A lot has happened since the last update. We'll cover it all — two closed trades, a hidden fee story worth reading even if you're not following the challenge, and a new position that's already looking strong just one day in.
SOUN Roll 4 closed near max profit
After rolling the SOUN position four times and lowering the strike from $6.50 down to $6.00 back on July 23, SOUN finally cooperated. The stock recovered ahead of the August 14 expiration and we were able to close the $6 put on August 7 for just $0.02 — essentially free.
That closed the entire SOUN chapter — four rolls, a strike reduction, and ultimately a clean exit. The patience paid off.
The BULL interlude trade
With SOUN closed and capital freed up, we went back to $BULL (Webull stock) for a quick trade while watching for the next SOUN setup. Same ticker as Trade 1 of the challenge, same clean-fundamentals-for-a-speculative-name reasoning.
Closed at 75% of max profit in one week — clean, textbook execution. The BULL position never came close to threatening the strike, so there was no drama. Just collect and move on.
How TraderVoila caught $44 in hidden fees
This is the part of the update worth reading even if you don't care about the specific trades. It's a real example of why tracking your trades carefully matters — and how easy it is to let broker fees quietly eat your profits without noticing.
Over several weeks, TastyTrade's clearing service had been charging paper confirmation fees and paper statement charges — $2 per trade confirmation plus a $5 monthly paper statement fee. The reason: their system claimed the email address on the account had rejected confirmation emails three times, which apparently triggered a switch to paper confirmations.
The fees weren't obvious in TastyTrade's interface. They show up as "Money Movement" entries labeled "PAPER CONFIRM" and "PAPER STATEMENT FEE" — easy to scroll past if you're just looking at trade P&L. By the time it was noticed, $44 had accumulated quietly across multiple weeks.
How was it caught? The TraderVoila Wheel Tracker was showing a higher P&L than the TastyTrade account balance reflected. When the numbers didn't match, it was a signal that something outside the trades themselves was affecting the balance. Digging into the transaction history surfaced the paper fee charges.
If you're just watching your account balance go up and down, broker fees can quietly drain real money without you noticing — especially on a small account where $44 represents nearly 9% of your starting capital. A separate trade tracker that calculates what your balance should be based on actual trades gives you an independent check on what your broker is telling you.
Log in to TastyTrade, go to your account settings, and make sure your email is confirmed and paper delivery is turned off. Switch to electronic statements and confirmations — it's free and eliminates these charges entirely. TastyTrade agreed to a one-time refund of the $44 in this case, but they won't keep doing that.
New SOUN position — entered at the weekly low
On August 20 — yesterday — SOUN dropped sharply during the afternoon session, touching around $6.90 before recovering. With RSI at oversold levels and the stock near clear support, we sold the Aug 28 $6.50 Put with SOUN trading right around $7.00.
The entry timing was good — right around the weekly low. With SOUN recovering to $7.31 today, the $6.50 strike has $0.81 of cushion and the put is decaying fast. If SOUN stays above $6.50 through August 28, the full premium expires worthless and we look for the next trade.
Selling puts when a stock is at its weekly low and RSI is oversold is exactly the entry discipline we preach in the wheel strategy guide. The instinct when a stock is dropping is to wait — but the premium is highest and the technical risk is lowest when you catch a stock right at support on an oversold reading. Yesterday was a textbook example.
Full challenge scoreboard
With the $44 refund included, the balance is $611.53 — a 22.3% return from the $500 starting point in about two and a half months of trading. The raw account balance before the refund lands is $567.53, but since TastyTrade confirmed the refund the full figure is the accurate one.
Let TraderVoila Track Your Trades — Free
The fee mismatch that caught $44 in hidden charges was found because the Wheel Tracker's P&L didn't match the broker balance. Log your trades and let the math tell you when something's off.
Open Wheel Tracker