Strike price selection is one of the 3-required skills when selling covered calls or cash-secured puts. This article will highlight the choices and rationale for our decisions when selling puts for World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) on 9/24/2018. Bullish price chart for WWE Option-selling lowers our cost-basis and therefore we make […]
VIX Covered Call Writing: Selling Options Against Market Volatility
Traditional covered call writing involves first buying a stock (or exchange-traded fund) and then selling a corresponding call option. The result of the initial trade is to generate cash flow from the option sale and lower our cost basis on the stock side. Based on member feedback, there has been a growing interest in writing […]
Protective Puts and the Collar Strategy: Selecting the Best Strike Prices/ Last Chance for Holiday Orders
Covered call writing, when combined with protective puts, is known as the collar strategy. The maximum gain is established by the short call strike while the maximum loss is defined by the long put strike. For example, if a stock is purchased for $48.00 per share and the $50.00 call is sold while the $45.00 […]
Rolling Down Our Put Positions: When and Why?
Rolling Down Our Put Positions: When and Why? When selling cash-secured puts, our breakeven stock price is the (out-of-the-money) strike price less the put premium. Our exit strategy guideline as to when to close the short put (buy back the put) is when share value declines to more than 3% below the strike price. […]
The Mysteries of a Put Sale
On 8/19/2017, Ron sent me an email detailing a cash-secured put trade he initiated in a virtual account. I saved the email to use in an article because I felt it would be instructive on several fronts. Ron’s trade with Abiomed, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABMD) 8/10/2017: Sell August 17 $155.00 put (sale price not […]
Writing Naked Calls on Poorly-Performing Stocks
Selling covered calls and cash-secured puts are the main strategies highlighted in our BCI community. Much of the information disseminated on the Blue Collar site, books and DVDs is based on member feedback, inquiries and comments. In September 2017, Marc sent me an email question about selling naked (without owning the underlying security before selling […]
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 […]
The Collar Strategy from a Delta Perspective
When covered call writing is combined with protective puts the strategy is known as the collar strategy. The short call places a ceiling on gains and the long put represents a floor protecting losses. The two option positions should result in a net credit. Typically, out-of-the-money calls and puts are selected. Covered call writing and […]
Arbitrage: Part II
In part I of this arbitrage series we defined arbitrage as the simultaneous purchase and sale of an asset to profit from a difference in the price. It is a trade that profits by exploiting the price differences of identical or similar financial instruments on different markets or in different forms. Arbitrage exists because of […]
Buying Back Put Options When Share Price Gaps Up: A Real-Life Example with AVGO
When selling cash-secured puts our position management skills include buying back the short puts under certain circumstances. These include situations when share price moves up or down dramatically. When share price declines below the breakeven, we start losing money. Our guideline is to buy back the sold put if share price declines by more than […]
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Mean Analyst Rating (MAR): A New Addition to Our Premium Reports
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An Annualized Return of 5000% and Feeling Miserable: Interpreting Our Covered Call Trades
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Ask Alan #156 – Should I Roll My Expiring Out-Of-The-Money Weekly Option?
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Strike Price Selection When Selling Cash-Secured Puts: A Real-Life Example with WWE
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VIX Covered Call Writing: Selling Options Against Market Volatility
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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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Alan Ellman Daniel, There certainly is no reason to panic (
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Daniel Alan How are you? Based on you experience, when
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Barry B Premium Members, This week’s Weekly Stock Scr
