After one of our recent PowerOptions webinars an attendee asked: “What happens if you have a vertical call or put credit spread that expires In the money?” If both options of a credit spread (Bear Call Credit or Bull Put Credit) are in the money at expiration you will receive the full loss on the spread. You will be obligated to deliver shares of stock or buy stock at the short option strike price, and your broker would use the long option to cover the obligation. The most important thing to remember in any spread position is that
Tag: option trading
Gilead (GILD) War Story: I Learned A Trading Lesson On This One
Several months ago I purchased Gilead Sciences (GILD) in my married put Fusion account. This is an investor war story about this position and some lessons I’ve learned as a result of doing a regular quarterly review of my holdings. But before I get into the lessons learned, I need to share some background information that led up to the purchase in the first place. During the December 2015 to January 2016 time period the entire Biotechnology sector was under pressure and most stocks in the sector declined. But February 2016 brought some stability and consolidation. During the February to March period, volatility declined, Bollinger Bands narrowed, and MACD turned positive. I thought, It was clearly time to consider
The Best Covered Call Strike Price
Writing covered calls (CC) is a commonly used strategy for increasing income in a stock portfolio. Just to review, a covered call (CC) strategy consists of buying a stock and writing (selling) a call against the stock. Your stock, acts as collateral for the obligation to deliver the stock if the stock price is above the option strike price at expiration. You receive option premium income because you give the right to an option buyer to buy your stock at the strike price. A basic rule of thumb in writing covered calls (CC) is to choose underlying stocks that you wouldn’t mind holding in case the stock declines. This basic rule would also apply if you were buying a stock for its’ dividend income. In both cases, the highest risk in the position is the decline of the stock, which could create a loss many times larger than the income…