DOW Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money DOW 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 $31.00 strike at 4.7% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
DOW covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $30.08 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $31.00 | 3.1% | $1.40 | 4.7% | 47.2% | $28.68 | 7.7% | 17 |
| $32.00 | 6.4% | $1.01 | 3.4% | 34.0% | $29.07 | 9.7% | 42 |
| $33.00 | 9.7% | $0.74 | 2.4% | 24.8% | $29.35 | 12.2% | 11 |
What the $31.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $30.08. Profit caps at $232.00 if DOW finishes above $31.00; below $28.68 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $22.56 | $-6.12 | $-612.00 |
| $24.44 | $-4.24 | $-424.00 |
| $26.32 | $-2.36 | $-236.00 |
| $28.20 | $-0.48 | $-48.00 |
| $30.08 | +$1.40 | +$140.00 |
| $31.96 | +$2.32 | +$232.00 |
| $33.84 | +$2.32 | +$232.00 |
| $35.72 | +$2.32 | +$232.00 |
| $37.60 | +$2.32 | +$232.00 |
When a covered call fits DOW
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 DOW 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 DOW loaded.
Questions
- What does a DOW covered call pay right now?
- The $31.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $1.40 per share, 4.7% of the $30.08 share price, or 47.2% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a DOW covered call?
- Selling the $31.00 call against stock bought at $30.08 breaks even at $28.68 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if DOW closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $31.00. Total return is 7.7%: the premium plus the move from $30.08 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
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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.