The continuous wheel strategy transforms option selling from occasional trade execution into systematic weekly cashflow generation. When implemented properly with accurate cost basis tracking and disciplined position management, selling covered calls and cash-secured puts creates predictable income streams that compound over time regardless of market direction.
This detailed walkthrough demonstrates managing a complete BITO Bitcoin ETF position through the continuous wheel strategy, documenting every step from recording past week transactions to planning next week positions. You will learn how to track covered call rolls, process cash-secured put assignments, maintain accurate cost basis calculations including all premium collected, and make strategic decisions about strike selection based on current market conditions.
The video presents real transaction data showing 1.21% weekly ROI through systematic premium collection while dollar cost averaging into a 600-share BITO position. The workflow emphasizes proper record keeping, account reconciliation, and the strategic choice between accepting assignments to build position size versus rolling positions to continue collecting premium on the same capital.
The continuous wheel strategy begins with selling cash-secured puts at strike prices where you would be willing to own the stock. When the stock price declines below your strike at expiration, you receive assignment of 100 shares per contract at the strike price. Each assignment represents both an obligation fulfilled and an opportunity to immediately sell covered calls on the newly acquired shares.
The video demonstrates a BITO position built through six separate cash-secured put assignments over several weeks. Each assignment occurred at progressively lower strike prices as BITO declined from initial positions around $32 down to $25.50 at the most recent assignment. This pattern of following the stock price down through repeated assignments creates dollar cost averaging that continually reduces the average cost per share.
The complete assignment history shows:
After six assignments, the position holds 600 shares with an average cost basis of $29.70 per share before accounting for premium collected. While early assignments show unrealized losses as BITO traded at $24.64 at the time of the video, the systematic dollar cost averaging reduced what would have been a $32 average cost down to $29.70, substantially improving the position's recovery potential.
Many option sellers view assignments as failed trades that should be avoided through rolling. However, the continuous wheel strategy intentionally accepts assignments as part of position building. Each assignment provides fresh shares to sell covered calls against, increasing the premium collection capacity of the entire position.
The video makes this point explicitly when discussing that in a real money account rather than the paper trading demonstration, the approach would involve rolling cash-secured puts more frequently to avoid tying up increasing amounts of capital. However, for demonstration and education purposes, accepting assignments illustrates how dollar cost averaging works and provides material to demonstrate MyATMM's cost basis tracking capabilities.
Accurate cost basis tracking requires recording every transaction component: option sells, option buys, assignments, expirations, premiums collected, and commissions paid. The video demonstrates the complete workflow using Think or Swim as the execution platform and MyATMM as the tracking system.
The week begins by examining Think or Swim's account statement to identify which transactions executed during the previous week. The specific transactions from this example include:
These three transactions represent the complete option activity for the week: rolling existing covered calls to new strikes and expirations, writing a new covered call on recently assigned shares, and selling a new cash-secured put to continue playing both sides of the position.
After identifying executed transactions, the workflow moves to recording them in MyATMM's cost basis tracking system. The video demonstrates recording each transaction with all required details:
Recording the Covered Call Roll:
Rather than tracking the roll as separate buy-to-close and sell-to-open transactions, the trader creates a new position representing the rolled contracts. The transaction date shows May 6th (when the roll order filled), sell to open, call option, 4 contracts, expiration May 31st, strike $30.00, premium 30 cents per share. The application calculates $120 total premium before fees. Adding the $5.20 commission results in net credit of $114.80.
An important observation here: the proposed transaction shows only half the commission ($2.60) because it calculates only the sell side of the roll. Think or Swim's actual commission of $5.20 includes both buying back the old position and selling the new position. The trader manually adjusts to match Think or Swim's actual fees.
Recording the New Covered Call:
The second transaction records the covered call written on the 100 shares assigned the previous week. Transaction date May 6th, sell to open, call option, 1 contract, expiration May 31st, strike $30.00, premium 41 cents per share. The application shows $41 premium minus $0.67 fees for net credit of $40.33.
Recording the Cash-Secured Put:
The third transaction records the cash-secured put that will expire later in the week. Transaction date May 6th, sell to open, put option, 1 contract, expiration May 10th, strike $25.50, premium 49 cents per share. The application shows $49 premium minus $0.67 fees for net credit of $48.33.
The cash-secured put expired May 10th with BITO at $24.64, well below the $25.50 strike, resulting in assignment. To record this, the trader clicks the result dropdown on the cash-secured put position, selects "assigned," enters assignment date May 11th, confirms it's a stock assignment of 100 shares at the $25.50 strike price, and submits.
The assignment immediately appears in the stock positions section as a new 100-share purchase at $25.50. The trader then saves this stock position to permanent transaction history, which creates the complete record of how the position grew from 500 shares to 600 shares through this assignment.
