Going_4_It
2 weeks ago
aBeezlee, Buying naked Call options is risky because they can expire worthless and you lose the money you paid for them.
On the other hand, selling covered Call options against stock you own is very safe, assuming you set the exercise price higher than your cost basis. Selling Call options is a way to generate cash income without selling the stock.
First, you get paid in cash when you sell the option, which temporarily encumbers the stock. You can not sell your stock while the option is in effect. If the option finishes "in the money" the option gets exercised and your stock gets sold, hopefully, at a profit but that depends if you set the exercise price correctly. Also, if the option price drops you can buy back what you sold to free up your stock, instead of waiting for the option to expire or get exercised.
The Absolute Best Case Scenario is that the stock price never reaches the exercise price and the option expires worthless. Then you are free to sell the option again. Wash, rinse, repeat. Selling Call options that expire is how I have made most of my profit. Occasionally I might get it wrong and my stock gets sold in which case I make a profit on the sale. Then I just wait a week or so, watch the movement of Bitcoin, and end up buying the same stock at a cheaper price, or maybe a comparable stock. Then sell some more options and repeat the process endlessly. I use the cash profit I earn to buy more stock so I can sell even more options; Press the Bet by averaging down, never average up.
I am invested mainly in Bitcoin Miner stocks. The most interesting feature of these stocks is that they follow the price of Bitcoin and also follow the stock market action. That provides more volatility and better opportunity to sell for profit. The VIX indicator shows whether the volatility is higher or lower and the best time to sell. Essentially, I am just "surfing" the volatility in the market, and it is far higher among the Miner stocks than the mainstream market.
It is my goal to hold onto my stocks for substantially higher prices in 2025. So I am very careful to sell the options at a exercise price that wont get reached. Many stocks do not have options traded on them, Some have options that trade on a monthly schedule, and fewer yet have options that trade weekly. I buy the stocks that have weekly options because it gives me more control.
Stock options, Calls and Puts, are a form of derivative. They were invented in the 19th century by Russell Sage with support from J.P. Morgan, who once said "No one ever went broke taking a profit."
Good Luck.