When we sell in-the-money call options, we are generating initial time-value profit that meets our stated goals plus creating downside protective of that time-value profit in the form of intrinsic -value. The disadvantage of these options is that we do not benefit from share appreciation because of our contract obligation to sell at the lower […]
Risky Stocks Can Result in Challenging Decisions
Writing covered calls with high-volatility stocks will result in higher premiums. That’s the good news. These securities may also decline substantially below the strike price and cause option premium to pale in comparison to the share depreciation. That’s the bad news. What if these shares move up exponentially, leaving the strike deep in-the-money and we […]
Mid-Contract Unwind Exit Strategy at the End of a Contract
Exit strategies for covered call writing and sell cash-secured puts is one of the 3-required skills that must be mastered. The mid-contract unwind (MCU) exit strategy is used for covered calls when share price moves substantially above the strike price, leaving the strike deep in-the-money. One of the characteristics of a deep ITM strike is […]
20%/10% Guidelines for Covered Call Writing and Put-Selling: Same Name, Different Circumstances
Exit strategies for our covered call writing and put-selling portfolios allow us to mitigate potential losses and enhance gains to even higher levels. In my books and DVDs, I detail the 20%/10% guidelines as one of the exit strategies available to us for both strategies. Although the name is the same, the circumstances are different […]
Comparing the Cost-to-Close with Initial Trade Goal
When we enter our covered call trades, we make our stock and option selection based on our initial time-value return goal (2% – 4% for 1-month expirations in my case). If the strike moves deep in-the-money as share price accelerates, we may consider closing both legs of the trade or rolling the option out or […]
Covered Call Writing Quiz: Evaluating a Series of Trades
Managing our covered call positions is essential to our overall option-trading success. In July 2019, KA Lau shared with me a series of questions he developed based on a real-life trade. I felt that these were excellent educational questions and will now share them with the BCI community. I added 4 more questions for a […]
Should I Unwind My Covered Call Trade 1 Week Prior to Contract Expiration?: A Real-Life Example with Alibaba Group
Covered call writing exit strategies are critical to our overall success. There are times, however, when the best action is no action at all. On July 25th 2019, Rob shared with me a successful trade he executed and was considering closing 1 week prior to the 8/2/2019 expiration. For an answer, we need to turn […]
Rolling Decisions on Expiration Friday: A Real-Life Example with Veeva Systems
Position management is the 3rd required skill for our covered call writing and put-selling success. On 7/19/2019, Larry shared with me a series of trades he executed with Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE: VEEV). He astutely “hit a double” and was now looking to roll the option to the following month. Larry’s trades and inquiry (in […]
Evaluating Stock Purchase Price and Breakeven When Rolling Out-And-Up
When we write a covered call, our breakeven is stock purchase price – entire call premium. If we buy a stock for $48.00 and sell an option for $2.50, the breakeven is $45.50. In June 2019, John shared with me a series of trades he executed with Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE: PLNT) where he wrote […]
Is This Trade a Winner or a Loser?: A Real-Life Example with XLE
Covered call writers must understand and evaluate the success (or lack thereof) of our trades. Simply stated, are they winners or losers? In June 2019, Van shared with me trades he executed with the exchange-traded fund (ETF), Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLE). He was trying to categorize his trade as a winner or […]
