August was a consolidation month that turned into a milestone month.
Twelve trades resolved between Week 31 and Week 35. Four were full-cycle call-aways: PLTR, ASTS, AMZN, and, for the first time since the account opened on April 1, EQNR, the very first trade this account ever placed. Three of those cycles booked a realized capital gain on top of premium, while EQNR completed its 142-day cycle at the original assignment price.
The Wheel produces profit from three places: premium on the cash-secured put, premium on the covered call, and, when the stock runs into the strike, the capital gain between assignment price and call-away price. All three are Wheel income. This report adds them up as one number, because that is what actually happened to the account.
The Numbers
12 trades closed in August, from Week 31 through Week 35.
7 expired worthless. 4 closed via covered call at a profit. 1 was assigned: INTC.
CSP premium: $2,869. CC premium: $2,172. Total premium: $5,041.
Capital gains on shares called away above assignment price: $10,800.
Total Wheel P&L for August: $15,841.
That is the number that matters. Not premium alone. Not capital gains alone. The full result of running cash-secured puts into covered calls into call-aways, added together.
Average Real APR across closed cycles: 200%. Median Real APR: 128%.
Portfolio NAV moved from $260,208 on July 31 to $273,350 on August 28. Account return: +5.1%. The S&P 500 over the same window: +3.1%.
Since inception on April 1, the account is up 9.3% versus 21.1% for the S&P 500. August was the first month where the account's monthly return clearly beat the index. The since-inception gap remains wide, driven almost entirely by the unrealized drawdowns in AKAM and ONDS.
What Worked
EQNR — The First Trade of the Account, Finally Closed
EQNR CSP $39 was trade #1, opened April 1, the day the account went live.
It took 142 days, one assignment, and three separate covered calls: $240 in April, $660 in May, and $660 in July. Shares were called away on August 21 at the $39 strike, the same level as cost basis.
CSP and CC premium across the full cycle: $2,130. Capital gain: $0. Total Wheel P&L: $2,130.
Total return: 9.1% over 142 days. Writing the call at basis, instead of above it, capped this cycle's profit at premium alone.
PLTR and ASTS — Premium and Capital Gain Together
PLTR: CSP $130 opened July 20, assigned July 31. Covered call at $165 opened August 4, then called away August 14 as PLTR ran to $174.
CSP and CC premium: $1,220. Capital gain: $7,000. Total Wheel P&L: $8,220. Annualized return: 462%.
ASTS: CSP $57 assigned July 24. Covered call at $68 opened August 3, then called away August 7 as the stock ran to $71.94.
CSP and CC premium: $1,041. Capital gain: $3,300. Total Wheel P&L: $4,341. Annualized return: 421%.
Together, these two cycles produced $12,561 of realized Wheel P&L. The relevant number is the sum of premium and capital gain, not either piece in isolation.
AMZN — Smaller, Same Math
AMZN CSP $262.50 opened May 28, assigned, then covered call at $265 opened July 13 and called away August 7, 71 days after the original entry.
CSP and CC premium: $1,630. Capital gain: $500. Total Wheel P&L: $2,130.
Same formula as PLTR and ASTS, with a smaller result because AMZN spent most of the cycle grinding sideways instead of trending.
HOOD, SOFI, HIMS — Premium-Only Cycles, Still Counted
Two HOOD CSPs at $89 closed in August, one after four days and one after nine days, combining for $1,160 in premium with no assignment or capital gain.
SOFI and HIMS each added a covered-call cycle above cost basis, at $20 and $35 respectively. Both expired worthless and added premium without capital gain because shares were not called away.
These are legitimate Wheel trades with capital gain of $0. The mix of premium-only cycles and premium-plus-capital-gain cycles is what drives the combined monthly result.
What Needs Watching
INTC — A Discretionary Exception That Got Assigned
INTC CSP $98 opened August 17 and was assigned August 21. ADX remained below 20 at entry, a failure of the standard Wizolver trend filter, logged as a deliberate discretionary exception rather than a standard rule-based entry.
