RUT Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money RUT 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 $2,945.00 strike at 0.9% over 29 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
RUT covered call candidates — Oct 16, 2026, 29 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $2,858.81 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,945.00 | 3.0% | $25.10 | 0.9% | 11.1% | $2,833.71 | 3.9% | 29 |
| $3,000.00 | 4.9% | $11.20 | 0.4% | 4.9% | $2,847.61 | 5.3% | 2,057 |
| $3,145.00 | 10.0% | $0.93 | 0.0% | 0.4% | $2,857.88 | 10.0% | 24 |
What the $2,945.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $2,858.81. Profit caps at $11,129.00 if RUT finishes above $2,945.00; below $2,833.71 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $2,144.11 | $-689.60 | $-68,960.25 |
| $2,322.78 | $-510.93 | $-51,092.69 |
| $2,501.46 | $-332.25 | $-33,225.13 |
| $2,680.13 | $-153.58 | $-15,357.56 |
| $2,858.81 | +$25.10 | +$2,510.00 |
| $3,037.49 | +$111.29 | +$11,129.00 |
| $3,216.16 | +$111.29 | +$11,129.00 |
| $3,394.84 | +$111.29 | +$11,129.00 |
| $3,573.51 | +$111.29 | +$11,129.00 |
When a covered call fits RUT
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 RUT 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 RUT loaded.
Questions
- What does a RUT covered call pay right now?
- The $2,945.00 call expiring Oct 16, 2026 (29 days out) collects $25.10 per share, 0.9% of the $2,858.81 share price, or 11.1% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a RUT covered call?
- Selling the $2,945.00 call against stock bought at $2,858.81 breaks even at $2,833.71 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if RUT closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $2,945.00. Total return is 3.9%: the premium plus the move from $2,858.81 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on RUT
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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.