The TXN put finally expired worthless on Friday. Since August 11, we worked through seven contract legs and six rolls over roughly a month and a half, stepping the strike down from $275 to $262.50. The entire chain returned $1,185.30 after recorded fees, or 4.31% on the initial $27,500 collateral.

We called out QCOM as the only new CSP candidate on Monday’s Boring Puts watchlist after its Friday selloff, and it took off from there. A member in Discord said they caught it. We did not open a QCOM trade ourselves: with TXN and CSCO already on the book, adding another tech put was not worth forcing.

We kept the rest of the book working, too. On Tuesday we sold a $135 DG covered call for $21.96 net and a $117 WMT covered call for $11.96 net, both expiring October 2. On Thursday we rolled the CSCO $109 put from September 25 to October 2, taking in $76.91 of new net cash.

AMAT: from the watchlist to the trade

AMAT was the name we kept coming back to. It appeared on Tuesday’s Boring Puts board, and Thursday’s board included the longer-dated October 16 $425 put we actually traded. We still watched the downside cushion and liquidity rather than treating a watchlist appearance as a reason to chase. On Thursday, we sold that put for $8.36 and bought it back the same day for $6.83. After $2.07 in recorded fees, we locked in $150.93, a 0.36% return on $42,500 of collateral, without carrying the position into the weekend.

Several Discord members made out well with their own AMAT trades, too. One shared a quick 30% move, another said they closed for 23% of maximum profit, and a third reported a put up 63% while they were still holding it. It was great to see different members find their own entries and exits. Those are self-reported outcomes on different positions, not comparable to our collateral-based return and not included in our portfolio totals.

Discord discussion from this week. Member-reported results reflect their own trades; click to enlarge.

That adds up to $261.76 in new net option cash flow for September 21-25. There were no assignments and no new dividends or interest credited this week. The next cash interest payments are approaching, but we will count them only once they actually post.

The portfolio stands at +$14,781.17, or +18.88% year to date, versus +13.12% for SPY: a 5.76-percentage-point lead. As we head toward the final trading quarter, rates keep rising and market breadth keeps weakening, so we are not chasing trades just to stay busy. Existing holdings and their covered calls are doing most of the work while we wait for better pitches. We finished the week with $114,219.64 in cash, or 75% of capital, and will stay patient rather than force new exposure.

Portfolio snapshot through September 25, 2026. Click to enlarge.

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This Week’s Totals

Weekly ROC divides $261.76 of new net option cash flow by $104,821 of conservatively summed active-option collateral, including the same-day AMAT trade and counting the CSCO roll only once. The annualized figure is a simple 52-week extrapolation, not a forecast. TXN’s final premium was collected before this week, and unposted cash interest is excluded.

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This Week’s Opening Trades

DG and WMT remain open; AMAT opened and closed September 24. For CSCO, Fill is the replacement credit, Exit is the prior put’s closing debit, and Fee includes both current-week legs. Its $76.91 is a net roll credit, not realized P/L. The open covered-call rows show entry credits after fees, not realized profit.

Scroll to see all columns

YTD trade log | YTD cash log

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This Week’s Assignments

• None.

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Open Carryover Positions

• None. The September 25 TXN put expired and the September 25 CSCO put was rolled.

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Closed Carryover Positions

These positions opened before this week. Their closed P/L includes their original opening credits, even though those credits were received in earlier weeks.

• 1 x TXN 9/25 CSP @ $262.50 (expired worthless September 25, +$454.95 trade P/L; +$1,185.30 across the seven-leg chain).
• 1 x CSCO 9/25 CSP @ $109 (rolled September 24, -$213.09 trade P/L). Replacement: 1 x CSCO 10/2 CSP @ $109, opened for a $76.91 net roll credit.

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Current Holdings

• 100 shares DG @ $135.00 original cost, now $124.84 (IBKR). Stock P/L before premiums: -$1,016.00. Active 10/2 $135 covered call.
• 100 shares WMT @ $117.00 original cost, now $107.98 (IBKR). Stock P/L before premiums: -$902.00. Active 10/2 $117 covered call.
• 100 shares SMCI @ $50.00 original cost, $29.27 YTD starting mark, now $43.26 (A1). Stock P/L before premiums: -$674.00 since purchase, +$1,399.00 YTD.

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Trade executions are shared in the mLabs Trading Discord community.

Results are from the trading journal and include recorded trading fees, before personal taxes. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Short puts and assigned shares carry substantial downside risk.