The wheel, explained

What assignment actually looks like

A real trade, from the losing open to the profitable close — every fill from our public book.

Written from a live book — day 39, 114 fills posted.

Assignment is the part of this strategy people fear, so here is one in full. Every line below is a real fill, posted publicly at the time it happened.

−$740

the opening put, closed at a loss

$120.77

basis when the shares were assigned

+$2,460

the full cycle, start to finish

The trade, in order

Date	What the algo did	Result
Jul 13	Sold the $135 cash-secured put	+$450 credit
Jul 20	Stock fell through the strike; the put was closed	−$740
Jul 21	Assigned 100 shares	$120.77 basis
Jul 21	Sold a $134 covered call against the shares	credit
Jul 23	Sold a second put at $103 — the covered strangle	assigned at $114.87
Jul 27	Bought the $134 call back cheaper, sold the $120	+$175
Aug 5	Rolled the calls up to $124 as the stock recovered	credit
Aug 15	Shares called away at $124.00	+$3,025.40

Assignment is not the loss. It is the next leg. You now own shares you already decided you would own — and shares can be worked.

Why the first loss did not decide the outcome

That opening put closed down $740, the worst day in the book's first week. Had the position been closed there, that is where the story ends. Instead the shares were taken, calls were sold against them, a second put was written below the market, and the cost basis was ground down week after week until the stock recovered into it.

The stock never returned to where the trade started. It did not have to.

This is not theory.

The algo runs this every trading day and every fill is posted publicly — wins and losses, updated hourly, on a paper account.

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The wheel, lesson by lesson

01Name your price, get paid for itWhat a cash-secured put actually is — who pays you, why, and the two ways it ends.6:31 02Getting paid to sellYou own the shares. Now the same trade runs the other way.6:49

03How the cost comes downBasis: what the shares really cost after everything you have been paid.in production

04Putting it together — the wheelPuts into shares into calls and back again.in production

05Taking the shares earlyWhen waiting stops paying you anything, and what to do about it.in production

06When it goes against youThe covered strangle, and the order to try things in.in production

07Finishing the tradeCalled away is the good ending. The mistake is reaching for more.in production

08Put or call — the same tradeAt the same price they are the same bet. The difference is where the cash sits.in production

09How a machine runs itThe rules, unattended, against a public book.in production

Watch the series on YouTube →

More on the wheel

What is the wheel strategy?What is a wheel strategy in options trading?How to pick a stock you would ownHow does a wheel strategy work step by step?How the cost basis comes downHow does the wheel strategy lower your cost basis?The risks, and what we do about themWhat are the main risks of using a wheel strategy?Wheel vs covered callsHow does a wheel strategy compare with a covered call strategy?