This article was originally published in The Option Strategist Newsletter Volume 6, No. 2 on January 22, 1997.
In this article, we're going to take a look at the strategy of selling options. Just how profitable it is, and some of the considerations for naked selling or for using credit spreads. With option premiums inflated in many markets because of increased volatility, this seems like a timely topic. I'm not specifically including covered writing in this discussion, but since a covered call write is equivalent to selling a naked put, you can apply any of the commentary that pertains to naked put selling.
This article was originally published in The Option Strategist Newsletter Volume 7, No. 3 on February 12, 1998.
The attraction of selling something that may waste away to nothing leads many option traders to the strategy of naked option writing. However, the strategy is definitely not for everyone. Even for a suitable account, the strategy can “blow up” if not handled properly. Since volatility is so high these days – especially in index options – as compared to the levels of 1995 and earlier, it seems that the strategy is becoming more popular. Therefore, this article will outline some of the ways that naked writing – if undertaken at all – should be approached.
This article was originally published in The Option Strategist Newsletter Volume 2, No. 9 on May 13, 1993.
Covered call writing is not one of our normally recommended strategies, because we prefer ratio writing or the equivalent, since it is a more neutral strategy. However, covered writing is a strategy practiced by many option investors and therefore is a topic worthy of discussion. In this article, we will approach this subject from a slightly different, more sophisticated viewpoint: we will compare the covered call write with the sale of a naked put. In addition, we'll see how this comparison leads us to conclusions regarding neutral strategies such as ratio call writing or straddle and combination selling.
