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Establishing 84% Probability of Success Put Trades in Bear Markets

Selling deep out-of-the-money cash-secured puts in bear markets will provide us with additional protection to the downside in return for lower, but still significant, option returns. This article will highlight the use of Delta and implied volatility to establish a framework for executing such trades with n 84% probability of success.   What is Delta? […]

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How to Calculate Dividends into Our Covered Call Writing Calculations

Covered call writing is a low-risk, cash generating option-selling strategy. Premium is generated by undertaking the contractual obligation to sell our shares at a price (strike price) and date (expiration date) that we, the option sellers, determine. Frequently, dividend distributions represent an additional potential source of income. This article will use a real-life example with […]

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Estimating Our Breakeven Price Points When Establishing Our Poor Man’s Covered Call Trades: A Real-Life Example with Apple, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)

When initiating our Poor Man’s Covered Call (PMCC) trades, we can estimate our breakeven (BE) price points. It gets more complicated as more layers are added to the trades over the months and, perhaps, years that the trade continues. This article will detail the formula used to generate this BE price point and use a […]

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Analyzing a 3-Income Covered Call Writing Trade: A Real-Life Example with Ready Capital Corp. (NYSE: RC)

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 […]

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Review of Dividend Dates & Their Impact on Our Covered Call Trades

The main reason for early exercise of our covered call writing options relates to corporate dividends. The key date to be aware of is the ex-dividend date. This article will clarify and define the dates related to corporate dividends and also discuss an anomaly related to special dividends.   Early exercise of our covered call […]

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How to Enter and Archive Cash-Secured Put Trades Around an Earnings Report

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: […]

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How to Manage Cash-Secured Put Trades Around an Earnings Report: A Real-Life Example with Etsy, Inc. (Nasdaq: ETSY)

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 […]

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Calculating Realized Option & Unrealized Stock Covered Call Returns at the End of a Contract Cycle

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 […]

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Rolling-Out Poor Man’s Covered Call Trades: A Real-Life Example with Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG)

When the Poor Man’s Covered Call (PMCC) strategy is employed, the short call is the active leg of the trade. If a strike is expiring in-the-money (ITM), we can roll the short call to a later expiration date. This article will detail 2 possible rolling trades with GOOG, 1 for rolling-out to the same strike […]

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How to Use the Capital Adjustment Section of the Trade Management Calculator When Executing Multiple Exit Strategies in the Same Contract Cycle

Exit strategies for covered call writing and selling cash-secured parts are integral aspects of our trading system. It is critical to learn how to enter, calculate and archive these position management trades. This article will detail one example of this process using a real-life example with Etsy, Inc. (Nasdaq: ETSY) using 2 rolling-up put trades […]

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