About

Shows current app version information. The about screen also allows the user to point YieldGen to a pre-release / bug-fix server; this should only be done when working on a specific issue with YieldGen support.

Show how-to

Replays the Quick Start Guide displayed at first login.

Sign out

Signs out of YieldGen on this device.

Policies and diagnostic log

Access logs from here to report an issue to YieldGen support.

"Copy recent log" copies about the last 35 lines. "Copy full log" copies the full amount held in memory, about 500 lines. Logs do not include passwords.

To troubleshoot an issue: clear the log, reproduce the issue, then email a description, along with the text copied from the log, to support@yieldgen.com.

Color theme

Light, dark, or the device system setting. Appearance does not change calculations.

Default initial view

Open the app on the all-accounts summary, or on the portfolio summary for one account.

Show zero-balance accounts

Off by default. When off, linked accounts with no balance are hidden from the all-accounts summary and from the preferred initial account specified above.

Configure Broker Connections

Opens the brokerage list, which displays the supported brokers along with key details of capabilities each broker supports for 3rd party apps such as YieldGen.

Use this page to link, reauthorize or delete broker connections established for this YieldGen account. You can have multiple brokers (and multiple accounts per broker) connected to the app simultaneously, though most app functionality is confined to one active account. A notable exception to this last point is the performance report triggered from the Portfolio Summary screen. This report will operate on the combined history of potentially multiple accounts specified by the user, but only accounts for which the broker provides full transaction history to YieldGen (this is one of the capabilities called out in this broker settings page).

Price and yield

Controls how quote information sourced from the marketplace is displayed within YieldGen. Mid uses each option’s bid/ask midpoint. Bid/Ask by leg uses the bid when receiving premium and the ask when paying it. This affects only displayed prices and yields before a trade. A limit order still uses the limit price you enter (since bid/ask width can be very large for some listed stock options, many investors prefer to submit limit orders for these trades, to avoid getting a poor market price resulting from the large bid/ask width). A market order will of course fill at the market price (which in principle should be close to the appropriate bid or ask price).

Cash-equivalent yield

Annual yield on the interest-bearing cash equivalent product used in this account. If a recognized cash-equivalent product is present in the account, its live yield is obtained from the broker or marketplace where available, but can be overridden. Otherwise please enter the instrument and the annual yield. All yields displayed in YieldGen are "collateral aware", which means they include estimated interest from any collateral (if any) that's eligible to be in an interest-bearing product rather than zero-interest cash. This eligibility varies by broker, user, account type, and even trade structure, but you don't need to figure out these rules; YieldGen knows these rules, and they're reflected appropriately in all calculated yields.

Exercise probability source

For any option viewed in the Detail screen, YieldGen displays five different exercise probabilities using five slightly different methods. Separately, there are a few places in YieldGen where a probability-weighted value (or a probability itself) is displayed or used, but the space doesn't easily accommodate displaying all five methods alongside each other. This user setting controls which of the five methods is used in those places where only one fits easily on the screen.

Exposure color scales

Left and right colors for the option scale and the stock scale in the Exposures screen. The numeric legend is not affected by this color choice.

Stress test

Definition of the stock-price shock and the implied-volatility shock applied simultaneously to all positions for the stress-test P&L view (a "size-by" setting) used in the Exposures screen. E.g., a +50 volatility shock changes a 40% implied volatility to 60% for the scenario purpose.

Beta benchmark

The index used for every beta on the Watchlist: S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Russell 2000, or MSCI Emerging Markets.

AI analyst

Provider and model used by the AI assistance buttons (located on the Detail, Watchlist, and Option Chain screens).

Option chain range

Sets low and high strikes desired for option chains (as a percent of the current stock price), as well as how many months of expirations to show. Set separately for puts and calls.

Liquidity markers

Sets the cutoffs for deciding whether an option in the Option Chain is displayed with a yellow "liquidity warning", a red "poor liquidity" marker, or nothing.

Performance report, monthly premium income goal

Optional target for premium dollars in a calendar month, shown on the Performance screen as progress toward that month’s goal. Leave blank for no goal. It does not change trade calculations.

Opportunity cost in recovery

An optional annual charge on cash tied up until recovery is complete. When included, the recovery target increases by this rate over time, including through a contemplated call expiration. Some investors may want to include this to enforce good recovery discipline when the recovery takes a long time to accomplish.

Original sold-put premium in recovery

Controls whether to "credit" the recovery effort on assigned shares with the original premium received for the put option whose exercise led to this assignment.

OFF (default): the recovery target on assigned shares is simply the strike price that was exercised. ON: the recovery target starts at the exercised strike, minus the premium received (this matches how the broker computes unit share cost, or basis, for tax purposes).

YieldGen defaults this to "OFF", since the premium received on the original put option was already counted as profit (yield) in the account when the put option was first sold.

Some wheel traders like to view the pledging of collateral for a sold put option as being similar to lending out money for high yield, where the option premium received is like the interest on the "loan", and the pledged collateral is like the principal surrendered (temporarily, you hope) when disbursing the loan to the borrower. In this analogy, being exercised on the option is the equivalent of the borrower defaulting on repaying the principal (i.e., instead of getting the cash-like collateral back, the investor gets shares of stock). When viewed this way, the disciplined wheel investor will seek to recover the full strike price on assigned shares, not strike minus original premium received.

Delete account

Permanently removes the YieldGen login and stored app data. Brokerage accounts are not closed. Password confirmation is required.