When we last updated the challenge, we were sitting on a BULL $6 put rolled out to June 18, with $24 in premium collected and a cost basis of $5.76 if assigned. BULL was trading in the $5.60s and the market had just had one of its worst days of the year.
Two weeks later, BULL is trading at $6.86 and hit an intraday high of $7.00 today. The position we were sweating is now so far out of the money it's essentially worthless — and that's exactly when you close it.
What happened between June 5 and today
After the initial market drop that forced the roll, BULL quietly recovered and then some. The stock climbed steadily through the back half of the week, pushed through $6.00, broke above $6.40 resistance, and today made a run at $7.00 before pulling back to the high $6.80s.
That's a move from $5.61 at the low to $7.00 at the high — a 24.8% recovery in about ten trading days. For the challenge, we didn't need BULL to do anything that dramatic. We just needed it to stay above $6.00 at June 18 expiration. It did that and then some.
We didn't buy BULL. We didn't need to predict the move. We sold a put at a strike we were comfortable with, collected premium, and let time and price work in our favor. The stock doing 24% in two weeks was a bonus — we'd have been fine with it just staying flat above $6.
Why close for $0.01 instead of letting it expire
With BULL at $6.86 and our $6 put expiring June 18, the put was so far out of the money it had essentially no value left — the bid was $0.01. At that point, holding it to expiration earns us exactly $0 more while leaving the position open for three more days.
There's no good reason to do that. Closing at $0.01 costs $1.00 plus $0.12 in TastyTrade commissions — $1.12 total — to completely eliminate any remaining risk on the trade. What remaining risk? Technically none, but markets can gap down hard on unexpected news. Paying $1.12 to own zero risk for three days is always the right call when the alternative is holding for no additional gain.
Many experienced options sellers use a "close at 90% of max profit" rule — meaning when you've captured 90% of the premium you sold, you close the position and redeploy capital. We collected $24 and paid $1.12 to close, keeping $22.88 of the original premium. That's 95% captured. Close enough — take the win and move on.
The full trade breakdown
What we're watching next
With the position closed and capital freed up, we're back to scanning for the next entry. We didn't force a trade today even though BULL was active — and that's intentional. No great setup today means no trade today. The $20.49 isn't going anywhere while we wait for the right opportunity.
What we're looking for in the next trade:
- RSI under 45–55 on entry — we want a pullback or neutral momentum, not a stock running hot
- Clear support levels below the strike we're selling — the same technical reasoning we used with BULL's $5.90 and $5.84 support
- Strike we're comfortable getting assigned at — the whole wheel strategy depends on only selling puts on stocks you'd actually want to own
- Decent premium — no point taking on assignment risk for $5 in premium
BULL itself remains on the watchlist. At $6.86 with RSI running hot after a 24% move, it's not the right entry right now. But if it pulls back to the $6.20–$6.40 range and RSI cools off, we'd look at selling a $6 put again. We know the stock, we know the levels, and familiarity is an edge.
The challenge goal is 25% annually — about $125 on $500. We just banked $20.49 in 10 days. We're ahead of pace. There's zero pressure to force the next trade. We'll update when there's something worth writing about.
Track Your Own Wheel Trades — Free
The $20.49 figure above came straight from the TraderVoila Wheel Tracker. Log your trades and see your real P&L, win rate, and cost basis automatically.
Open Wheel Tracker