Latest Insights in Stock Market Investing
Protective Puts and the Collar Strategy: Selecting the Best Strike Prices/ Last Chance for Holiday Orders
Covered call writing, when combined with protective puts, is known as the collar strategy. The maximum gain is established by the short call strike while the maximum loss is defined by the long put strike. For example, if a stock is purchased for $48.00 per share and...
Understanding the “Paid-Up” Risk When Rolling Out-And-Up: A Real-Life Example with FIVE
One of our covered call writing exit strategies when the strike is in-the-money on expiration Friday is rolling out-and-up. This is when we buy back the near-month call (buy-to-close) and sell the next month's higher strike. There are times when share appreciation has...
“Hitting a Double” Using a Lower Strike Price
One of the exit strategies for covered call writing that allows us to enhance portfolio returns is known in the BCI community as "hitting a double". We implement this position management technique when option value meets our 20%/10% guidelines. The initial short call...
Multi-Leg Option Trades: Understanding Calculations and Results
Covered call writing involves a minimum of 2 legs: we are long the stock (own the stock) and short the option (sold the option). There are many times when we employ the position management skill and options are bought back and new options sold or our underlyings are...
Evaluating an Initial Covered Call Writing Portfolio
Setting up our covered call writing and put-selling portfolios requires common sense analysis once our watch lists have been established. Considerations include proper stock and industry diversification, appropriate cash allocation to each position and. strike...
Price Charts Tell a Story and Provide Guidance in Formulating Our Investment Strategies
Technical analysis is one of the critical tools available to us in selecting the best stocks for our option-selling strategies. Price charts are much more than a sequence of dots and lines...they tell a story about a company which, with proper research, ultimately...
After-Hours Bid – Ask Spreads Can Be Deceiving
One of the BCI guidelines for selling covered call and cash-secured put options is that we require a bid-ask spread of $0.30 or less and/or an open interest of 100 contracts or more. Typically, options with large open interest will also be associated with smaller...
Dow 30 Stocks and Covered Call Writing: Implementing the Premium Blue Chip Report
The risk inherent in covered call writing and put-selling is related to price decline in the underlying security. Investors with low-risk tolerance may turn to blue chip stocks which have proven track records of being reliable, cash-rich securities that frequently...
Increasing Capital Gains When Selling Stock: Another Use for Covered call Writing
Covered call writing is a low-risk option-selling strategy typically used to generate monthly cash flow. When we capture call premium into our brokerage accounts, we are lowering our cost basis thereby increasing the opportunities for successful trades. This strategy...
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Our Journey and Mission
The Blue Collar Investor was founded with a simple mission: to empower everyday individuals with the knowledge to invest wisely in the stock market. Our blog focuses on demystifying stock options, providing readers with the tools they need to succeed. We believe that anyone can learn to invest effectively, regardless of their background or experience.
Our story began when our founder Dr. Alan Ellman, realized the lack of accessible resources for average investors. Determined to bridge this gap, we created a platform that offers comprehensive guides, expert tips, and real-world strategies. Today, The Blue Collar Investor is a trusted resource for thousands of readers seeking to enhance their financial literacy and achieve their investment goals.

