Option selection is the second required skill when selling call and put options. On 9/26/2017, George shared with me a trade he executed with Biogen, Inc. (BIIB). An in-the-money strike was sold and share price immediately accelerated. George was inquiring about how deep in-the-money (ITM) the strike prices should be set. George’s initial trade […]
Inverse Exchange-Traded Funds versus Shorting Stocks
In bear markets, one of the tools we can benefit from with our covered call writing and put-selling strategies is inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs). An inverse ETF is also known as a short ETF or a bear ETF. These securities are constructed to return the exact opposite performance of a certain benchmark or index. Many […]
Reasons for Early Exercise
Our covered call writing and put-selling options can be exercised at any time from the moment we sell these options until 4 PM ET on expiration Friday. This is the definition of American Style Options, the type associated with our stocks and exchange-traded funds. Early exercise (prior to contract expiration) is rare because option holders […]
Special 1-Time Cash Dividends and Strike Prices of American Depository Receipts (ADRs)
Contract adjustments for covered call writing and put-selling are not uncommon events and we must be prepared when they occur. From time to time a certain corporate event will take place that will alter the terms of an equity options contract, making it different from the original standardized terms such as the number of deliverable […]
Hitting a Double with News-Related Market Overreactions
Stock selection, option selection and position management are the 3 required skills for covered call writing and put-selling. One of our go-to exit strategies is “hitting a double” where we buy back the original option sold if share price declines and then re-sell that same option as share price recovers. Stock prices whipsaw and that […]
Protecting Unrealized Profits When Share Price Accelerates
Covered call writing dilemmas can frequently result from positive circumstances. In August 2017, Vincent shared a trade he executed where an out-of-the-money strike was sold and share price had moved up significantly and was approaching the strike price. This means that Vincent realized an initial option premium return plus had an unrealized share appreciation component […]
Stock Splits Can Cause Panic: Relax, All is Well
You write a covered call on a stock trading at $165.00 and sell the $170.00 call option. A few days later, your stock is trading at $28.00 and the strike you sold no longer appears on option chains. What do we do? Panic? Curl up into the fetal position and feel sorry for ourselves? Research […]
Seeking the Highest Option Premiums is a Losing Strategy
One of the common mistakes made by covered call writers and put-sellers is to make investment decisions based primarily on the highest premium returns. Certainly, we all want to generate the highest levels of success but only when factoring in the risk we will be incurring. This article will look at high premium returns from […]
Rolling Option Considerations: A Real-Life Example with BEAT
Exit Strategies for covered call writing is the third required skill for successful implementation of this strategy (stock selection and option selection are the first two). This is also known as position management. One of the most common situations we face each month is when the strike price we initially sold is expiring in-the-money (stock […]
Setting Stop Loss Orders for Covered Call Writing
After entering our covered call writing trades, we immediately go into position management mode. For most of us who started our stock investment careers buying and selling stock, this may include setting stop loss orders to mitigate losses when share price declines. For example, if we purchase a stock at $40.00, we may set a […]
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The New Stock Market- Algorithmic and High Speed Trading
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Options That Expire Weekly and Conventional Expiration Cycles
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Why the 3% Guideline Applies to Puts but Not to Call Options
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Earnings Pre-Announcements Explained and Categorized
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Tax Implications of Writing Covered Calls against Long-Term Holdings
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Jay Hi Joanna, Welcome if new here! You will find m
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MarioG Found some interesting web sites this week. Com
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Joanna I'm planning on taking my first shot at cover
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