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Which stocks are best for cash-secured puts?

The best stocks for cash-secured puts are ones you actually want to own, at a strike you'd happily pay, with a price your account can carry. If you'd be unhappy being assigned, it's the wrong stock.

Options guide · 8-minute read · Updated 2026-10-27

The short answer

A cash-secured put is a paid promise to buy 100 shares at the strike. So the best stock for one is simply a stock you'd like to own, at a price you'd like to pay. Busy options, a share price your cash can cover, and no earnings inside the trade come next.

If you only want the premium and not the shares, no stock is right. That's a common way put sellers get hurt.

The criteria

1. You want to own it. Not "wouldn't mind." Want. If assigned, you're a shareholder, maybe for a long time.
2. At the strike, it's a price you'd pay. Write the price before you look at premiums. See cash-secured put strike selection.
3. A business you'd hold after bad news. Profitable, sensible debt, easy to explain.
4. Busy options. Real Open interest near your strike, a tight spread, trading every day.
5. Cash your account can carry. The strike × 100 set aside, at about a fifth of the account or less.
6. No earnings inside the trade. A put sold into earnings is a bet on the result.

The "price I'd pay" test

Before you open the Options chain, answer one line:

"I'd be glad to buy 100 shares of this company at $___ and hold them."

Then look for a put at or below that price. If the only puts that pay anything are above your price, there's no trade today. That's fine. A limit order, or waiting, is also a choice.

This test does two jobs. It stops you chasing the premium, and it gives you a ready answer if you're assigned: you got the price you wanted.

Example stocks that fit (as of October 2026, illustrative only)

These are the kinds of established companies people often sell puts on to buy at a lower price. The list is illustrative, and no ticker here is a recommendation. No prices are given; check them yourself.

Several of these need a large cash set-aside for one put. If one doesn't fit your account, that's a reason to skip it, not to sell a put on a weaker, cheaper company. Our pages on stocks under $50 and stocks under $30 cover smaller accounts.

A worked example (an illustration, not a trade idea)

A made-up company, XYZ, trades at $80. You've written: "I'd be glad to own it at $72." Earnings are seven weeks away.

You sell a 30-day $72 put for $1.00 and collect $100. Your broker sets aside $7,200.

The top row is a 27% fall. You were assigned at your price and the stock kept going. That's still a loss of $1,300. The test doesn't stop that. What it does is make sure you're holding a company you chose, at a price you chose, so the next decision is calmer.

If XYZ drops to $58, the question becomes: would I still buy it here? If yes, you might sell a covered call at or above your $71 cost. If not, read when to stop wheeling a stock.

How this fits with the wheel

Selling puts is the first half of the wheel strategy. The stock you pick here is the stock you'll own when assigned, and the one you'll sell calls on next. So a put stock also has to pass the covered-call checks. See stocks for covered calls.

After a broad market drop, the list of puts that pass the "price I'd pay" test often grows. Our page on wheel candidates after a market drop covers how to use that without chasing.

What to do next:

1. Write five companies you'd like to own.
2. Next to each, write the price you'd be glad to pay.
3. Cross out any where that price × 100 is more than a fifth of your account.
4. For the rest, check the earnings date and the chain at your price.
5. Paper trade one put to expiry and note whether you'd have been happy if assigned.

Questions