How to use the wheel tracker
Five minutes a week is enough: every order you fill at your broker goes in here with the same numbers.
- 1
Create a position
Enter the ticker and pick the contract size: 100 shares per contract for standard US equity options, 10 for smaller contracts. The contract specification of your option is what counts.
- 2
Sell a put
Enter contracts, strike and the premium per share, the price your broker quotes, not the total. Fees go in as a total.
- 3
Carry the open option forward
Under "Open options" every put and call has four buttons: buy to close, roll (close and reopen in one step), expired worthless, and assigned or called away. That way the tracker always knows which option you mean.
- 4
Sell covered calls
After assignment the card shows your adjusted basis per share. The repair calculator gives the lowest call strike that would not take you below it if the shares are called away.
- 5
Read your week and back it up
At the top: net premium for the current calendar week, plus month, year and the cumulative curve. Export your data as JSON now and then; it lives only in this browser.
How the adjusted cost basis is computed
A wheel cycle starts with the first trade you make while holding no shares and no open option, and ends when you are flat again: the put expires or is bought back, or the shares are called away by the covered call. Within the cycle the tracker counts every cash flow: premiums (+), buybacks (−), share purchases (−), share sales (+), dividends (+) and fees (−).
While you hold shares that sum is negative, by roughly what the shares cost less every premium collected so far. Divide it by the number of shares and you have the adjusted basis: the price at which you could sell the shares without the cycle losing money.
- Net cash flow
- premiums − buybacks + dividends − fees + share sales − share purchases
- Adjusted basis
- − net cash flow ÷ shares held
- Breakeven in the put phase
- (strike × shares per contract − net cash flow) ÷ shares if assigned, i.e. strike minus net premium
- Realized P/L
- net cash flow once the cycle is closed
- Return on capital
- realized P/L ÷ the most capital tied up during the cycle (put collateral strike × shares, then the price paid for the shares); annualized × 365 ÷ days in trade
Fictional stock XYZ, 1 contract of 100 shares, no fees. Illustrative numbers, not market data.
| Date | Step | Cash flow | Adjusted basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 5 | Sell the 50 put for 1.50 | +$150 | – (no shares yet; breakeven $48.50) |
| Jan 30 | Assigned: 100 shares at 50 | −$5,000 | (5,000 − 150) ÷ 100 = $48.50 |
| Feb 2 | Sell the 52 call for 1.00 | +$100 | (5,000 − 250) ÷ 100 = $47.50 |
| Feb 27 | Call expires worthless | $0 | $47.50 |
| Mar 2 | Sell the 51 call for 1.20 | +$120 | (5,000 − 370) ÷ 100 = $46.30 |
| Mar 27 | Called away at 51 | +$5,100 | cycle closed |
Net premium $370, realized P/L $470 (5,100 − 4,630). $5,000 of capital for 81 days: 9.4% on capital, or 42.4% annualized by simple scaling. Annualizing assumes a cycle like this could be repeated all year; it is a yardstick, not a forecast.
The repair calculator
When the stock drops hard after assignment, the classic wheel question is which call you can sell without being called away below your basis. Called away at strike K, the cycle realizes shares × (K + call premium − adjusted basis) − fees. That is zero or better from K ≥ adjusted basis − call premium + fees ÷ shares.
Example: after the assignment above your basis is $48.50 and the stock has fallen to $44. If a call would bring in, say, $0.60, a strike of $47.90 would do; the next listed strike is 48. Called away at 48, the cycle would make $10. Whether that strike actually pays $0.60 is something only the option chain can tell you.
Wheel tracker FAQ
Is the wheel tracker free? Do I need an account?
It is free and works without signing up. Your entries are stored only in your browser's localStorage and are not sent to BeInOptions.
What counts as one wheel cycle?
A cycle runs from the first trade you make while holding no shares and no open option until you are flat again. A put that expires worthless is therefore a complete cycle on its own. If it is assigned, the cycle carries on through the covered calls until the shares are called away or sold.
Why do premiums lower the cost basis?
Because the premium is cash you received for this very position, so for managing it what matters is how much money is net invested in the shares. The tracker shows both: the strike you paid and the adjusted basis after every premium, dividend and fee in the cycle.
Is the adjusted basis my cost basis for tax?
Not necessarily. How option premiums and assignments are taxed depends on your country and your situation. The tracker does not compute tax; your broker's statements and, where needed, a tax adviser are what count.
How do I record a roll?
Click "Roll" on the open option and enter what you paid to close the old one plus the strike, premium and expiry of the new one. The tracker books both as one event, and the new option stays in the same cycle.
How is the return calculated, and why is the annualized number so high?
It is based on the most capital tied up during the cycle: strike times shares per contract for puts, the price paid for shares after assignment. The annualized figure simply scales the cycle return to 365 days, so short cycles quickly reach double digits. It only tells you what repeating the cycle without a gap would produce.
What is contract size 10 for?
Most US equity options cover 100 shares per contract. Smaller contracts exist too; Eurex, for example, lists mini single stock options with a smaller multiplier next to its standard equity options. Your contract specification says how many shares one contract covers; pick 10 if that is what it says.
How do I move my data to another device?
Use "Export JSON", then "Import JSON" on the other device. On import you can merge or replace everything. The CSV export is meant for spreadsheets.