Monthly Covered Call Commentary: February 2026

The Global X Research Team is pleased to announce the release of its Monthly Covered Call Report, featuring the premium and distribution values attained by its roster of covered call funds in January of 2026. The key takeaways below, as well as those highlighted within the report, recap some of the most pivotal undertakings to have taken place across the markets during the January roll period. They outline their influence over the option pricing environment and help substantiate changing investor sentiments as characterized by specific market indicators.

February 2026 Covered Call Report – Key Takeaways

• During the monthly roll period for the Global X suite of covered call ETFs, which ran from December 19th, 2025 to January 16th, 2026, the equity rally that kicked off within the US in late November was maintained. Investors had a multitude of risk factors to take into consideration, not least of which included uncertainty about the state of domestic inflation, the health of the labor market, and international trade. Still, “risk-on” sentiment crept back in after certain segments of the market that were largely overshadowed in 2025 proved to be feature performers in this most recent roll period. Indeed, during the term the Russell 2000 index checked in with expansion of 6%.¹ Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Energy Index represented the best performer of S&P’s GICS sector indices, with a total return of 9.23% versus the S&P 500 Information Technology Index that was down 0.38%.² Large cap Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500, meanwhile, were up 0.72% and 1.62%, respectively.³ This took place despite the markets exhibiting little in terms of overall choppiness.
• At the onset of the roll period ending January 16th, digestion of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) December 10th quarter-point rate cut and the release of delayed inflation data in the wake of the government shutdown put the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) on the decline. The index would proceed to trend back positively as markets moved into the New Year, reflecting trepidations over Fed independence, geopolitical risk, and a looming Supreme Court battle over tariffs. That said, the index advanced off a 52-week low, and it proceeded to cap out at 15.86 to close the roll period.⁴
• Though volatility was diminished on a relative basis amongst US equities on the Global X Covered Call suite’s January 16th roll date, the premiums that the funds collected were still higher, month to month. This naturally reflects volatility being on a positive trajectory heading into the roll date, particularly within the tech sector. It also reflects, however, demand for call options on individual equities, which can be denoted by the Cboe Equity Put/Call ratio trading in the vicinity of an eight-month low.⁵ This measure of demand wasn’t quite as emphatic for index options, but the equity put/call ratio still does a good job of inferring bullish sentiment toward the market overall.