When we sell cash-secured puts, we are generating cash flow and creating opportunities to purchase shares at a discount. Those are the 2 possible outcomes. Now, we can lose money if share value drops below the breakeven price, so position management is as critical as stock and option selection. This article will address a real-life scenario where stock price accelerated exponentially after the trade was initiated. The exit strategy selected was rolling-up. Since this was a holiday-shortened 4-day trade, do we have the time to roll-up.? How about rolling-up twice in the 4-day trade? Here ‘s how I did it.

Real-life trades with Marvel Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MRVL): 3/30/2026 – 4/2/2026

• 3/30/2026: MRVL trading at $89.46
• 3/30/2026: STO 3 x 4/2/2026 $82.00 cash-secured puts (CSPs) at $0.34
• 3/31/2026: MRVL trading at $98.77
• 3/31/2026: BTC 3 x 4/2/2026 $82.00 CSPs at $0.01
• 3/31/2026: STO 3 x 4/2/2026 $90.00 CSPs at $0.15 (Roll-up #1)
• 4/1/2026: BTC 3 x 4/2/2026 $90.00 CSPs at $0.01
• 4/1/2026: STO 3 x 4/2/2026 $98.00 CSPs at $0.11 (Roll-up #2)
• 4/2/2026: MRVL closes at $107.11, leaving the $98.00 puts expiring worthless with no exercise

Broker statement confirmations of trades

MRVL: Graphic representation of trades

Trade status after contract expiration

• MRVL closed at $107.11 up $16.93 from trade inception ($89.46)
• Additional income generated from 2 roll-ups: $72.00
• Original premium: $102.00
• Total realized premium: $174.00
• Per-Share Cost-basis: $98.00 – $0.58 = $97.42
• Final realized return: $0.58/$97.48 = 0.6%, 54.75% annualized (using a 4-day series of trades)

Discussion

• I used a defensive strike due to market concerns (war with Iran, tariffs among other concerns)
• Robust-IV stocks & ETFs can generate substantial initial returns
• Trades must be monitored whether high- or low-risk
• By rolling up 2x, an annualized initial return of 37.99% became a realized return of 54.75%, an increase of 44.1%
• This was a holiday-shortened 4-day trade (Good Friday)

Expected Price Movement Calculator

The Expected Price Movement Calculator is designed to generate an approximate projected trading range for the underlying security, specific for selected contract expiration date. The at-the-money implied volatility (IV) of the stock or ETF (exchange-traded fund) is used to achieve this valuable information.

Click here for a video & more.

Your generous testimonials

Over the years, the BCI community has been incredibly gracious by sending our BCI team email testimonials sharing stories as to what our educational content has meant to their families. Moving forward, we have decided to publish several of these testimonials in our blog articles. We will never use a last name unless given permission:

Alan & Barry,

Enjoyed the seminar!

1. Mad Hedge Investor Summit

Wednesday September 16, 2026

12 PM ET – 1 PM ET

The Collar Strategy: Covered Call Writing with Protective Puts

Protecting covered call trades from catastrophic share loss 

Protect our covered call trades by purchasing protective puts. This results in lower risk transactions, with lower, but still significant option returns. This is the strategy Bernie Madoff pretended to use. He called it the split strike conversion strategy, but it was simply a collar. The covered call sets a max gain and the protective put guarantees a maximum loss.

Topics discussed

• What is the collar strategy?
• Uses for the collar
• Entering a collar trade
• Option basics for calls
• Option basics for puts
• Real-life example with NVDA
• What is an option-chain?
• Real-life example using the BCI Trade Management Calculator (TMC)
• Strategy pros & cons
• Event offer
• Q&A

Registration link to follow.

2. Toronto Money Show

September 24 – 25, 2026

MaRS Center, Toronto Canada

Generating a 3rd Income Stream in Existing Stock Portfolios

Register here.

3. Orlando Money Show

October 5 – 7, 2026

Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista

3 presentations:

• Portfolio Overwriting (2-hour Master Class)
• Setting Up High-Performance Option Portfolios
• Selling Cash-Secured Puts: The 2 Outcomes

For more details and registration link, click here.

4. American Association of Individual Investors: National event

Comprehensive 4-part live paid, online workshop event featuring covered call writing, cash-secured puts and advanced strategies.

Dates and times to be confirmed.

5. Triple Edge Investing Summit: Technical Analysis • Options Strategies • ETF Mastery

Saturday January 23, 2027- All-day event

Zoom presentation

All-day paid event

All-day event hosted by 3 experts:

• Dr. Alan Ellman (options)
• Dr. Eric Wish (technical analysis)
• Les Masonson (ETFs)

Hosted by TraderLion University

Details to follow.

Hello Alan,

I just purchased your entire program and I’m serious about making this work for my family. As I study your comprehensive material, can you give me a heads-up as to some of the more common errors retail investors make with covered call writing, so I can make sure to avoid them as I work my way through this process?

