Does the wheel strategy work in a bear market?

The wheel strategy performs best in sideways to slightly bullish markets. In a prolonged bear market, you'll be assigned more often. However, assigned stocks at good prices can recover when the market turns. Key is position sizing and only wheel stocks you'd want to own long-term.

How much money do I need to start the wheel strategy?

You need enough capital to cover the strike price of 100 shares. For a $50 stock, you'd need $5,000 in your account to sell one cash secured put. Many brokers allow portfolio margin which can reduce this requirement significantly.

What happens if I'm assigned on a wheel trade?

Being assigned means you now own the stock at your strike price. This is not a loss — it's a transition. You can then sell covered calls against the stock to generate additional income while waiting for it to recover or reach your target exit price.

Should I check my wheel positions every day?

Checking daily is unnecessary and can cause anxiety-driven decisions. Weekly reviews are sufficient. Set alert prices for when you need to take action (e.g., stock drops 20%, or premium doubles in value), and otherwise let the position breathe.

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How to Use OptionSpeed: A Complete Beginner's Guide

Site Guide · Published 2026-06-25

Welcome to OptionSpeed — a free scanner built specifically for options traders who use the wheel strategy. Whether you're new to selling cash-secured puts or you're a seasoned premium collector, this guide will walk you through every feature and help you get the most out of the tool.

What Is the Wheel Strategy?

Before diving into OptionSpeed, let's quickly cover what you're scanning for. The wheel strategy is a systematic approach to collecting premium by:

Selling a cash-secured put (CSP) — you agree to buy a stock at a set price if it drops, collecting premium upfront
If assigned, you now own the stock and sell covered calls against it
Repeat the cycle to generate consistent income

The key is finding stocks with high premium yield relative to the risk you're taking. That's exactly what OptionSpeed helps you find.

The Main Scanner (/ and /all-tickers)

The homepage shows all 575+ tickers in the database with live market data. Here's what each column means:

Symbol — Click any ticker to open the full option chain popup. This shows every available strike and expiration with yield estimates.

Price — Current market price, updated with each data collection cycle. Used as the baseline for calculating buffer% and strike distance.

IV (Implied Volatility) — A measure of how expensive options are. Higher IV = more premium available. The column highlights in red when IV is above 0.80 (80%), indicating elevated premium rates.

Earnings — Shows upcoming earnings dates. Stocks with earnings during your option's lifetime carry additional risk (IV crush after earnings). You'll want to check this before selling a put.

MA (Moving Averages) — Shows whether the stock is trading above its 50, 100, 150, and 200-day moving averages. If the price is above an MA, that MA has acted as support before — good for your strike protection.

Using the Filters

The filter bar at the top of the page lets you narrow down to the best candidates:

Symbol search — Type a ticker to jump directly to it. Useful when you have specific stocks you want to check.

Min/Max Price — Filter by stock price. Many traders prefer to stick to stocks they can afford to be assigned on, or avoid ultra-cheap penny stocks where premiums can be misleading.

Min/Max IV — Set your IV threshold. If you want only high-premium trades, set a minimum IV of 0.50 or higher. If you want to avoid volatile plays, set a maximum IV.

Earnings filter — Choose "Yes" to see only stocks with upcoming earnings, or "No" to exclude them entirely. Most wheel traders prefer stocks without earnings in the near term to avoid IV crush.

After setting filters, click Filter to apply. Use Reset to clear all filters and return to the full list.

The Option Chain Popup (Click Any Symbol)

Clicking a ticker opens the full option chain modal. This is the most important feature on the site. For each available expiration date within 4 weeks, you'll see:

Strike — The price at which you would buy the stock if assigned. You're selling the right to buy at this price.

Premium — The mid-price of the option (average of bid and ask). This is what you collect when you sell the put.

ATR/D — How far the strike is from the current price, expressed in Average True Range units. ATR is a measure of daily volatility. A distance of 2.0 ATR means the stock would need to move 2x its average daily range to reach your strike. Higher is safer.

Buf% — Buffer percentage. How far the strike is below the current price as a percentage. A 15% buffer means the stock can drop 15% before reaching your strike.

Yield% — Estimated annualized yield if the put expires worthless. This annualizes the premium collected over the DTE (days to expiration).

⭐ Star — If a strike appears in the Super Stocks table, it gets a star here. These are strikes that meet our quality criteria (yield >30%, buffer >15%, ATR distance >2.5).

Super Stocks (/super-stocks)

This is where the magic happens. Super Stocks shows only strikes that pass our quality filters — the best-of-the-best wheel candidates updated daily. The table shows:

Symbol — Click to open the option chain

Price — Live current price (bid-based)

Strike — The put strike that qualifies

Expiry / DTE — When the option expires

ATR/Dist — ATR distance from price to strike

Buffer% — How far the strike is below current price

Yield% — Annualized yield

Prem — Premium in dollars

MA 50/100/150/200 — Moving average badges: green when both price > MA AND strike < MA (MA "protecting" the strike)

⭐ — Your personal watchlist. Click to star a pick.

The ⭐ Star System

Stars are personal. When you star a pick, it appears in your Trade Tracking page. You can:

Record your entry (date, premium paid)
Track assignment status
Log when you close the position
See your win rate and average return

Stars are stored in your browser. To sync across devices, keep the same browser. To reset your watchlist, clear site data.

Trade Tracking (/blog/track)

After you've starred some picks and entered positions, head to the Trade Tracking page to manage your wheel trades. For each starred pick, record:

The date you sold the put
The premium you collected
The expiry and strike
Your assignment status

The tracking page calculates your win rate, total premium collected, and shows which trades are still pending. This is how you build real data on whether the wheel strategy is working for you.

How to Read the Blog (/blog)

The blog publishes daily wheel opportunity posts — a curated look at the best Super Stocks picks from the morning scan. You can filter posts by category:

Wheel Strategy — Deep dives on wheel trading techniques
CSP Basics — Cash-secured puts fundamentals
Covered Calls — CC strategy and management
Trading Mindset — Psychology and discipline
Site Guide — How to use OptionSpeed features

Data Refresh Schedule

Market data is collected daily after US market close (around 8pm ET / 00:00 UTC / 8am SGT). Super Stocks and all filters update at that time. The option chain popup shows the most recent available data at the time of your click.

Tips for New Users

Start with Super Stocks — Don't try to analyze 575 tickers. Start with the Super Stocks table and work outward from there.

Check the MA badges — A green MA50 badge means the 50-day moving average is between the current price and your strike. Historically, this MA has acted as support. It's a good sign for your strike protection.

Look at the ATR/D column — A 2.5+ ATR distance means the stock needs to move significantly to reach your strike. Combined with 15%+ buffer, these are the safest strikes.

Check earnings before selling — If a stock has earnings within your DTE, the IV crush after earnings can cause your option to lose value rapidly. Either avoid those strikes or size down.

Use the option chain popup to compare expirations — A 30-day option will always have more premium than a 7-day option. But longer DTE also means more time for the stock to move. Find the balance that matches your risk tolerance.

That's OptionSpeed. Start with Super Stocks, click stars on picks you like, track your trades, and check the blog daily for educational content. Welcome aboard.