Tuesday, July 14, 2009

INTC Covered Calls

Intel (INTC) is reporting earnings after the bell today and I thought it would be a great example of how to use options into earnings to hedge an already established stock position. Assuming you are already long INTC stock and are in a profit but do not want to sell just yet because you see more upside but want to hedge your bets into "the number" you can sell some covered calls.

INTC has been trading in a fairly tight range between 15-17 the last several months and with the stock trading 16.68 currently you could sell 1 July 17 call for every 100 shares you own. Right now you can sell them for 25 cents each.

So if you own 1000 shares of INTC, sell 10 of these calls and collect $250 for an option that expires in 3 days. If the stock stays under 17 by Friday you keep the 25 cents and you can then go ahead and sell the August 17 or 18 call to collect more premium for the next month, sort of like being the landlord and collecting "rent" each month for a stock position you were going to hold anyway.
If the stock blows thru 17 by Friday you get called away from your stock and are obligated to sell your shares at 17 AND keep your credit of 25 cents you collected when you sold the calls short. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

The implied volatility in July options for INTC is up around 70% while August IV is much lower at 40%. This tells you the front month options are juiced up with plenty of premium to sell.

This is a great way to hedge your long position going into any catalyst, or to just increase your returns by using options.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

intc now 18+.. wht a stupid strategy u had..

i hope u actually did not sacrifice your 1000 precious intc stocks

Jason said...

Ha, you must be new to trading.

This trade worked because like i said you get to sell your stock FOR A PROFIT at 17 and keep the credit. In other words, you made money, which was the plan to begin with.

Big deal if you miss out on the huge move. Moves like that are not likely and usually will not happen.

You are being very greedy if you aren't satisfied.

Anonymous said...

so if you owned 1000 shared i would of made $250 from the calls ?

how much would i made of the intc stock ?

Jason said...

like i said you would sell your stock 17.

Anonymous said...

Jason...you were bearish on GS going into earnings, and then you didn't expect INTC to crush earnings so you wrote July 17 calls. You really know how to pick them man