Covered call writing exit strategies can involve trade adjustments over 1 or more expiration cycles. This article will analyze a series of trades shared with me by Ken, where the share price of IBKR declined after entering the trade and a decision to retain the shares for the next cycle and the (now) out-of-the-money call […]

Analyzing a Covered Call Trade Over 2 Expiration Cycles: A Rea-Life Example with Interactive Brokers Group (Nasdaq: IBKR)
Posted on May 20, 2023 by Alan Ellman in Covered Call Exit Strategies, Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution

Multiple Applications of the Mid-Contract Unwind (MCU) Exit Strategy: A Real-Life Example with Super Micro Computer, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMCI)
Posted on May 13, 2023 by Alan Ellman in Covered Call Exit Strategies, Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Stock Option Strategies
Covered call writing exit strategies allow us to mitigate trade losses and enhance trade profits. On 11/30/2022, Paul shares with me a series of trades he executed with SMCI where a trade turned against him, and he wasn’t sure how to enter it into the BCI Trade Management Calculator. Both legs of the covered call […]

Application of the 20%/10% Guidelines for ITM & OTM Strikes + Registration Form for Thursday’s Webinar
Posted on May 5, 2023 by Alan Ellman in Covered Call Exit Strategies, Exchange-Traded Funds, Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Stock Option Strategies
One of the key methods to partially automate our covered call writing exit strategy arsenal is to place buy-to-close (BTC), good until cancelled (GTC) limit orders to close our short calls based on our BCI 20%/10% guidelines. We instruct our broker to buy back the short call if the value reaches 20% (in the 1st […]

Analyzing a Defensive Turned Aggressive Covered Call Trade: A Real-Life Example with Select Sector SPDR Utilities (NYSE: XLU)
Posted on April 29, 2023 by Alan Ellman in Covered Call Exit Strategies, Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Stock Option Strategies
When we craft our covered call trades, we must decide if a defensive (in-the-money or ITM calls) or aggressive (out-of-the-money or OTM) position should be established. We base this on overall market assessment, chart technical pattern and personal risk-tolerance. We should also have a plan in place should share value move up or down significantly […]

Understanding the Math When Rolling ITM Covered Calls Out-And-Up: A Real-Life Example with Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLU) + Save the Date May 11th
Posted on April 15, 2023 by Alan Ellman in Covered Call Exit Strategies, Exchange-Traded Funds, Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution
All strategies, including covered call writing and selling cash-secured puts, have their pros and cons. The same holds true for the exit strategies associated with them. Several of our members have written to me over the years regarding a “can’t lose” portfolio overwriting strategy that will return 1% – 2% per-month by selling out-of-the-money (OTM) […]

How to Record & Calculate ITM Covered Call Trades that Become OTM Trades
Posted on April 8, 2023 by Alan Ellman in Covered Call Exit Strategies, Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Stock Option Strategies
To properly analyze our covered call writing and put-selling trades, we must accurately record each step of the trades such that initial and final results are accurate. In this article, a hypothetical covered call trade which starts out in-the-money (ITM) but ends up out-of-the-money (OTM) at contract expiration will be analyzed. The BCI Trade Management […]

Analyzing a 3-Income Covered Call Writing Trade: A Real-Life Example with Ready Capital Corp. (NYSE: RC)
Posted on February 25, 2023 by Alan Ellman in Covered Call Exit Strategies, Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Stock Option Strategies
Covered call writing with out-of-the-money (OTM) strikes provides the opportunity for 2 incomes streams, 1 from option premium and the other from share appreciation from current market value up to the OTM strike. Many of our eligible securities also generate quarterly dividends and trades can be established with 3-income stream potential. Such a trade was […]

How to Enter and Archive Cash-Secured Put Trades Around an Earnings Report
Posted on February 11, 2023 by Alan Ellman in Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Put-selling, Stock Option Strategies
In last week’s segment, I posted a series of cash-secured put trades with Etsy, Inc. (Nasdaq: ETSY). Some trades were executed before an earnings report and a few post-earnings. This article will detail how to accurately enter and archive all trades using the BCI Trade Management Calculator. Stage 1: Pre-earnings report (ER) trades 7/18/22: […]

How to Manage Cash-Secured Put Trades Around an Earnings Report: A Real-Life Example with Etsy, Inc. (Nasdaq: ETSY)
Posted on February 4, 2023 by Alan Ellman in Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Trade Execution, Put-selling, Stock Option Strategies
When selling covered calls or cash-secured put options, we must avoid the risk of earnings reports. This is an important rule of the BCI methodology. This article will detail how a series of put trades were managed during the August 2022 contracts from 7/18/2022 through 7/29/2022, demonstrating pre- and post-earnings report (ER) trades. Note that […]

Calculating Realized Option & Unrealized Stock Covered Call Returns at the End of a Contract Cycle
Posted on January 28, 2023 by Alan Ellman in Covered Call Exit Strategies, Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Stock Option Strategies
Accurately calculating our covered call writing returns at the end of each contract cycle can be uncomplicated in some situations and more challenging in others. If we buy a stock at $48.00 and sell the $50.00 call at $1.50 and we allow exercise of an ITM strike (shares sold at $50.00 for a $2.00 per-share […]
Podcast
- 104. Special 1 Time Dividends and Contract Adjustments
- 103. The Collar Strategy Using Long-Term Put Expirations
- 102. Analyzing Market Assessment Based on Portfolio Setup
- 101. Covered Call Writing: "Hitting a Double" on the Last day of a Contract
- 100. Analyzing LEAPS for The Poor Man's Covered call Strategy (PMCC)
- 99. Anatomy of a Reverse Stock Split
- 98. Analyzing LEAPS Options for the Poor Man's Covered Call
- 97. Managing Our Poor Man's Covered Call Trades When Share Price Drops Substantially
- 96. Protecting Our Covered Call Trades: Protective Puts and In-the-Money Strikes
- 95. Covered Call Writing to Generate Premium and Dividend Income
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- Analyzing a Covered Call Trade Over 2 Expiration Cycles: A Rea-Life Example with Interactive Brokers Group (Nasdaq: IBKR)
- Multiple Applications of the Mid-Contract Unwind (MCU) Exit Strategy: A Real-Life Example with Super Micro Computer, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMCI)
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