My timing could have been somewhat better on this at the sub-12 dip, but better late than never ... .
Metrics:
Bought 100 Shares at 13.25
Sold Oct 21st 14 call
Whole Enchilada: 12.30 db
Max Profit: $170 (if called away at 14)
ROC: 13.8%
Notes: I promised myself after closing out my XME short put that I wouldn't be dipping into any more miners ... . Just...
Sometimes life just plain ass gets in the way of your trading ... . Starting October 1st, my "number's up" for jury duty for the entire month of October. I may be called to serve any time during this period, sit for a lengthy period of time in a room, and then be excused because the parties have reached a last minute agreement or I may have to sit through an...
Did this at open, after which the underlying tanked ... . Heck, what hasn't tanked in today's market. In any event, continuing to work this sub $10 high IV underlying here.
Metrics:
Bought 100 Shares at 7.48
Sold Oct 21st 8 call
Whole Package: 6.94 debit
Max Profit: $106
ROC: 15.3%
As I've posted several times before, my preference generally is to (1) sell premium in broad-based index instruments (e.g., SPY, IWM, QQQ, SPX, RUT) if VIX > 15; and (2) if VIX < 15, look for premium selling opportunities in non-index exchange traded funds with implied volatility of >35% and/or individual underlyings with implied volatility of >50% and where the...
One of the first things I do when searching for either covered calls to do or just general premium selling plays is to look for high implied volatility underlyings with relatively decent expirations, strike widths, and fairly tight spreads (i.e., having weeklies is best with $1 wide strike widths and a bid/ask that is no more than .15 wide from top to bottom is...
There is more than one way to skin a cat. But some ways are more buying power efficient than others ... .
Here, I'm looking at a covered call in X. The implied volatility is >50%, so I can get a bit of premium on the call side to reduce my cost basis in any stock I buy here. For example, if I buy shares at 20.38, and sell the Sept 30th 20.5 call against (for...
Here are my candidates for covered calls next week. Right now, they're based solely on ROC metrics, the key being to get at least a 10% ROC if the shares are called away at the short call strike. Additionally, the focus is on sub 10.00 debit plays; underlyings of higher dollar value are generally more amenable to other strategies.
After looking at the charts,...
Here's my "short list" for covered call candidates for next week generated by looking at Barcharts.com high volatility stock options list and the Dough grid:
WLL buy shares at 7.66; sell Sept 16th 8 call; 7.10 debit; $90 max profit (12.7% ROC)
CC buy shares at 11.45; sell Sept 16th 12 call; 10.78 debit; $122 max profit (10.6% ROC)
LC buy shares at 5.40; sell Oct...
WTW: Buy at 10.56/share; sell Sept 16th 11 call; 9.27 debit at the mid; max profit $173/contract (18.7% ROC).
NVAX: Buy at 7.51/share; sell Sept 16th 8 call; 6.01 debit at the mid; max profit $198/contract (32.9% ROC). (I'm already in a similar NVAX trade .. ).
FEYE: Buy at 13.95/share; sell Sept 16th 14 call; 10.67 debit at the mid; max profit $333/contract...
With broad market volatility abysmally low (VIX <12), it's a game of hunt and peck for "diamonds in the rough" in terms of premium selling.
For the most part, I'm looking for sub-$20 underlyings here with high implied volatility for either selling naked puts (bullish assumption) or initiating covered calls where the purchase of the stock, combined with selling...
One of the other brutalized issues post-Brexit is EFA, which is basically "everyone" besides Canada and the U.S.
Here, the point at which I would consider a buy for my covered call portfolio is subject to change, depending on what happens at 51, which is the 50 Fib from the 2009 to the 2014 high. That would not be a bad buy area, but obviously lower is better...
Truth be told, I was burned somewhat by UNG this year, as I was expecting a seasonality bounce which has not come due to mild temperatures associated with El Nino. Moreover, in 20-20 hindsight, a debit spread was probably not the way to go due to inflexibility of the setup if you are just totally directionally wrong or if your timing as to the directionality is...
Okay, so my long UNG play didn't work out; after I entered the trade, NGAS continued to tank -- horribly, as forecasts for a mild winter came to the forefront and natty gas reserves continued to build to record levels. Ugh.
Nevertheless, i still want a natty gas long play. CHK is the most beaten down price-wise of the top ten nat gas producers, so it makes for...
Having waited a long time for West Texas Intermediate to hit 2009 levels, I figured I'd put my money where my mouth was and go long USO when it did.
I filled this one earlier today:
Bought 100 Shares USO @ 10.05
Sold 1 Feb 19th 11 Call
Total Package: 9.69 debit
Max Profit: $131 (if called away at 11)
You could probably get a slightly better fill than I did, as...
With an implied volatility rank of 70, an implied of 63, and a 10%+ return for the nearest out of the money short call, S meets my criteria for a decent covered call play (plus the darn thing's so cheap).
Buy 100 Shares S at 3.85
Sell 1 Feb 19 4 short call
Entire Package: $358/contract
Max Profit: (If Called Away at 4) $42/contact
With an implied volatility rank of 98 and an implied volatility of 79, MRO presents a good covered call opportunity here with a return on capital of greater than 10% if called away at the nearest short call strike (13).
Here's the setup (which, as always, may require tweaking after NY open, since these off hours quotes have a tendency to have wide bid/asks):
Buy...
For the longest time, my go-to to play gold is GLD, which is intended to emulate the price of gold bullion. However, this can tie up a disproportionate percentage of buying power due to the price of the underlying.
Naturally, there are alternatives out there to GLD that are either ETF's (like GDXJ and GDX) or outright securities in companies that acquire,...
