Jul 6, 2013 | Investment Basics, Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations
Maximizing covered call writing profits requires us to master strike price selection. Very few covered call writers outside the BCI community use in-the-money strikes and, as a result, do not achieve the results that we do. Recently, a few BCI members sent me emails...
Apr 6, 2013 | Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations, Stock Option Strategies
When studying option trading basics we learn the equation for option premium value is: Premium = time value + intrinsic value If the strike price is at- or out-of-the-money the premium is all time value. Another basic principle is that time value decreases as we...
Aug 11, 2012 | Option Trading Basics, Options Calculations
Option trading basics incorporates fundamental, technical and common sense decisions. One of these, as it relates to covered call writing, is selecting a strike price for the short options position. In bearish and volatile markets I tend to favor the in-the-money...
Jul 14, 2012 | Option Trading Basics
What makes some stock option premiums worth so much more than others? Let’s say we have two stocks, A and B. Both are trading @ $25/share. We look to sell the same month at-the-money $25 strike and one (stock A) returns 2% and the other (stock B) 4%. WHY? The answer...
Jan 28, 2012 | Stock Option Strategies
So you sold an options contract for $380 and generated a 3.5% 1-month return. Did you ever wonder how the market determined the value of that options contract to be $380? The simple equation that most of us know and understand is the following: Option premium =...