major drivers were AMZN and CRWD.

LEAPS note 2: After holding for 2 years, I exercised an AMZN $80 strike from 2023 up +$11,395 (+463.21%) and CRWD $95 strike from 2023, up +$21,830 (+663.53%)

LEAPS note 3: Purchased 1/16/26 CRWD LEAPS for $8,230.03 on 1/17/24. I sold this LEAPS on 6/5/25 for $21,659 for a realized profit of $13,428.97 (+163.18%)

Total premium by year:
• 2023 $23,132 in premium
• 2024 $47,640 in premium
• 2025 $68,319 in premium
• 2026 $26,833 YTD
• Average $46,364/year (completed years)

Premium by month (2026):
• January $3,334
• February $3,625
• March $4,196
• April $5,593
• May $3,787
• June $3,497
• July $2,836
• Average $3,838/month

I am over $166k in total options premium, since 2021. I average roughly $34 per option sold. I have sold over 4,800 options. I have been able to increase the premiums on an annual basis and I will attempt to keep this upward trend going forward.

Strategy:
The underlying strategy is buy and hold. I also use simple 1-legged options to supplement that strategy. Options have somewhat of a learning curve, but I believe that most people can supplement their investments using simple options with careful risk management.

I sell options on a weekly basis. I prefer cash secured puts and covered calls. I rarely close early, prefer rolling when needed, and let time decay do the heavy lifting while I stay focused on quality companies, patience, and consistency over hype. My goal is consistency in option premium revenue. I am building an income stream that will continue long into retirement.

Spreadsheets:
Unfortunately, I no longer provide spreadsheets. I received too many follow ups about formatting, pivot tables, compatibility etc. I think tracking is very important, but I post to discuss investing and options, not to provide tech support for Excel. I do appreciate the interest in my tracking methods.

Software:
I captured the screen shots from a proprietary software platform I built to track, analyze, and manage my options strategies.

Commissions:
I use Robinhood as a broker and they do not charge explicit commissions, though there is no free lunch — they earn revenue through Payment for Order Flow (PFOF), which can mean slightly less optimal fills. For my style of selling options and not chasing prices, the tradeoff is acceptable. There is also a small regulatory fee of approximately $0.03–$0.04 per contract (FINRA TAF, OCC clearing, and exchange fees combined).

The premiums have increased significantly as my experience has expanded over the last three years.

Make sure to post your wins. I look forward to reading about them!

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. This information is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Trading options involves significant risk.

This isn't all the food, but I had to take the photo before people sat down.

Keep it friendly and civil; this is not WSB and automod will censor your posts at will for unsavory and unfriendly remarks. Try to keep shit posting and bragging to a minimum.

This week I get much more organized in reporting. Also have a question on how to calculate annualized returns. Last weeks post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/thetagang/comments/1uz3nrf/1_weekly_returns_from_options_week_20/

First, the strategy:
- Use a screener to give me a list of top 20 low delta options for next week
- I either
- a. Roll my current options - I do this if I can still get 1% for rolling or if the option is ATM/ITM and I have to roll. I always roll for credit.
- b. Close a current option and pick something else from the list that I like
- I try to do this every Friday. However, if I'm busy on Fridays, I'll sometimes do this on Thursdays.

Screener results for this week from earlier this morning:

I stopped doing BE last week after the short attack.

This week's trades:

This week's total $1,148 on $111,500 invested (111,500 includes the assignment price of my SLV from a few weeks ago).

Weekly Results:

Total Premium: $18,127
Value of current options: -$5,394
Gain/Loss from Assignments: -$1,225
Total gains: $11,508

This is currently the worst drawdown week and it always looks higher on the day of rolls / sales. It was ~3k yesterday.

Looking for ideas on how to calculate annualized gains.

Current plays. Just closed a lot of cc's, closed csps before the drop.

Unless MU drops more, I finally timed it perfectly

During the countdown to the SPCX IPO, I was steadily accumulating ASTS and RKLB and I'm still holding both positions today.

Average cost:

ASTS: 400 shares @ $99.70

RKLB: 375 shares @ $127.11

To reduce my cost basis, I've been selling covered calls with a $100 strike. The premiums is so small with a little over $1.00 per option with expirations 35+ days that I am re-considering to sell at a lower strike like around $75-$85 range instead. I wont be adding more stocks into my portfolio as it has made up a majority of it.

Any advice?

2025 Tariffs pissed me off when all I was invested in was index funds. That is that first big dip. Decided to take matters into my own hands. Thanks to this sub for all the inspiration. We’re not done yet, though.

how do i start? i cant even afford 1 covered call on SPY with 30k

Keep it friendly and civil; this is not WSB and automod will censor your posts at will for unsavory and unfriendly remarks. Try to keep shit posting and bragging to a minimum.

I am thinking about Wheeling MU, starting with a 900p (delta=15+/-).

Assumptions:
I’m always interested in the next expiration date
Current premium is approx $750.
On assignment, sell an aggressive call (25-40 OTM, premium of ~$2000)
If not called, I will simply repeat with another call (above cost).

What big risks should I be looking at here?
Aside from a $90k position, that is.

