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 and enhanced income funds in October 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 October roll period. They outline their influence over the option pricing environment and help substantiate changing investor sentiments as characterized by specific market indicators.
Key Takeaways of the September 18 – October 16, 2026 Roll Period
Covered Call ETFs
The Roll Period Was a Tale of Two Halves: From September 18 to October 6 the S&P 500® and Nasdaq 100® returned 2.24% and 5.35%, respectively, driven by growth of their information technology sector constituencies. Encouraging economic developments included WTI crude oil prices falling 12.7%, to $89.44, as export flows through the Strait of Hormuz rose at the end of the third quarter to levels that surpassed their 2025 average. Declining yields at the short end of the Treasury curve also bolstered sentiment as a weaker-than-expected September nonfarm payrolls report led investors to rein in expectations for at least two rate hikes from the Federal Reserve by year-end 2026. All that changed in the later innings of the roll period, however, when a higher-for-longer rate outlook that was fueled by hot consumer and producer price reports contributed to widening corporate credit spreads. From October 6 to October 16, the S&P 500® and Nasdaq 100® fell -2.01% and -6.52%, respectively, ultimately producing a gain of 0.18% and a loss of -1.51% for the whole of the roll period.
The Broader Portfolio of 100% Covered Call ETFs Beat Their Reference Assets: Against the aforementioned flat-to-down performances of the large-cap S&P 500® and Nasdaq 100®, XYLD and QYLD outperformed by 0.07% and 1.24% over the roll period, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Russell 2000, and Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF, meanwhile, experienced uninspiring returns, as well, of 1.11%, -4.78%, and -0.99%, respectively. Small-cap stocks probably posted the widest losses as a function of upward trending interest rates. The Russell 2000 essentially displayed a downward trend for most of the monthly roll period. To that end, while DJIA and MLPD outperformed their reference assets by 0.46% and 1.24%, respectively. RYLD outperformed by 2.25%, losing only -2.53%.
Option Premiums Rebounded for QYLD and XYLD in Conjunction with Volatility: Heading into the roll period on September 18 equity volatility across the broader market was rather depressed. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) and the Cboe Nasdaq 100® Volatility Index (VXN) closed on September 18 at lows they had not witnessed since January and a consequence of that was QYLD and XYLD taking in some of the softest premiums either had collected in the last two years. As noted above, the funds were still able to outperform their respective reference assets in the ensuing roll period. That said, volatility reversed course heading into the October 16 roll date supporting the funds’ ability to collect higher premiums, month to month. With the VIX and VXN closing business on October 16 at 19.99 and 27.13, XYLD and QYLD collected option premiums of 1.51% and 2.37%.
Covered Call & Growth ETFs
Option Premiums Drove Outperformance for Our Index Based Covered Call & Growth Strategies: When the major domestic equity indices trend upward over the course of a roll period, the uncovered halves of XYLG, QYLG, RYLG, and DYLG get the opportunity to shine. Against flatter markets like that of the recent roll period the funds’ covered call option premiums more heavily show their worth. All four of these Covered Call & Growth ETFs trailed performance of their 100% covered counterparts. Year-to-date, however, these strategies have tracked their reference indexes much more closely, with the S&P 500®, Nasdaq 100®, Russell 2000, and Dow Jones Industrial Average up 12.89%, 16.16%, 10.83%, and 9.53%, while XYLG, QYLG, RYLG, and DYLG have risen 11.80%, 14.95%, 9.22%, and 9.10%, year to date through the end of the roll period, respectively.
Tech Specific Volatility Supported An Outsized October 16 Premium for TYLG: At 1.90% the premium that was collected by TYLG at the end of the recent roll period represents the second-largest in the fund’s history. TYLG continued to trail its reference index, the Technology Select Sector Index, year to date, with that index advancing 27.96% versus TYLG’s 23.81% total return. However, this takes into consideration the 32.89% advance that the index exhibited over the first five months of the year. Since peaking on June 2, 2026, the index has fallen -7.19% in value versus TYLG that was down only -0.70%.
Interest Rate Volatility Rose Sharply During the Roll Period: The ICE BofA MOVE Index (MOVE), which seeks to characterize rate volatility across the broader U.S. Treasury yield curve, hit a peak level of 113.6 on October 5. This is the second-highest peak that it has established so far in 2026, and it was fueled largely by rates at the long end of the curve rising sharply from late September into early October. During that time, WTI Crude Oil prices actually took a step back. However, sharply rising corporate bond supply seemed to add pressure to the appeal of U.S. Treasuries. A key inflection point was a 5-Year Treasury auction that took place on September 23, which cleared at a 20+ year high 5.033%. Illustrating the weak demand that seemed to be present for existing term premiums, volatility ensued. In this environment, the average weekly premium collected by TLTX, which writes calls on long-dated treasury instruments, was 0.41%.
Income EdgeSM ETFs
All fund return data is based on fund net asset value. The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance and distributions do not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Performance current to the most recent quarter- and month-end is available at XYLD, QYLD, QYLG, XYLG, MLPD, RYLG, RYLD, DYLG, DJIA, TYLG, EHCC,