Thanks a lot,
A very determined Arthur

Free Resources:
https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/bci-free-resources/

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Best Discounted Packages:

1. BCI Package, our Best and most Comprehensive Investment package:
⁠https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/bci-investor-program/

2. TCM Package – BCI Trade Management System:
⁠https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/trade-management-calculator-product/

3. CEO Package – Includes TMC Package:
⁠https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/ceo-package/

4. Credit Spread Management System
https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/credit-spread-calculator-product/

More Videos:

• For those new to Alan’s system of Covered Call Writing, be sure to take the Free Beginners Corner Series
• Free Training Videos Archive
• Ask Alan Video Q & A Archive
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

To enter your questions to “Ask Alan”, fill out the form on the contact page. Be sure to begin your message with “ASK ALAN”

In March of 2026, during the US – Iran War, I was favoring deep in-the-money (ITM) covered call strikes and deep out-of-the-money (OTM) cash-secured put strikes. This allowed me to continue to generate significant initial time-value returns, while retaining considerable protection to the downside. In this article a covered call writing example will be analyzed using EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT).

Why choose EQT?

Based on our Weekly Stock Screen & Watch List (provided to our premium members):

• Located in the energy sector, ranked “A” at that time
• Mean analyst rating (MAR) of 1.69 (1-5, with 1 being the best)
• On balance volume (OBV) bullish
• Adequate stock & option liquidity
• No interference from earnings or ex-dividend dates

1-month comparison chart with the S&P 500 on 3/26/2026

Strike Price analysis for ultra-defensive covered call trades

• At-the-money (ATM) and out-of-the-money (OTM) strikes have only time-value components
• In-the-money (ITM) strikes have both time-value (extrinsic-value) and intrinsic-value components (amount the strike is lower than current market value)
• ITM strikes offer greater protection to the downside due to the lower breakeven price point (stock price – total premium)
• In volatile and uncertain wartime conditions, ITM strikes should be given serious consideration
• ITM strikes have higher deltas than ATM and OTM strikes

Delta analysis for ultra-defensive covered call trades

• One of the (3) definitions of delta is the approximate probability of the option strike expiring ITM and subject to exercise
• Using ITM strikes affords greater protection to the downside, but makes exercise more likely, so share retention cannot be a requirement
• In this scenario, the lower the strike, the greater the protection to the downside, the lower the time-value premium return and the higher the delta
• We seek higher delta strikes that will still generate significant time-value annualized returns. We do not want the stock price to move lower than the deep ITM strike and then become OTM (For example, a $48.00 stock dropping below a deep ITM $40.00 strike)

Delta analysis for EQT on 3/26/2026

• There is an approximate 87% probability of a successful trade (13% risk of share price moving OTM (lower than the $60.00 strike)
• I was able to “negotiate” a bid price of $8.05 for 5 contracts, after purchasing 500 shares at $67.30

Initial calculations using the BCI Trade Management Calculator (TMC)

• Red circle: 23-day trade
• Green oval: time-value and intrinsic-value
• Yellow cell: Breakeven price
• Brown cells: Initial 23-day and annualized returns
• Purple cell: How much share price can decline and still realize the 19.84% annualized return
• Blue cell: $375.00 of time-value premium generated into our cash account ($0.75 x 500)
• The 20% BTC/GTC limit order was placed at $1.60 (20% of $8.05) to protect against significant share price decline

Broker confirmation of trades

Discussion

• This was a defensive 5-contract ultra-defensive covered call trade
• Modest-robust IV stocks & ETFs can generate substantial initial and final returns
• ITM, high-delta covered calls should be given serious consideration in challenging markets
• Trades must be monitored whether high- or low-risk (20%/10% guidelines)
• When writing ultra-defensive cash-secured puts, high delta strikes should be considered. Delta will approximate the probability of the strike expiring ITM, which is what we want
• When using this strategy approach, share retention is not a requirement

Selling Cash-Secured Puts Basic and Advanced Principles: Video Course

This course contains 6- parts in the video course:

Section I: Option basics (definitions and foundational information)
Section II: Traditional put-selling (stock & option selection + position management)
Section III: PCP (wheel) strategy (adding covered calls to selling cash-secured puts)
Section IV: Buy a stock at a discount instead of a limit order (buy a stock at our target price or get paid not to buy the stock)
Section V: Ultra-low-risk put/Delta strategy (High probability, low-risk trades)
Section VI: Ultra-low-risk put/implied volatility strategy (High probability, low-risk trades)

For video overview, click here.

Your generous testimonials

Over the years, the BCI community has been incredibly gracious by sending our BCI team email testimonials sharing stories as to what our educational content has meant to their families. Moving forward, we have decided to publish several of these testimonials in our blog articles. We will never use a last name unless given permission:

From an attorney who hired Alan as an expert consultant & witness in a multi-million-dollar options trial:

1. Mad Hedge Investor Summit

Wednesday September 16, 2026

12 PM ET – 1 PM ET

The Collar Strategy: Covered Call Writing with Protective Puts

Protecting covered call trades from catastrophic share loss 

Protect our covered call trades by purchasing protective puts. This results in lower risk transactions, with lower, but still significant option returns. This is the strategy Bernie Madoff pretended to use. He called it the split strike conversion strategy, but it was simply a collar. The covered call sets a max gain and the protective put guarantees a maximum loss.