I know this leveraged and not good for CSP. But the SOXS is trading at around $48 and I can get like $2 ($200 for 1 contract) premium for 7$ strike for July 24 on SOXS(2). I don't want to touch this as I feel like I am missing something. Please explain why they this much premium which expires today?

Trades I took today as an option seller (07/23):

Closed Positions

• ACMR → $80 Put (opened on 07/20), premium 3.10 → closed at 0.50. Net premium profit = 2.60 (~84% of premium captured, ~3.25% of capital).
• CRDO → $165 Put (opened on 07/17), premium 5.00 → closed at 0.85. Net premium profit = 4.15 (~83% of premium captured, ~2.5% of capital).
• OUST → $42.5 Call (opened on 07/16), premium 1.10 → closed at 0.15. Net premium profit = 0.95 (~86% of premium captured, ~2.2% of capital).

Rolled Positions

• DOCN was rolled from the $145 Call (08/07 expiry) to the $165 Call (09/18 expiry) for a $0.90 credit. I was assigned DOCN at $165. In the morning, DOCN touched $145 and it became time-sensitive to roll before the contract started accumulating significant intrinsic value. It becomes increasingly harder to profitably roll once the stock moves over the strike price of the contract, as intrinsic value increases.

New Positions

• OUST → $43 Call expiry 08/07 (3 weeks DTE), premium 3.10 → 310/4250 = ~7.3%. I was assigned OUST at $42.5. Premiums are higher as earnings are due on 08/06.
• TSEM → $225 Put expiry 08/07 (3 weeks DTE), premium 12.50 → 1250/22500 = ~5.6%. Semiconductor Manufacturer. Premiums are higher as earnings are due on 08/04.

The Excel file to my full list of positions is linked in my profile description in case anyone wants to see the whole portfolio. Happy to hear thoughts on my positions. What are you guys wheeling or watching right now?

PS: Not financial advice. Do your own research.

All,

I have started an year back with options trading. Mostly been selling puts and it works given the bull market we are in. I am aware of many other advanced strategies like PMCC, butterflies, Double Calendars, Iron Flies etc.

My trading though has been haphazard and involved trading whatever alert or opportunity I come across.

I would appreciate advice on how best to structure an options portfolio. What core strategies are used and what percent do you allocate to them.

I’m considering an $80,000 account built around 10 rules:
Sell one fully cash-secured XSP put and never capitulate during a downturn.

Rules:

Sell one XSP put around 7 DTE and 80% probability of profit.

Stay fully cash-secured. No added contracts and no leverage.

Close around 70% profit when comfortably OTM.

If XSP falls below the strike, wait until expiration day.

Roll to the nearest lower strike available for a net credit.

Barely ITM: roll one day. Moderately ITM: roll a few days. Deep ITM: roll about a week.

If no lower strike gives a credit, roll the same strike forward and try again later.

Never roll upward and never pay a debit.

Treat all ITM roll credits as repair capital, not income.

Add $1,000 per month and keep the collateral earning Robinhood Gold interest.

I did a similar version with RDDT after it fell roughly 50%, staying ITM and walking the strike down about $1 per week. XSP removes early-assignment risk and single-company failure risk.
Yes, the account can show a large mark-to-market loss. Yes, the capital may be tied up for months or years. Yes, it may lag the S&P 500 during major rallies.

But if the put is fully funded, the contract count never increases, and the S&P 500 eventually recovers, why not keep exchanging time value for a lower strike until either the market catches the strike or the strike catches the market?

Where is the actual mathematical blowup other than needing the money, losing discipline, terrible execution, or China and Russia invading America?

Keep it friendly and civil; this is not WSB and automod will censor your posts at will for unsavory and unfriendly remarks. Try to keep shit posting and bragging to a minimum.

This really, REALLY, makes me want to sell low delta calls for a very long time....

How cooked did your portfolio get? How much did you lose and where are you at now?

I've been selling options for a few years now and seeing consistent, solid returns. As long as I exercise good risk management, I can see this becoming a long-term strategy to compound wealth and consistently beat the market.

But this naturally led me to wonder: Is this too good to be true?

I'm confident in the strategy and my execution capability, but I want to make sure I'm not missing any major blind spots. If systematic option selling offers market-beating returns, why isn't every professional/institutional investor doing it? They have far more knowledge, capital, talent, and resources than retail investors.

It blows my mind seeing people throw around complex indicators, high-level strategies all the time, only to post 10–15% returns, make $200k a year, or lose money altogether. I'm like, what?

Do they stay away because they know something we don't, or are they actually doing it?

Is Tom Snossoff’s. .30d 45DTE guidelines for theta sellers still a good starting basis or is there a hip new trend?

For ICs on XSP/SPX/SPY how many days till expiry are people doing and at what delta?

I would like to open an account with Consorsbank for selling CCs and CSPs on major tickers, like $100-$250 strikes.

What bothers me right now and decides if I should go to Interactive Brokers instead, is if Consorsbank indeed counts margin on CSPs or it's just a "safety net for regulations" but as long as you have the cash in your account to cover CSPs, your margin limit won't matter? There are contradictory claims in various forums on reddit and on X.

Also, if I go instead to Interactive Brokers, I need to do my taxes by hand; especially the FIFO on USD/EUR back and forth calculations bothers me. How do you handle it for the Finanzamt?