After recording all transactions, MyATMM displays complete position metrics that reveal the actual state of the BITO position including all premium collected and all capital deployed.
| Metric | Value | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Total Shares Owned | 600 | Built through 6 assignments over multiple weeks |
| Total Capital Invested | $17,400 | Sum of all assignment costs (100 shares x 6 assignments x average $29 price) |
| Current Stock Value | $14,786 | 600 shares x $24.64 current price |
| Unrealized Loss | -$2,616 | Paper loss before accounting for premium collected |
| Total Premium Collected | $1,171 | All option premium from covered calls and cash-secured puts |
| Net Position Value | -$1,445 | Unrealized loss ($2,616) minus premium collected ($1,171) |
MyATMM presents two critical cost basis calculations:
Assignment Cost Basis: $29.70
This represents the simple average cost of the six assignments: ($32 + $31.50 + $29 + $28.50 + $27 + $25.50) / 6 = $28.92. However, the actual calculation weights each assignment by its share count, and since assignments occurred at different times, the weighted average comes to $29.70. This is the cost basis Think or Swim would show if it tracked all six assignments.
Cost Basis With Premium: $27.65
This critical metric subtracts all collected premium from the total capital invested, then divides by share count: ($17,400 - $1,171) / 600 = $27.05. The video shows $27.65, suggesting additional small adjustments for precise commission accounting. This represents your true breakeven price after accounting for all income generated by the position.
The difference between assignment cost basis ($29.70) and cost basis with premium ($27.65) shows that premium collection has reduced your effective cost by $2.05 per share. This $2.05 reduction x 600 shares = $1,230 in total cost reduction, which aligns closely with the $1,171 total premium collected after accounting for commissions.
Even though BITO currently trades at $24.64 showing an unrealized loss, the position has strong profit potential for several reasons:
One of the most insightful portions of the video addresses when to roll cash-secured puts versus accepting assignments. The trader explicitly states that in a real money account, the approach would differ significantly from this paper trading demonstration.
In a real money account with limited capital, the trader explains that each cash-secured put would be actively managed by monitoring extrinsic value. When extrinsic value drops below 10 cents per share ($10 per contract), the position would be rolled to a future expiration to collect additional premium rather than being assigned.
This rolling approach offers several advantages:
However, the video also identifies when rolling becomes difficult or less attractive:
Large Price Declines: When the stock drops significantly below the original strike ($32 down to $25 representing a $7 or 22% decline), rolling that same $32 strike may collect minimal premium even going 30 days out. At that point, accepting assignment and writing covered calls on the shares may generate more income than rolling the cash-secured put would collect.
Premium Drought Periods: Some market conditions produce very low premiums across all strikes and expirations. When you cannot collect decent premium (defined in the video as at least 10 cents per share for weekly expirations), accepting assignment and focusing on covered calls may be more productive.
Position Building Intent: If you want to accumulate shares in a stock you believe in long-term, accepting assignments serves that strategic goal while rolling indefinitely keeps you in cash-secured puts without building ownership.
The trader establishes a personal rule of never rolling beyond 30 days, with one exception: rolling to the next monthly expiration even if slightly beyond 30 days. This rule prevents tying up capital for extended periods and maintains flexibility to respond to changing market conditions.
Within this 30-day window, typical rolling decisions might look like:
This sequence shows collecting $1.35 per share premium ($60 + $40 + $35) on the same $3,200 capital over three weeks before accepting assignment, versus the alternative of immediate assignment and three weeks of covered call premium collection.
After completing transaction recording and position analysis, the workflow proceeds to planning the next week's option positions. This involves reviewing the current market environment, analyzing available premiums, and making strategic decisions about covered call and cash-secured put strikes.
The position currently holds 600 shares with 5 covered call contracts expiring May 31st at the $30.00 strike. This leaves 100 shares uncovered (the shares just assigned from the cash-secured put), requiring a new covered call to be written. The strategic question is which strike to use for this new contract.
The trader examines options at the $29.00 strike (approximately matching the $29.70 cost basis) across different expirations:
The analysis reveals a wide bid-ask spread on weekend quotes (16 cents bid to 41 cents ask), suggesting the market has not fully priced these options yet. The trader notes these spreads typically tighten when the market opens Monday, and the actual tradeable price will likely be around 30 cents, making the position attractive.
Decision: Sell 1 covered call contract at $29.00 strike expiring May 31st for approximately 28-30 cents when the market opens.
