Put–call parity is a principle that defines the relationship between the price of European put options and European call options of the same stock, strike price, and expiration date. The formula can identify arbitrage opportunities where the simultaneous buying and selling of securities and options result in no-risk profit. I am writing this article in response to a number on […]
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 […]
Strike Selection Using Technical Analysis and Market Assessment
Stock and option selection are 2 of the 3-required skills essential to successful covered call writing (position management is the 3rd). There is no one factor that will dictate our choices but rather a mosaic of bits of information which will lead us to the best choices. In this article, I will discuss two of […]
Collar Calculations: Adding Protective Puts to our Covered Call Trades
Covered call exit strategies play a major role in mitigating losses in our BCI methodology. In most cases, we can keep losses to a minimum, turn losses into gains and enhance profits as well. Some covered call writers want the security of protecting against a catastrophic gap-down which can occur rarely. With the current market […]
Volatility and the Post-Crash Decade
For covered call writers and sellers of cash-secured puts, rising volatility has two faces. It is our friend in that our premiums will be higher as they are directly related to the implied volatility of the underlying securities. It is our enemy as we will be subjected to greater downside risk. So, which is it… […]
Technical Charts: A Picture is Worth 1000 Words- A Real-Life Example with The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ: WEN)
Technical analysis is one of the 3 screens we use for stock selection when selling options. The other two are fundamental analysis and common-sense principles (like minimum trading volume). In August 2019, Nick wrote to me about a trade opportunity he thought he missed with WEN. He attached a technical chart followed by a question. […]
Comparing Call and Put Strategies with Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: PCTY)
Covered call writing or selling cash-secured puts… which is the best strategy? Well, they both offer great opportunities to generate cash-flow in a low-risk manner. I favor the former in normal to bull market environments and the latter in bear and volatile markets. On June 24, 2019, PCTY passed our rigorous screening requirements to earn […]
Creating “Dividends” for Non-Dividend Stocks: A Real-Life Example with PAYC
Covered call writing can be beneficial to us in a variety of circumstances. This article will highlight how this strategy can be implemented to create a dividend-like cash flow for stocks that currently offer no dividend income. This can be particularly useful for those who will only purchase dividend stocks and miss out on other […]
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 […]
