Yield Filter Tutorial: Find High-Yield Options in One Click
Learn how to use the Yield filter on the Wheel Strategy Options screener to find high-premium covered calls and cash-secured puts that match your income target.
What the Yield filter measures
Yield is the option premium expressed as a percentage of the cash you tie up to make the trade. It's the closest thing options have to a "dividend yield" — except you collect it in days, not quarters.
The Wheel Strategy Options screener uses these formulas:
Cash-secured put yield = Premium ÷ (Strike price × 100) × 100%
Covered call yield = Premium ÷ (Stock price × 100) × 100%
So a $1.50 put on a $50 strike yields 3.0% on cash. The screener also annualizes this for you in the "Annualized Return" column so you can compare a 7-day contract against a 45-day contract apples-to-apples.
Where to find it
Open either screener and look in the filter sidebar:
The filter is a slider with a min and max. The default range is 0% to 15% so nothing is filtered out until you move the handles.
How to set it (beginner ranges)
| Goal | Min Yield | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative income | 0.5% – 1% | High-quality names, low risk |
| Balanced wheel | 1% – 2% | Sweet spot for most stocks |
| Income hunting | 2% – 4% | Higher IV names, more risk |
| Junk yield zone | > 5% | Almost always a value trap |
The screener defaults to ~30 days to expiration. A "1% yield" at 30 DTE is roughly a 12% annualized return — already beating the S&P 500 average.
A worked example
You want $500/month in put premium on a $25,000 cash bucket.
- Monthly target return = $500 ÷ $25,000 = 2.0%
- Set the Yield filter to min 2.0%, max 100%
- Set DTE to 25–35 days
- Sort by Rating descending
Most weeks you'll get 20–80 candidates. Pick the names you'd actually want to own.
Common mistakes to avoid
1. Chasing the highest yield. A 7% monthly yield almost always means earnings tomorrow, an FDA decision, or a falling knife. The screener pairs Yield with the Earnings indicator and the Contract Score so you can spot traps quickly.
2. Ignoring the size of the strike. A 3% yield on a $300 stock ($900 premium) is very different from a 3% yield on a $30 stock ($90 premium). Combine Yield with the Premium filter to set a dollar floor.
3. Forgetting that yield is on cash secured, not net worth. Returns are always relative to the capital deployed for that trade, not your whole portfolio. A 2% screener yield is 2% on the $5,000 secured by one CSP — not 2% on your account.
Yield + the rest of your filters
Yield is most useful when paired with at least one safety filter:
- + Delta filter — caps assignment probability.
- + Exclude Earnings — kills the "earnings juice" outliers.
- + Volume filter — keeps the contract liquid enough to exit.
A great starter combo:
Yield ≥ 1.5%, Delta 0.20–0.30, Exclude Earnings = on, Volume ≥ 100.
Pro tip — annualized vs raw
When comparing screens, sort by Annualized Return instead of raw Yield. A 0.8% yield at 7 DTE annualizes to ~42% — far better than a 2% yield at 60 DTE (~12%). The screener calculates this for you in the column.
Where to go next
- Tighten with Delta filter for safety.
- Try the High Yield preset for a one-click setup.
- Compare against the Annualized Return filter for fair time comparisons.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good yield for a covered call?
Most wheel traders target 1–2% per month for covered calls on quality stocks (annualized 12–24%). Yields above 3% per month usually require either a riskier underlying, an in-the-money strike, or earnings exposure — read each contract before chasing the number.
Why does the same yield look different on puts vs calls?
Put yield is calculated against the cash secured (strike × 100), while covered call yield is calculated against the stock you own (stock price × 100). When the stock and strike differ significantly, the same dollar premium produces a different yield percent.
Should I use Yield or Annualized Return to compare contracts?
Use Annualized Return when comparing contracts with different expirations. A 1% yield at 7 days is dramatically better than a 1% yield at 30 days, and Annualized Return normalizes that. Use raw Yield when comparing contracts at the same DTE.