How to Use the Wheel Scanner

What it does

The Wheel scanner looks at every optionable S&P 500 stock, finds the out-of-the-money put nearest your chosen delta in your chosen expiry window, and ranks the results by annualized return on cash-secured collateral — while filtering out names with active catalysts via our risk score. It's the wheel strategy shortlist, built for you every 30 minutes.

Step 1 — pick your expiry window

The week chips (this week, next week, this month, etc.) set how far out the put expires. Shorter windows mean faster theta and higher annualized returns, but more management and gamma risk near expiry. Most wheelers live in the 1–5 week range.

Step 2 — set aggressiveness (delta)

• Conservative (~0.20 delta) — farther out of the money, roughly a 20% chance of assignment, smaller premium. You mostly want to keep the cash.
• Balanced (~0.30) — the classic wheel zone.
• Aggressive (~0.40) — closer to the money, fatter premium, higher odds you get the shares.

Assignment probability ≈ the put's delta, so a 0.30-delta put is "about 30% likely to be assigned." Lower is safer but pays less — there's no free lunch.

Step 3 — use the quality gates

Set a max risk score (keeps catalyst-heavy names out), a minimum IV Rank (so the premium is actually rich relative to the stock's own history), and a minimum put open interest (100+ keeps you in liquid, tradeable strikes). These three filters are what separate a real screen from a list of stale, untradeable quotes.

How to read the columns

• Premium — the put's bid. A ~ prefix means it's an estimate (no live bid on our data plan); confirm the real bid in your broker.
• Annual Return — the period return scaled to a year. Short-dated puts annualize to eye-popping numbers; treat it as a ranking tool, not a promise.
• Assign % — roughly your odds of being put the shares. With the wheel that's fine — you wanted to own it.
• Breakeven — strike minus premium = your effective cost basis if assigned.
• Risk — our 0–100 catalyst score. Green is the point; a red risk score on a juicy premium is the market warning you.

The one rule that matters

Only sell puts on stocks you'd be happy to own at the strike. The scanner finds rich premium with a clean risk backdrop; you supply the conviction. Open the Wheel scanner and start with conservative + a low max-risk to see the idea.