Author

Michael O'Donnell

Founder of PremiumGuardHQ. Michael sold his first company, Cave Tools, in 2021, spent the next few years across other investments, and turned to selling options for income in 2023. He learned the wheel from a mentor who runs a multi-million-dollar covered-call fund, and still sits in on that fund's trades as an observer. He built PremiumGuardHQ to get three numbers he could trust: Premium P/L, Equity P/L, and Net Income.

3 published entries

Entries by Michael

Jul 7, 20262 min read

Safe-to-withdraw card showing $4,850 for the month: $6,120 trailing closed-cycle net income minus $1,270 held in reserve, equity base of $104,850 above target.

How much can you actually withdraw from a wheel account?

Premium income is only income if taking it out does not shrink the machine that produces it. A framework for setting a withdrawal amount your equity base can survive.

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Jun 9, 20263 min read

Closed SOFI wheel cycle summary: Premium P/L +$1,240 plus Equity P/L −$380 equals Net P/L +$860.

Premium is unearned income until the wheel closes

Collected premium feels like profit the moment it lands in the account. Counting it that way is the most expensive habit in wheel trading. Here is the accounting that keeps it honest.

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May 19, 20263 min read

Cycle detail panel for a WMT wheel: a sold put, assignment at $115.00, and a covered call, with an adjusted cost basis of $112.15 per-share breakeven.

Assignment is the plan, not the failure

Getting assigned on a cash-secured put is not a losing trade. It is the wheel doing exactly what you designed it to do, and the moment your accounting has to get honest.

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