Best wheel candidates
16 of the 60 tracked tickers passed the wheel filter at the August 3, 2026 snapshot: a liquid chain on both sides, median spread inside 20% of the mid, open interest above 100 contracts, and no confirmed earnings date in the window. MU tops it on combined premium, which is a description of the chain rather than an endorsement of the company.
| Ticker | Price | Cash per contract | Put annualized | Call annualized | Median spread | Full cycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MUMicron Technology | $827.87 | $71,250 | 66.8% | 117.0% | 16.2% | cycle |
| QCOMQualcomm Inc. | $149.80 | $13,200 | 23.9% | 74.2% | 18.4% | cycle |
| TSLATesla Inc. | $323.65 | $30,500 | 34.0% | 41.5% | 3.1% | cycle |
| METAMeta Platforms | $588.07 | $56,250 | 39.6% | 28.1% | 14.2% | cycle |
| AMZNAmazon.com Inc. | $285.94 | $27,250 | 26.3% | 39.8% | 9.0% | cycle |
| SOFISoFi Technologies | $17.45 | $1,600 | 34.9% | 29.5% | 6.5% | cycle |
| NFLXNetflix Inc. | $72.81 | $7,000 | 35.5% | 20.1% | 6.1% | cycle |
| FFord Motor Company | $14.66 | $1,400 | 34.4% | 19.2% | 13.3% | cycle |
| NKENike Inc. | $42.26 | $4,000 | 25.3% | 23.6% | 11.8% | cycle |
| AAPLApple Inc. | $305.15 | $29,500 | 26.1% | 20.7% | 9.0% | cycle |
| BAThe Boeing Company | $226.82 | $21,500 | 23.5% | 19.8% | 13.3% | cycle |
| UNHUnitedHealth Group | $416.86 | $39,750 | 18.0% | 19.3% | 12.8% | cycle |
| PGProcter and Gamble | $145.12 | $14,000 | 16.6% | 19.2% | 17.4% | cycle |
| BACBank of America | $62.07 | $6,000 | 14.2% | 13.1% | 13.3% | cycle |
| IWMiShares Russell 2000 ETF | $295.72 | $29,000 | 15.7% | 10.2% | 5.7% | cycle |
| SPYSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | $755.66 | $74,600 | 10.2% | 7.7% | 1.7% | cycle |
The filter, written out
A ticker is on this list when all four of these were true at the snapshot: it had an out-of-the-money put and an out-of-the-money call inside the target delta band, the median bid-ask spread across those strikes was inside 20% of the mid, median open interest was at least 100 contracts, and the earnings calendar did not put a confirmed report inside the window. Ordering is the sum of the two annualized yields. That is the whole method, and you could rebuild it from any chain provider.
What the filter cannot check
Whether you want to own the company. That is the first filter on a wheel and no screen can run it for you, because the wheel hands you 100 shares of whatever it assigns and then asks you to keep writing calls on them, possibly for months, possibly at a loss. A liquid chain on a business you would not buy is a worse position than an illiquid chain on one you would.
Funds are here for a reason. They have no earnings date, and a broad fund cannot go to zero on a fraud or a failed trial the way a single name can. The premium is thinner. That is the trade.