Assignment is the point where the wheel changes gear — you stop holding cash and start holding shares. Here's exactly what happens.
When a put expires in the money
You're assigned 100 shares per contract at the strike price. You keep the premium regardless.
At the next weekday morning check, the system closes the option in your records, notes the premium as realized profit, and opens an equity position at the strike price. That strike becomes your cost basis.
Nothing is required from you. Your brokerage handles the assignment itself; the system reconciles it the following morning.
Then it sells covered calls
On the next Friday entry run, the system sells a call against your shares — same delta and DTE targets as your put entries. No additional buying power is committed, because the shares themselves cover the call.
Calls are sized against shares this system tracks, not everything in your account. If you hold shares of the same company bought elsewhere, the system won't write calls against those.
The cost basis floor
If Don't Sell Call Unless Strike Is Above Entry is on — it is by default — calls are only sold above your weighted-average cost basis. This means shares called away are never sold at a loss on the stock itself.
The trade-off matters. If the stock falls well below your basis, no acceptable strike exists and the system sells nothing on that symbol. You hold the shares and collect no premium until the price recovers or you change the setting.
This is the most common reason a wheel position goes quiet after assignment.
When shares are called away
If a call expires in the money, your shares are sold at the strike. The morning check records the premium and closes the equity position, oldest lots first, with the realized gain or loss on each.
You're back to cash on that symbol, and the following Friday a new put is sold. The cycle restarts.
If you trade the shares yourself
The system's assignment process is authoritative for shares it tracks. If you sell assigned shares yourself, do it knowing the system may have a covered call open against them — selling the shares leaves that call uncovered, which is a materially different risk. Close the call first.
Common questions
Why am I holding shares I didn't buy? A put was assigned. That's the wheel working as designed. Check your closed trades for the put and the premium collected.
Why isn't it selling calls on my shares? Most likely the cost basis floor — the stock is below your basis and no strike qualifies. Check the execution history.
Can I stop it selling calls? Turn the system off, or remove that symbol from your approved list. Neither closes what's already open.
What if I don't want the shares? Sell them yourself. The system will return that symbol to selling puts once it's flat — so if you don't want to own it at all, remove it from your approved symbols too.
