I’m back for another weekly post part of my BORING CSPs series that I’ve been running and publicly logging weekly since Spring 2025, using real capital and real risk. I appreciate everyone who’s been following along!

If you just care about numbers, and want to move on, I'm sitting at +11.17% YTD with a max drawdown of 9.92% deploying an average of $82.5k a week. Since inception (11 months), I'm sitting at +35.33% with that same max drawdown. A more detailed YTD snapshot is attached at the end of the post...

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I'm up 11.17% on deployed capital, $9,073 in net P/L on a $147K account. My median weekly deployed capital is only $81,200. 1/2 of my money has been sitting in cash earning 4%+ in money market.

I'm not trying to beat the market on raw returns. I'm generating consistent income while keeping a big chunk of my money on the sidelines, ready to deploy when everyone is in shambles. And when things eventually do get ugly (they always do), I won't be fully invested at the top. Do yourself a favor and ask those who chase juicy premiums what their max drawdown was this year. 30%? 45%? Higher?

This post is a full breakdown of the YTD performance of the BORING PUTS strategy through May 31, 2026. Every trade, every number, every ticker. The full trade log is downloadable at the bottom if you want to verify anything.

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The Strategy

If you've been following me for a while, you already know... but if not, I just sell CSP's on boring, profitable companies. Get assigned sometimes. Sell covered calls when you do. Sometimes collect premium and dividends while you wait. That's it.

No 0 DTE /r/wallstreetbets highlights, no meme's, no 3x leveraged ETF's, no fat premium juicers. Just large-cap names with ER beats, strong balance sheets, and liquid options chains. I don't stress assignments because when those happen, I'm just holding shares of a good business and sometimes getting paid to wait.

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YTD 2026

Metric	Value
Net P/L	$9,073.50 (+11.17%)
Realized Income	$8,451.20
Premiums	$6,100.88
Stock P/L	$1,100.00
Interest	$955.32
Dividends	$295.00
Trades	106
Sharpe Ratio	1.26
Sortino Ratio	1.94
Max Drawdown	-9.92%
Annualized Yield	27.6%
Avg Weekly ROC	0.53%
Avg Per-Trade ROC	0.46%
Median Weekly Deployed	$81,200
Capital Deployed	$41,670 (28%)
Current Cash	$105,379 (72%)
Total Capital	$147,049
SPY Return	+10.93%
SPY Annualized	+26.96%
SPY Max Drawdown	-9.32%

The +11.17% return is on median deployed capital of $81,200 plus dividends & interest, not on the full $147K account.

When the market was in shambles (Hormuz, TACO, etc.), I wasn't sweating a fully invested portfolio. I was sitting in a decent amount of cash earning 4%+ in money market while waiting.

The max drawdown of -9.92% happened during the QCOM saga. I got assigned at $167.50 and $160, watched it drop to $124, and sat through $7,900 in unrealized losses before eventually wheeling out with $2,900 in profit. Wrote a full breakdown of that trade on my blog and in several subs. That was the hardest stretch so far, but it's also the best proof of concept. The wheel works if you trust the business and stay patient.

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What I'm Trading

Look at the YTD ticker list. These aren't speculative names and they won't offer juicy premiums:

YTD Top Symbols by P/L:

Ticker	Net P/L
QCOM	$2,889
LRCX	$988
NVDA	$791
GOOG	$654
DG	$559
HPE	$272
NEE	$212
AA	$209
DAL	$191

QCOM was the biggest YTD earner at $2,889. Most of that came from the full wheel completing itself. I was underwater for months, grinding CC premium week after week, sometimes earning pennies, collecting dividends, and in late April it finally ripped through my strikes and I got called away above cost on both lots. A long, boring grind that paid off. RIP to those selling CC's under their cost basis. That's the risk you take when doing that.

LRCX has been the other standout at $988. The first trade I bought back next day for a quick $225. The second is a $260 put still open, sitting at +$763 in premium.

NVDA is at $791 YTD. A lot of that was CC management on assigned shares. Some of those individual CC trades had to be rolled (after the stock ripped), but the net across all NVDA activity this year is still solidly positive.

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Why Boring Works

I see posts every week from people asking "what should I sell puts on?" and the top answers are always stuff like SOFI, HIMS, MARA, RIOT, IONQ, or whatever WSB and X is pumping that week.

Those names offer fat premiums. But the premium is fat for a reason. The market is telling you this thing could move 15% in either direction next week. And when it does, you're stuck with shares of a company that might not even be profitable, trading at 200x revenue, with a questionable balance sheet.

