An options strategy called Covered Call Writing is a conservative strategy designed to reduce risk and increase income when investing in stocks. Briefly stated, stock options are contracts in which you buy or sell the right to buy or sell. Although there are eight types of options contracts, we're interested here in low-risk "Covered Call Writing."
Here's how it works: Say it's August and you buy 300 shares of XYZ stock at the price of $48 per share. XYZ pays a quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share. Therefore, if the price never moves, you'll earn 4.2% per year.
At the same time, you would participate in Covered Call Writing. To do so, you, you would "write three January 50 Calls." This means you are selling ("writing") the right for someone else to buy the stock from you (they "call" it away) between now and the third Friday of January at the specified price of $50. (All contracts expire the third Friday of the month.)
Each contract represents 100 shares, hence three contracts. The buyers pay you a fee (called a "premium") of $3.5 per share, or $1,050. (The premium is based on the amount of time until expiration and the spread between the current price and the "strike price," in this case $50. Therefore, the premium changes constantly.)
Assuming you don't cancel, only two things can happen next: The contract will get exercised or it will expire worthless in January. Either way, you keep the $1,050. Clearly, this strategy can yield big rewards. Among the advantages are:
1. You are establishing a profitable sell price the day you buy the stock. If exercised, you are guaranteed a profit;
2. You reduce risk because premium in effect reduces the price you paid for the stock;
3. Your annual yield is boosted far above that of the dividend alone.
However, there are other considerations. For one, you are limiting your potential profits. No matter how high the stock rises, you won't sell for more than $50. You can solve this problem by buying your option back, in effect canceling it out. You would do this if you later think the stock will dramatically rise and you don't want to miss the gains to be made.
Also, you have not reduced the risk that your stock may drop in price. The only certainty is, should XYZ drop $25, your option will not be exercised - a small consolation. To protect yourself, you may "buy a January 45 put" giving you the right to sell your stock for $45. This is the opposite of what we've reviewed here, and is designed to minimize losses, rather than protect gains.
Because of the potential for price drops, you should choose a high quality, blue-chip stock that fits your budget, an which offers a stable trading range, solid fundamental, high dividends, and good growth potential.
Covered Call Writing is not a reason to own stocks, but the strategy might be of help if you already own them. Prior to opening an account, you must receive and urged to read "Characteristics and Risk of Standardized Options," which is published by the Options Clearing Corporation in cooperation with NASD and all major U.S. stock exchanges. The booklet is available from any broker or financial advisor.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Know exactly what type of investment are stocks investments
Before shelling out a great part of your retirement savings to buy stocks, it is very important that you know exactly what type of investment are stocks investments. Stock investment is actually buying a small unit of ownership from a company. The stocks you bought from such company will provide you certain benefits like voting rights and then receiving profits every time the company distributes profits to its shareholders. The amount of profit share you are to receive is dependent on the amount of stocks you have bought from such company.
One of the best features of stock ownership is the fact that you as a stockholder of the company are entirely free from any liability however if the company loses a lawsuit and pay a huge amount then you must prepare for the worst since such happenings often lead rendering your stocks worthless.
The good news is you can still prevent such unsightly scenario from happening; all you have to do is to employ the expertise of a stock research provider or a stock broker, whichever you prefer the main objective of your hiring them still remains the same and that is to provide you with effective financial advice on how to lessen the risk of your stock investments and to increase your chances of gaining.
Before implementing any financial strategies, it is important to conduct fundamental analysis. This analysis is accomplished by a stock research provider. The fundamental analysis involves the process of examining the basic of the fundamental financial level of the company or the business which you are eyeing in buying some stocks. The analysis should also include examination of key ratios of a business in order to determine its financial health thus providing you with the idea of the value of its stocks.
Most investors make use of fundamental analysis or a combination with other tools in order to evaluate stocks before finally investing. The objective of evaluating stock investment is to determine the current worth and market value of the stocks.
By making use of key tools for fundamental analysis you will gain in-depth evaluation on stock investment that will guide you in making wise and smart investment decisions. Likewise, understanding the key ratios and terms will also help you in lessening the risks involved in your stock investment.
Probably the most important information any investor would like to know is how much profit they are going to obtain from their stock investment. This is really not surprising since it is just logical that when you invest on something, you of course would like to derive earnings from it.
In stock investment your concern is more on the ability of your chosen company to generate money today and in the future. Earnings are the profits and although it is sometimes hard to calculate but that’s what buying stocks is all about. An increase in earnings or profits basically leads to a higher stock price and usually results to a regular dividend.
During times when earnings fall short, the market may hammer the stock. Companies report their earnings quarterly. Some analysts that monitor major companies notify their stockholders if ever they notice a significant decrease or fall on the companies’ projected earnings. Although it is true those earnings play an important role in stock investment but they don’t tell anything about how the market values the stock. If you want to determine just how the market values the stock you might need to use some fundamental analysis tools—this is because fundamental analysis tools focus on earnings, growth and value in the market.
One of the best features of stock ownership is the fact that you as a stockholder of the company are entirely free from any liability however if the company loses a lawsuit and pay a huge amount then you must prepare for the worst since such happenings often lead rendering your stocks worthless.
The good news is you can still prevent such unsightly scenario from happening; all you have to do is to employ the expertise of a stock research provider or a stock broker, whichever you prefer the main objective of your hiring them still remains the same and that is to provide you with effective financial advice on how to lessen the risk of your stock investments and to increase your chances of gaining.
Before implementing any financial strategies, it is important to conduct fundamental analysis. This analysis is accomplished by a stock research provider. The fundamental analysis involves the process of examining the basic of the fundamental financial level of the company or the business which you are eyeing in buying some stocks. The analysis should also include examination of key ratios of a business in order to determine its financial health thus providing you with the idea of the value of its stocks.
Most investors make use of fundamental analysis or a combination with other tools in order to evaluate stocks before finally investing. The objective of evaluating stock investment is to determine the current worth and market value of the stocks.
By making use of key tools for fundamental analysis you will gain in-depth evaluation on stock investment that will guide you in making wise and smart investment decisions. Likewise, understanding the key ratios and terms will also help you in lessening the risks involved in your stock investment.
Probably the most important information any investor would like to know is how much profit they are going to obtain from their stock investment. This is really not surprising since it is just logical that when you invest on something, you of course would like to derive earnings from it.
In stock investment your concern is more on the ability of your chosen company to generate money today and in the future. Earnings are the profits and although it is sometimes hard to calculate but that’s what buying stocks is all about. An increase in earnings or profits basically leads to a higher stock price and usually results to a regular dividend.
During times when earnings fall short, the market may hammer the stock. Companies report their earnings quarterly. Some analysts that monitor major companies notify their stockholders if ever they notice a significant decrease or fall on the companies’ projected earnings. Although it is true those earnings play an important role in stock investment but they don’t tell anything about how the market values the stock. If you want to determine just how the market values the stock you might need to use some fundamental analysis tools—this is because fundamental analysis tools focus on earnings, growth and value in the market.
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