CAT Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money CAT call expiring Oct 23, 2026, priced from the settled chain: what it pays, what it yields, and where the trade stops making money. The richest right now is the $805.00 strike at 3.6% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
CAT covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $782.72 share price, not by delta — the published chain carries premiums and open interest, not greeks, and inventing a delta here would be inventing data. Premium is the bid/ask midpoint where both sides quote, otherwise the last trade. The chain artifact publishes the six nearest expirations, so this is the longest one listed — 36 days out. Annualising anything shorter than a week says more about compounding arithmetic than about the trade, so those cells stay blank.
| Strike | % OTM | Premium | Yield | Annualised | Break-even | If assigned | OI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $805.00 | 2.8% | $28.33 | 3.6% | 36.7% | $754.40 | 6.5% | 21 |
| $820.00 | 4.8% | $22.63 | 2.9% | 29.3% | $760.10 | 7.7% | 14 |
| $860.00 | 9.9% | $11.43 | 1.5% | 14.8% | $771.30 | 11.3% | 16 |
What the $805.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $782.72. Profit caps at $5,060.50 if CAT finishes above $805.00; below $754.40 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $587.04 | $-167.36 | $-16,735.50 |
| $635.96 | $-118.43 | $-11,843.50 |
| $684.88 | $-69.52 | $-6,951.50 |
| $733.80 | $-20.60 | $-2,059.50 |
| $782.72 | +$28.33 | +$2,832.50 |
| $831.64 | +$50.60 | +$5,060.50 |
| $880.56 | +$50.60 | +$5,060.50 |
| $929.48 | +$50.60 | +$5,060.50 |
| $978.40 | +$50.60 | +$5,060.50 |
When a covered call fits CAT
A covered call sells someone else the right to buy your shares at the strike. It pays you today and caps your upside there, so it suits a holding you are content to own flat and content to sell at the strike — not one you expect to run.
The premium is compensation for implied volatility. Rich implied volatility pays more, and usually pays more because the market expects a move; a high annualised number on a name about to report earnings is a warning as often as an opportunity. Check the CAT expected move and the open-interest walls before assuming the strike is far enough away.
Full mechanics, assignment and rolling are in the covered call guide; to model a different strike or a multi-leg version, open the profit calculator with CAT loaded.
Questions
- What does a CAT covered call pay right now?
- The $805.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $28.33 per share, 3.6% of the $782.72 share price, or 36.7% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a CAT covered call?
- Selling the $805.00 call against stock bought at $782.72 breaks even at $754.40 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if CAT closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $805.00. Total return is 6.5%: the premium plus the move from $782.72 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on CAT
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Educational, not investment advice. Options involve risk. Open interest is reported with a one-session lag by OCC, so these levels describe positioning as of the last settled session, not live intraday flow.