Hi Linda,

Those are legacy equity holdings from the previous editor for which we’ve been providing ongoing tracking. Further, there’s something wrong with the total-return calculator for that portfolio. Daimler, for instance, actually has a nice, positive return, not a negative one.

Regardless, I plan to fix that table and also roll out a separate table just for the options strategy later this week.

Anyway, those stocks are not necessarily reflective of the stocks that we’ll be using for this strategy. He was more of a swashbuckler than I am.

Yes, I do take the earnings release and ex-date into account. To the extent possible, I will look to avoid having expirations overlap with those events. To mitigate that risk, however, the strikes will generally be set at least 10% out of the money when the trades are opened–the strikes for the first three trades, for instance, were set at levels that the stocks haven’t hit in years.

Unlike other options services, we’re not averse to stock ownership. We’re using puts as another way of setting buy limits. If the stock doesn’t get put to us, that’s fine–we keep the cash and move on. If it does get put to us, we collect the dividend, and then as it approaches full value again, we would sell covered calls against it. So the returns include the cash from selling puts and covered calls, plus potential share-price appreciation and dividends.

Depending on the situation, we could roll or buy to close to avoid assignment, but it won’t be a core part of the service.

Ari

Brand new and a little overwhelmed. Any suggestion for a broker or a company that is reasonable?
I would appreciate any guidance.
Thanks