The existing 5 contracts sit at $30.00 strike with the stock trading at $24.64. The cost basis with premium sits at $27.65. This creates an interesting decision matrix:
Option 1: Leave them unchanged at $30.00 strike
Option 2: Roll down to $29.00 strike matching the new 6th contract
The video shows examining the roll and finding it would collect only 12 cents per share going from $30.00 to $29.00 at the same May 31st expiration. The trader questions whether 12 cents justifies the increased assignment risk and added complexity, particularly given the stock's recent uptrend pattern visible on the chart.
Decision: The trader ultimately queues the roll to collect the 12 cents but notes this may not execute due to wide spreads and may be adjusted Monday when markets open.
For the cash-secured put, the trader examines strikes near the current $24.64 price:
$24.50 strike examination across expirations:
The analysis reveals minimal premium improvement going from 12 days to 19 days (only 2 cents more for 7 additional days), making the 12-day expiration more attractive from a capital efficiency perspective.
However, the trader also considers lower strikes to reduce assignment probability:
Decision: The video shows queuing the May 17th expiration but doesn't finalize the exact strike, noting the actual decision will depend on Monday's pricing when spreads tighten.
The final step in the weekly workflow involves reconciling MyATMM's calculated account value with Think or Swim's reported account value to verify all transactions have been recorded correctly without errors or omissions.
The trader navigates to MyATMM's dashboard which displays total account value based on all recorded transactions, current stock positions valued at current market prices, and cash available. This shows $84,796.40.
Switching to Think or Swim's account statement shows the same $84,796.40 total account value, confirming perfect reconciliation. This match indicates:
The video actually demonstrates catching a recording error during reconciliation. Initially, the trader processes the cash-secured put assignment, creating the stock position in MyATMM's interface. However, the assignment transaction was not saved to permanent history, which would cause discrepancies in future reconciliations.
During the final account review, the trader realizes this oversight and goes back to the stock positions section to click save on the assignment transaction, moving it from proposed/draft status to permanent transaction history. This correction ensures the transaction will persist and be included in all future cost basis calculations.
This real-time error discovery demonstrates exactly why weekly reconciliation matters. Catching the oversight immediately prevents it from compounding over future weeks when remembering which transaction was missed becomes much harder.
Beyond account value reconciliation, the dashboard shows monthly premium collection statistics. The video shows:
This monthly view provides income context that helps evaluate whether the strategy continues performing adequately or if market conditions have changed enough to warrant strategy adjustments. The trader notes that premium collection has varied month to month based on volatility and market conditions, emphasizing that income is not constant but fluctuates with the options environment.
The most valuable educational component of this video comes when the trader contrasts the demonstrated assignment-acceptance approach with the capital-efficient rolling strategy used in real money accounts. Understanding both approaches allows you to choose the right strategy for your capital constraints and position building goals.
Assignment Approach (demonstrated in video):
Rolling Approach (described for real money):
Use the Assignment Approach when:
Use the Rolling Approach when:
The trader mentions a hybrid approach that combines both strategies:
This hybrid approach builds position size gradually while maintaining capital efficiency, accepting assignments only when the premium environment makes rolling unattractive. The result is fewer total assignments but each assignment occurs at a point where the premium math favors switching to covered calls.
The continuous wheel strategy generates consistent weekly cashflow when implemented with accurate tracking, disciplined execution, and strategic decision-making about when to accept assignments versus rolling positions.
The 600-share BITO position built through six assignments at progressively lower strikes demonstrates dollar cost averaging in action. While the stock declined from $32 to $24.64, the average cost basis of $29.70 sits between these extremes. This middle position means:
While the video demonstrates assignment acceptance for educational purposes, the alternative rolling strategy offers 5-7x capital efficiency by recycling the same collateral rather than accumulating share positions. For traders with limited capital who want exposure to multiple stocks, rolling cash-secured puts and occasionally accepting strategic assignments provides the optimal balance between capital efficiency and position building.
Options trading involves significant risk and is not suitable for all investors. Selling cash-secured puts obligates you to purchase shares at the strike price if assigned, which can result in substantial losses if the underlying stock declines significantly. Covered calls cap your upside potential and provide only limited downside protection equal to the premium received.
The wheel strategy requires accepting assignments and holding shares through potential declines. Dollar cost averaging does not guarantee profits and can result in purchasing shares of declining securities. BITO is subject to the risks of Bitcoin futures including extreme volatility, tracking error, and regulatory risk.
Past performance shown in this example does not guarantee future results. Premium collection varies based on volatility, market conditions, and strike selection. This content is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice.
MyATMM automatically calculates cost basis with premium, tracks every assignment, and reconciles your positions so you always know exactly where you stand.
Track up to 3 tickers completely free. No credit card required.
Start Tracking Your Wheel Positions TodayJoin option sellers who demand accurate cost basis tracking