Options Income
Covered Call
Own the shares, sell a call against them, collect the premium every month. The strike picked decides how much comes in now and how much upside gets handed away if the stock takes off.
One slider, three gauges
Drag the strike distance and watch all three dials move together. Closer to the money means more premium and a higher chance of losing the shares. Further out means less premium but more room for the stock to run before it's capped.
How it works
- Selling the call is selling someone else the right to buy the shares at the strike. In exchange, the premium is collected up front, no matter what happens next. That premium is the entire reason to do this instead of just holding the stock.
- Strike distance is a dial, not a fixed rule. A strike close to the current price pays more because it's more likely to matter. A strike far away pays less because it's less likely the stock ever gets there.
- Assignment isn't a mistake, it's the trade working as designed. If the stock closes above the strike, the shares get called away at that price. The premium plus the locked-in gain to the strike is the total return, and it's capped there even if the stock kept climbing after.
- The downside isn't capped at all. A covered call only sells away upside, it does nothing to protect against the stock falling. The premium collected softens a decline slightly, it doesn't come close to a floor.
Where this breaks
Selling calls into a real breakout
Drag the strike close to the money to maximize the monthly premium, then spin the outcome a dozen times. The "called away" column starts filling up fast, and every one of those is a month where the position gave up everything past the strike. Covered calls work best when the stock chops sideways or drifts up slowly. They work worst in exactly the month a real breakout finally happens, because that's the month the cap costs the most.