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Market Volatility and Our Option-Selling Trades: Using the VIX to Achieve Higher Returns

Options trading basics teaches us that the VIX or CBOE Volatility Index reflects the market’s expectation of the upcoming 30-day volatility. It measures market risk and is also known as […]

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Buyers Have Rights, Sellers Have Obligations: Covered Call Writing in a Nutshell

Covered call writers get paid cash when selling call options. Call buyers pay cash to own the options. This article will highlight the reasons options are bought and sold as […]

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Ask Alan

Ask Alan #167 What is “Seeking Alpha?”

Alan answers a question posed by Mary, who asks: Alan,Alan, I follow the site Seeking Alpha as well as your BCI site. Can you give your thoughts on how the […]

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calculating covered call writing returns

Generating 2% – 4% in Bull Markets: How to Take Advantage of Out-Of-The-Money Strikes

The 3 required skills for covered call writing and selling cash-secured puts are stock selection, option selection and position management. This article will use real-life examples highlighting the first 2 […]

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contract adjustments and covered call writing

Spin-offs and How they Impact Option Chains and Calculations

Corporate events can impact our covered call writing and put-selling positions in many ways. In today’s article we will focus on spin-offs and how to read an options chain after the […]

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covered call writing during earnings season

How to Use Weeklys and the Premium Stock Reports for Covered Call Writing During Earnings Season

One of the three required skills for covered call writing and put-selling is the selection of the underlying security. Along with this we also must avoid quarterly earnings reports. Since […]

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2016 New Year’s Greeting & Resolutions from The Blue Collar Investor

Alan Ellman reviews his resolutions and the positives for BCI, and continues on towards expectations for 2016: ” This year’s resolution is being thankful for all the support of the […]

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Emergency Management Report: Dealing with Volatile and Bearish Markets:Re-Publication

I am re-publishing this article due to the extreme nature of market behavior this week, something we have come to experience periodically. It is important to re-act non-emotionally until our […]

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option-selling decisions based on implied volatility

Implied Volatility of ETFs and our Covered Call Writing and Put-Selling Decisions

Covered call writers or cash-secured put sellers who use ETFs (as opposed to individual stocks) tend to be novice put writers, more conservative investors, or have limited funds or time. […]

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commissions for covered call writing and put-selling

Evaluating Brokerages And Comparing Their Commissions

Options trade executions include a discussion of the levels of trading approval needed to use various options strategies. You will recall that these defined levels will vary slightly from one […]

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