When we add a protective put to our covered call trades the strategy is known as a collar. To reduce the monthly cost of the long put, some investors will consider using longer-term put expirations This article will explore the pros and cons of this approach using Ciena Corp. (NYSE: CIEN). Collar trade information […]

The Collar Strategy: Using Longer-Term Put Expirations
Posted on November 7, 2020 by Alan Ellman in Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Put-selling, Stock Option Strategies

Protecting Our Covered Call Trades: Protective Puts Versus In-The-Money Strikes
Posted on October 24, 2020 by Alan Ellman in Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Stock Option Strategies
Covered call writing is a low-risk, cash-generating strategy. We can lower the risk to an even greater extent by purchasing protective puts and by writing in-the-money (ITM) call options. Now, buying protective puts (called the collar strategy when used in conjunction with covered call writing) costs money and will lower our returns. Using ITM calls […]

What Do Covered Call Writing and Steroids Have in Common?
Posted on August 8, 2020 by Alan Ellman in Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Stock Investing, Stock Option Strategies
Most investors view covered call writing as a singular strategy where we buy a stock and then sell an option leveraging that security. In reality, educated option-sellers realize that one of the most remarkable advantages of using this strategy is that it can be crafted to achieve multiple goals and meet the trading style and […]

Bear Market Concerns and our Option-Selling Portfolios
Posted on July 4, 2020 by Alan Ellman in Exchange-Traded Funds, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Put-selling, Stock Option Strategies
Covered call writing and selling cash-secured puts are stock option strategies with primary goals of income generation and capital preservation. Most of us are conservative investors who seek to beat the market on a consistent basis while minimizing portfolio risk. This is one of the mission statements of the BCI methodology. In the past few […]

Collar Calculations: Adding Protective Puts to our Covered Call Trades
Posted on March 28, 2020 by Alan Ellman in Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Put-selling, Stock Option Strategies
Covered call exit strategies play a major role in mitigating losses in our BCI methodology. In most cases, we can keep losses to a minimum, turn losses into gains and enhance profits as well. Some covered call writers want the security of protecting against a catastrophic gap-down which can occur rarely. With the current market […]

Protective Puts and The Poor Man’s Covered Call
Posted on February 8, 2020 by Alan Ellman in Covered Call Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Stock Option Strategies
The Poor Man’s Covered Call (PMCC) is a covered call writing-like strategy where the underlying security is a LEAPS options (1 -2 years expirations) rather than the stock itself. The technical term is a long call diagonal debit spread. Since the cost of the option is lower than the price of the stock, the return […]

Making Money with Technology Stocks: Investing with QQQ
Posted on November 23, 2019 by Alan Ellman in Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Put-selling, Stock Option Strategies
The exchange-traded fund (ETF) that has appeared most frequently in our premium member ETF reports is Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ). This fund consists of 100 of the largest non-financial companies (predominantly technology companies) that trade on the NASDAQ exchange. As of June 2019, the top 3 holdings in QQQ are Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) […]

Collar Trades When Call Strikes Move Deep In-The-Money: A Real-Life Example with TEAM
Posted on August 3, 2019 by Alan Ellman in Covered Call Exit Strategies, Exit Strategies, Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Stock Option Strategies
In August 2018, Duminda shared with me a successful collar trade he executed with Attlassian Corp (NASDAQ: TEAM). He was considering 2 exit strategies: Closing all legs of the trade and using the cash to enter a new position Allowing assignment and selling the put, if any value at expiration Initial structuring of Duminda’s […]

Should We Add a Short Put to Our Collar Trades?
Posted on March 30, 2019 by Alan Ellman in Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Options Trade Execution, Put-selling
A collar trade is a covered call trade with a protective put. Jim recently wrote to me asking about the efficacy of also selling an out-of-the-money put to help pay for the cost of the protective put. This article will analyze this series of trades to assess the pros and cons of adding that fourth […]

Protective Puts and the Collar Strategy: Selecting the Best Strike Prices/ Last Chance for Holiday Orders
Posted on December 15, 2018 by Alan Ellman in Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Put-selling, Stock Option Strategies
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 […]
Podcast
- 99. Anatomy of a Reverse Stock Split
- 98. Analyzing LEAPS Options for the Poor Man's Covered Call
- 97. Managing Our Poor Man's Covered Call Trades When Share Price Drops Substantially
- 96. Protecting Our Covered Call Trades: Protective Puts and In-the-Money Strikes
- 95. Covered Call Writing to Generate Premium and Dividend Income
- 94. Covered Call Writing Net Debit Limit Orders
- 93. WHEN CALL STRIKES MOVE DEEP ITM EARLY IN A CONTRACT
- 92. Selling Deep OTM Cash-Secured Puts to Create High-Probability Returns
- 91. Portfolio Overwriting Analyzed
- 90. Entering a Collar Trade
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