beginners corner
Tag Archives: options chain

Covered Call Writing: The Case For 1-Month Options

I sell predominantly 1-month options when selling covered calls. This decision was NOT based on anything I read or was told, but rather on experience and common sense. Most stocks with options have at least four expiration cycles affiliated with them at any point in time…the current month, the next month and two more months further […]

10 Comments Continue Reading →

Open Interest and Volume plus Non-Standard Options

As covered call writers, we have all looked at options chains.  That’s where we determine how much cash will be generated into our accounts when we sell our options. It’s fun! We first inspect the current price of the underlying security (stock or ETF). Then we check out the closest strike prices (I-T-M, A-T-M and […]

19 Comments Continue Reading →

Covered Call Writing- Using the Multiple Tab of the Ellman Calculator

Selling stock options is all about generating a cash flow. Calculating our initial profit, the potential for more profit (upside potential) and the protection of our initial profit (downside protection as opposed to breakeven of the entire position) is critical in making the most educated investment decisions. Accessing this information from the “Multiple Tab” of […]

31 Comments Continue Reading →

Mid-Contract Unwind Exit Strategy: A Real Life Example

To maximize our covered call writing profits it is critical to take advantage of our exit strategy opportunities. Last week I posted a few comments regarding the mid-contract unwind exit strategy and received several emails asking for more information about the trade I alluded to. In this week’s article I will walk through the steps […]

48 Comments Continue Reading →

Covered Call Writing Using The Blue Collar Methodology

Fundamental analysis, technical analysis, common sense principles and calculations are all critical considerations when selling stock options the Blue Collar way. Since this is my first article written on our newly enhanced web site (hope you like it!) I thought it appropriate to use a real-life example to review the basic tenets of our BCI […]

51 Comments Continue Reading →

Strike Price Selection- A Critical Covered Call Decision

Covered call writing requires a logical sequence of stock and option decisions. Once we have screened our stocks to locate the greatest performing stocks in the greatest performing industries we must make a decision as to which strike price to use. Our choices include: in-the-money at (near)-the-money out-of-the-money Let’s look at the options chain for […]

22 Comments Continue Reading →

The Case for 1-Month Options

I sell predominantly one-month options. This decision was NOT based on anything I read or was told, but rather on experience and common sense. Most stocks with options have at least four expiration cycles affiliated with them at any point in time…the current month, the next month and two more months further out based on […]

35 Comments Continue Reading →