INTC closed at $90.05 by month-end. Cost basis: $96. Unrealized loss: roughly $1,785.
A covered call at $100 was opened August 25, expiring September 4. If called away, full-cycle P&L is $1,200: $324 CSP premium, $276 CC premium, and $600 capital gain. From this point, the incremental add from the open covered call is $876.
This is not another GLXY. The loss is modest and the recovery call is already working, but the deliberately overridden trend condition remains worth tracking.
Two Recovery CSPs on Names Already Underwater
On August 25, new CSPs opened on AKAM at $101 and RDDT at $145: cost-basis recovery adds on positions already sitting in the book at a loss.
If assigned, the new AKAM lot carries an effective basis of $99.30. Blended with the existing 200 shares at $149.50, the full 300-share position's blended effective basis would fall to approximately $132.77.
The RDDT add carries a $143.25 effective basis on the new lot and would reduce the blended effective basis on 200 shares, existing 100 at $183.60 plus the new 100, to approximately $163.43.
This is a legitimate recovery technique, but also a form of averaging into weakness. AKAM, RDDT, and CIFR at $14 were open with one day to expiration as of this report and resolve in the first days of September.
AKAM and ONDS — Still the Two Largest Drawdowns
AKAM: 200 shares, cost basis $149.50, current price $105.09. Unrealized loss: $8,882. 83 days without a covered call.
ONDS: 1,500 shares, cost basis $10.28, current price $7.61. Unrealized loss: $4,005. 70 days without a covered call.
Neither has an acceptable covered-call strike above cost basis yet, so neither can add premium or capital gain until price recovers enough to write one.
Cash Sitting Idle
Cash available at month-end: $156,825, or 57.4% of the $273,350 portfolio. That is 27 points above the 30% cash target, meaning capital deployment sits at 42.6% against an effective approximately 70% deployment goal.
Four call-aways inside three weeks freed a large amount of capital quickly. September priority: redeploy only when new setups justify it, rather than allowing higher cash itself to become a reason to trade.
Open Positions Entering September
Shares
Note: 200 shares held at a $47.37 cost basis. No covered call. 13 days without CC.
Note: 1,500 shares held at a $10.28 cost basis. No covered call. 70 days without CC.
Note: 1,200 shares held at a $15.17 cost basis. No covered call currently running.
Note: 200 shares held at a $149.50 cost basis. No covered call. 83 days without CC. Recovery CSP remains open.
Note: 400 shares held at a $29.98 cost basis. No covered call currently running.
Note: 100 shares held at a $183.60 cost basis. No covered call. 41 days without CC. Recovery CSP remains open.
Note: 300 shares held at a $96.00 cost basis. Covered call at $100 remains active through September 4, 2026.
Open CSPs
Note: CIFR remains open at the $14 strike through the September 4, 2026 expiration.
Note: RDDT recovery CSP remains open at the $145 strike through the September 4, 2026 expiration.
Note: AKAM recovery CSP remains open at the $101 strike through the September 4, 2026 expiration.
Open CCs
Note: INTC remains covered at the $100 strike above the $96.00 cost basis through the September 4, 2026 expiration.
Total open exposure: $154,261. Total pending premium on open positions: $1,081.
What August Showed
Four call-aways inside three weeks, PLTR, ASTS, AMZN, and the account's own first trade in EQNR, made August the cleanest month-end the book has had since the account opened.
Add every piece: CSP premium, CC premium, and capital gains on shares called away. August produced $15,841 in total Wheel P&L. Not $5,041 in premium with a footnote about gains. Not $10,800 in gains with a footnote about premium. One number, because it was one process.
The other side: cash piled up faster than it was redeployed, and the one new position assigned in August, INTC, was the trade that skipped the standard trend filter.
The September goal stays the same: fewer compromises, better structure, same discipline.
The log continues.