DIA Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money DIA call expiring Oct 16, 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 $531.00 strike at 0.5% over 29 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
DIA covered call candidates — Oct 16, 2026, 29 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $515.22 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 — 29 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $531.00 | 3.1% | $2.33 | 0.5% | 5.7% | $512.90 | 3.5% | 60 |
| $541.00 | 5.0% | $0.79 | 0.2% | 1.9% | $514.43 | 5.2% | 779 |
What the $531.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $515.22. Profit caps at $1,810.50 if DIA finishes above $531.00; below $512.90 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $386.42 | $-126.48 | $-12,648.00 |
| $418.62 | $-94.28 | $-9,427.87 |
| $450.82 | $-62.08 | $-6,207.75 |
| $483.02 | $-29.88 | $-2,987.62 |
| $515.22 | +$2.33 | +$232.50 |
| $547.42 | +$18.10 | +$1,810.50 |
| $579.62 | +$18.10 | +$1,810.50 |
| $611.82 | +$18.10 | +$1,810.50 |
| $644.03 | +$18.10 | +$1,810.50 |
When a covered call fits DIA
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 DIA 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 DIA loaded.
Questions
- What does a DIA covered call pay right now?
- The $531.00 call expiring Oct 16, 2026 (29 days out) collects $2.33 per share, 0.5% of the $515.22 share price, or 5.7% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a DIA covered call?
- Selling the $531.00 call against stock bought at $515.22 breaks even at $512.90 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if DIA closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $531.00. Total return is 3.5%: the premium plus the move from $515.22 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on DIA
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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.