Wealth Building With Options

Ep63 - Poor Man’s Covered Calls


Listen Later

Dan breaks down the poor man’s covered call, a strategy that uses a longer-term in-the-money call instead of stock, paired with a shorter-term out-of-the-money call sold against it. The result is a capital-efficient alternative to a traditional covered call, with less downside exposure but its own tradeoffs in time decay, volatility and assignment risk. Dan explains how to set these trades up, what greeks matter most, and how to manage and roll them effectively.

Key Topics
  • What a poor man’s covered call is and why traders use it
  • How a diagonal call spread mimics a covered call with less capital
  • Why the long in-the-money call acts as a stock proxy
  • The built-in downside protection of owning a call instead of stock
  • How time value creates both protection cost and opportunity
  • Why these setups can work especially well after a stock has fallen sharply
  • The role of delta, theta and vega in building the trade
  • Why positive theta is essential to making the strategy work
  • Using resistance and skate-objective thinking for the short call
  • How to manage the trade by rolling the short call up and out
  • Why assignment on the short call should be avoided
  • When to exit the entire trade instead of continuing to roll
  • Key Takeaways
    • A poor man’s covered call is not really a covered call. It’s a diagonal spread that behaves similarly, but the short call is not actually covered by stock.
    • The long call reduces capital requirements. That makes the strategy useful for smaller accounts or for traders who want to deploy less cash.
    • Downside risk is limited. Since you own a call instead of stock, the maximum loss is what you paid for the long call.
    • The long call also has a cost. Its time value acts like the price paid for that built-in protection.
    • Theta is the engine. The strategy works best when the short call decays faster than the long call, producing net positive theta.
    • Strike selection matters a lot. The long strike controls delta; the short strike must balance premium, theta and room for the stock to rise.
    • Resistance helps with the short call. Since this is always a skate-objective trade, technical analysis matters for choosing a short strike the stock is less likely to breach.
    • Management is active. Ideally, the stock rises toward but not through the short strike, allowing repeated roll-ups and more premium collection.
    • Avoid short-call assignment. If the short call moves in the money, action is usually needed because there is no stock to deliver.
    • This is more of a trade than an investment. If the stock behaves differently than expected, it may make more sense to exit than to keep adjusting. 
    • Connect
      • Learn more about host Dan Passarelli and Market Taker Mentoring: MarketTaker.com
      • Get exclusive content including video trade walk-throughs, Dan's actual trades, monthly AMA webinars and more: wealthbuildingpodcast.com
      • Subscribe on your preferred platform and leave a review to help more traders discover the show.
      • Disclosure:

        Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Prior to buying or selling an option, investors must read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options (ODD) which can be found at https://www.theocc.com/company-information/documents-and-archives/options-disclosure-document

        Don’t trade with money you are not prepared to lose. Anything discussed on this show is intended to be generalized information and not intended to be a recommendation to buy or sell any security. The host and guests are not familiar with listeners’ specific situations. For trading information relevant to your specific needs, speak with a licensed broker or advisor.  

        Trumpet

        Trumpet Fanfare by bevibeldesign -- https://freesound.org/s/350428/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

        Wah Wah Wah

        Wah wah trumpet failed joke punch line.wav by Doctor_Jekyll -- https://freesound.org/s/240195/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

        Dramatic Drum Roll

        dramatic drum roll.wav by ingsey101 -- https://freesound.org/s/51401/ 

        -- License: Attribution 3.0

        ...more
        View all episodesView all episodes
        Download on the App Store

        Wealth Building With OptionsBy Wealth Building With Options

        • 5
        • 5
        • 5
        • 5
        • 5

        5

        28 ratings


        More shows like Wealth Building With Options

        View all
        Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing by The Motley Fool

        Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing

        3,228 Listeners

        CNBC's "Fast Money" by CNBC

        CNBC's "Fast Money"

        1,366 Listeners

        The Options Insider Radio Network by The Options Insider Radio Network

        The Options Insider Radio Network

        67 Listeners

        Options Boot Camp by The Options Insider Radio Network

        Options Boot Camp

        182 Listeners

        Top Traders Unplugged by Niels Kaastrup-Larsen

        Top Traders Unplugged

        592 Listeners

        Odd Lots by Bloomberg

        Odd Lots

        1,993 Listeners

        Zacks Market Edge by Zacks Investment Research

        Zacks Market Edge

        298 Listeners

        Eye On The Market by Michael Cembalest

        Eye On The Market

        289 Listeners

        Investing With IBD by Investor's Business Daily

        Investing With IBD

        374 Listeners

        The Compound and Friends by The Compound

        The Compound and Friends

        2,145 Listeners

        Excess Returns by Excess Returns

        Excess Returns

        84 Listeners

        Barron's Live by Barron's Live

        Barron's Live

        212 Listeners

        Halftime Report by CNBC

        Halftime Report

        409 Listeners

        RiskReversal Pod by RiskReversal Media

        RiskReversal Pod

        830 Listeners

        Stock Market Today With IBD by Investor's Business Daily

        Stock Market Today With IBD

        53 Listeners