The people wheeling high-beta junk collected fat premium in January and then spent the next four months bagholding through a 30-40% drawdown (or buying back at a large loss) on names that don't recover the way a QCOM or NVDA does.

Meanwhile I'm sitting here with QCOM, NVDA, GOOG, WMT, XOM on my trade log. Companies that recover. Companies that pay dividends (except NVDA's measly $0.01) while you wait. Companies where the wheel actually works because the business isn't broken when the stock is down.

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When I Don't Trade

This might be the most important part of the whole strategy. There were multiple stretches this year where I did almost nothing. Zero new positions. Just sat on my hands and waited.

When breadth is bad, I don't open new risk. The hardest part of selling premium isn't picking the right strike. It's knowing when to not sell at all.

Look at the monthly trade counts YTD:

Month	Trades	Net P/L
January	43	$2,099
February	13	$1,575
March	27	$489
April	13	$1,046
May	10	$1,526

January was busy, the market was cooperating and I was actively managing QCOM and NVDA positions. February I pulled way back to 13 trades. March had 27 trades but most were small CC management on existing positions, grinding $20-$50 per round. April, 13 trades again. May, only 10 trades in the entire month.

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Where Things Stand Now

As of May 31:

• $9,074 net P/L YTD (+11.17% on deployed capital)
• 2 holdings: 100 shares DG, 100 shares SMCI
• 2 open trades: LRCX 6/5 $260 CSP, SMCI 6/5 $60 CC
• $105,379 cash across all accounts (72% of capital)
• $147,049 total capital
• $81,200 median weekly deployed

YTD portfolio snapshot through May 30, 2026

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The Bigger Picture: 11 Months In

For context, this strategy has been running since June 16, 2025. Here's the inception-to-date snapshot:

Metric	Value
Net P/L	$28,687.39 (+35.33%)
Realized Income	$30,798.76
Premiums	$22,216.39
Stock P/L	$5,000.00
Interest	$2,547.76
Dividends	$1,034.61
Total Trades	268
Unique Tickers	45
Sharpe Ratio	2.13
Sortino Ratio	3.41
Max Drawdown	-9.93%
Annualized Yield	37.2%
Avg Weekly ROC	0.71%
Avg Per-Trade ROC	0.54%
SPY Return (same period)	+25.52%
SPY Annualized	+26.84%
SPY Max Drawdown	-10.54%
SPY Sharpe	1.64
SPY Sortino	2.40

A Sharpe above 2 over 11 months is the number I care about the most. It means the returns aren't coming from wild swings or getting lucky on a couple huge trades. It's consistent, boring, repeatable income.

Inception-to-date portfolio snapshot (~11 months)

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STAY BORING my friends!

Download Full Trade Log (CSV)

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UPDATE: Lots of critical feedback about barely beating SPY 5 months into the year which is somewhat of a fair point. My questions to those who share the same thought:

1. Before this period started, would you have confidently put 100% of the same capital into SPY and held it the whole time?

2. Are you judging the strategy based on what was knowable at the time, or based on the best-looking outcome after the fact?

3. If SPY had gone flat or dropped 10–15%, would you still be saying buy-and-hold was obviously the better choice?

4. Would you rather see transparent updates when the strategy is only even with SPY, or only see posts after someone has huge gains?

5. If the critique is "you could have bought SPY," where was that call at the beginning of the period, before the outcome was known?

6. What are your returns YTD, 1Y, and max drawdown during those periods?

I closed 4 short options early again this week at 0.05 (2 in another account not shown). Still trying to get into the habit of taking profit and risk off early.

This time I actually put in GTC order right after opening, feels good 👍 😌

I will post a separate comment with a link to the detail behind each option sold this week.

After week 40, the average premium per week is $825 with an annual projection of $42,900.

All things considered, the portfolio is up $42,536 (+9.43%), on the year (S&P 500: +12.81% | Nasdaq: +16.99%). Additionally, the trailing 1-year performance is up $23,004 (+4.92%); for comparison the S&P 500 is +15.00% and the Nasdaq is +19.03% over the same period. This is the overall profit and loss and includes options and all other account activity.

Annual results:
• 2023 up $65,403 (+41.31%) | S&P 500: +26.3% | Nasdaq: +43.4%
• 2024 up $64,610 (+29.71%) | S&P 500: +25.0% | Nasdaq: +28.6%
• 2025 up $111,496 (+34.52%) | S&P 500: +17.9% | Nasdaq: +20.4%

3-Year Cumulative (2023–2025):
• r/ExpiredOptions: +146.6% ($241,509)
• S&P 500: +86.1% (+60.4% behind)
• Nasdaq: +122.0% (+24.5% behind)

Unrealized G&L (options):
• YTD: $-15,614.00
• 1 Month: $-36,758.00
• 1 Week: $-1,593.00

Realized P&L (options):
• YTD: $78,892.00
• 1 Month: $17,603.00
• 1 Week: $7,183.00

All options sold are backed by cash, shares, or LEAPS. I do not sell on margin, nor do I sell naked options.

All options and profits stay in the account with few exceptions. This is not my full time job, although I wish it was. I still grind on a 9-5.

My $600 weekly contribution streak is at 9 weeks. I have been contributing as much as possible since 2015 when I started with $50. The reason my streak is low is because I put the contributions on hold for about 2 months to adjust for expenses outside the portfolio.

The portfolio is comprised of 99 unique tickers, up from 98 last week. These 99 tickers have a value of $496k. I also have 194 open option positions, up from 193 last week. The options have a total value of -$10k. The total of the shares and options is $486k. The next goal on the "Road to" is Half a Million.

I'm currently utilizing $34,200 in cash secured put collateral, down from $34,850 last week. In addition, I hold $2,738 in cash, bringing the total cash position to $36,938. I withdrew $2,000 on 9/11/26. I don't plan on replacing it, but will continue the $600 per week contributions.

2025 through 2028 LEAPS
In addition to the CSPs and covered calls, I purchase LEAPS. These act as collateral to sell covered calls against. You may have heard of poor man's covered calls (PMCC).

See r/ExpiredOptions for a detailed spreadsheet update on all LEAPS positions including P/L for each individual position.

LEAPS note 1: the 2025 LEAPS expired 1/17/25. They were up $36,440 overall with a 233.74% increase. The major drivers were AMZN and CRWD.

LEAPS note 2: After holding for 2 years, I exercised an AMZN $80 strike from 2023 up +$11,395 (+463.21%) and CRWD $95 strike from 2023, up +$21,830 (+663.53%)

LEAPS note 3: Purchased 1/16/26 CRWD LEAPS for $8,230.03 on 1/17/24. I sold this LEAPS on 6/5/25 for $21,659 for a realized profit of $13,428.97 (+163.18%)

Total premium by year:
• 2023 $23,132 in premium
• 2024 $47,640 in premium
• 2025 $68,319 in premium
• 2026 $33,366 YTD
• Average $46,364/year (completed years)

Premium by month (2026):
• January $3,334
• February $3,625
• March $4,196
• April $5,593
• May $3,752
• June $3,497
• July $3,593
• August $3,741
• September $1,768
• October $267
• Average $3,337/month

I am over $174k in total options premium, since 2021. I average roughly $34 per option sold. I have sold over 5,100 options. I have been able to increase the premiums on an annual basis and I will attempt to keep this upward trend going forward.

Strategy:
The underlying strategy is buy and hold. I also use simple 1-legged options to supplement that strategy. Options have somewhat of a learning curve, but I believe that most people can supplement their investments using simple options with careful risk management.

I sell options on a weekly basis. I prefer cash secured puts and covered calls. I rarely close early, prefer rolling when needed, and let time decay do the heavy lifting while I stay focused on quality companies, patience, and consistency over hype. My goal is consistency in option premium revenue. I am building an income stream that will continue long into retirement.

Spreadsheets:
Unfortunately, I no longer provide spreadsheets. I received too many follow ups about formatting, pivot tables, compatibility etc. I think tracking is very important, but I post to discuss investing and options, not to provide tech support for Excel. I do appreciate the interest in my tracking methods.

Software:
I captured the screen shots from a proprietary software platform I built to track, analyze, and manage my options strategies.

Commissions:
I use Robinhood as a broker and they do not charge explicit commissions, though there is no free lunch — they earn revenue through Payment for Order Flow (PFOF), which can mean slightly less optimal fills. For my style of selling options and not chasing prices, the tradeoff is acceptable. There is also a small regulatory fee of approximately $0.03–$0.04 per contract (FINRA TAF, OCC clearing, and exchange fees combined).

The premiums have increased significantly as my experience has expanded over the last three years.

Make sure to post your wins. I look forward to reading about them!

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. This information is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Trading options involves significant risk.