Topics discussed

• What is the collar strategy?
• Uses for the collar
• Entering a collar trade
• Option basics for calls
• Option basics for puts
• Real-life example with NVDA
• What is an option-chain?
• Real-life example using the BCI Trade Management Calculator (TMC)
• Strategy pros & cons
• Event offer
• Q&A

Registration link to follow.

2. Toronto Money Show

September 24 – 25, 2026

MaRS Center, Toronto Canada

Generating a 3rd Income Stream in Existing Stock Portfolios

Register here.

3. Orlando Money Show

October 5 – 7, 2026

Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista

3 presentations:

• Portfolio Overwriting (2-hour Master Class)
• Setting Up High-Performance Option Portfolios
• Selling Cash-Secured Puts: The 2 Outcomes

Details to follow.

4. American Association of Individual Investors: NYC Chapter

Date and time to be confirmed.

5. Triple Edge Investing Summit: Technical Analysis • Options Strategies • ETF Mastery

Saturday January 23, 2027- All-day event

Zoom presentation

All-day paid event

All-day event hosted by 3 experts:

• Dr. Alan Ellman (options)
• Dr. Eric Wish (technical analysis)
• Les Masonson (ETFs)

Hosted by TraderLion University

Details to follow.

When an underlying stock for a covered call trade moves up exponentially, an opportunity is created to generate a 2nd income stream greater than the maximum return for the original trade.

This podcast will use rules, guidelines and calculations to demonstrate when and how implement the mid-contract unwind exit strategy, using a real-life example with QCOM.

Free Resources:
https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/bci-free-resources/

Premium Membership:
⁠https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/premium-membership/

Best Discounted Packages:

1. BCI Package, our Best and most Comprehensive Investment package:
⁠https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/bci-investor-program/

2. TCM Package – BCI Trade Management System:
⁠https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/trade-management-calculator-product/

3. CEO Package – Includes TMC Package:
⁠https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/ceo-package/

4. Credit Spread Management System
https://thebluecollarinvestor.com/minimembership/credit-spread-calculator-product/

]]> https://www.thebluecollarinvestor.com/bci-podcast-177-determining-our-goal-before-unwinding-both-legs-of-a-favorable-covered-call-trade/feed/ 0 https://www.thebluecollarinvestor.com/the-option-greeks-meet-portfolio-overwriting/ https://www.thebluecollarinvestor.com/the-option-greeks-meet-portfolio-overwriting/#comments Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:13:13 +0000 https://www.thebluecollarinvestor.com/?p=213663

Portfolio overwriting is a form of covered call writing where share retention is an additional requirement for the strategy goals. The option Greeks are financial metrics that measure the risk and pricing sensitivity of our option contracts. This article will analyze how the Greeks can assist us by enhancing our portfolio overwriting results. A real-life example with NVDIA Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA) will be used.

What are the 5 option Greeks?

• Delta
• Gamma- 2nd generation Delta, the “Delta” of “Deltas”
• Theta
• Vega
• Rho- not a major Greek

Delta Defined & Applications

• Delta is the amount an option price will change for every $1.00 change in share price
  • –How to use the 20%/10% exit strategy guidelines
  • –Which strikes to use as stock surrogates (The Poor Man’s Covered Call, for example)
• Delta is the equivalent number of shares represented by the options position
  • –More for high-wealth portfolio managers
  • –Delta-neutral portfolios
• Delta is the percentage likelihood that, upon expiration, the option will expire in-the-money or with intrinsic value (subject to exercise)
  • Portfolio overwriting- avoid exercise of low-cost-basis shares
  • Deep OTM puts- avoid having shares “put” to us
  • Deep ITM calls- avoid stock price dropping below breakeven price point

Theta Defined & Applications

• Estimate of how much the theoretical value of an option will decline with the passage of 1 calendar day
• Assists us in determining when to enter our trades
• Assist us in the most appropriate exit strategies to use
  • 20%/10% BTC-GTC limit orders
  • “Hitting a Double” versus “rolling-down”

Vega Defined & Applications

• Amount an option price changes with a 1% change in implied volatility of the underlying security
• Extremely important to integrate implied volatility into our option trading decisions
• IV can also be used to determine an expected trading range for a specific contract
• Greater implied volatility = larger premiums = greater risk to the downside
• IV is inherent in our option time-value components
• Our initial time-value return goal range can be used to measure the risk of our trades
  • 2% – 4%/month, for me
  • 1/4th that amount for weekly expirations
  • Much lower for portfolio overwriting

How to use Delta for portfolio overwriting: Use low deltas to decrease the risk of exercise (expiring ITM): NVDA option chain

With NVDA trading at $174.88, the $195.00 OTM call strike has a delta (risk of expiring ITM and subject to exercise) of 9.5% (yellow cell) and a bid price of $0.58 (brown cell).

Delta calculations for NVDA (9.5% risk of exercise w/o exit strategies)

• This 25-day trade, shows an annualized return of 4.84% (brown cell) with an opportunity of an additional 11.51% of share appreciation potential (purple cell)
• Calculations accomplished with the BCI Trade Management Calculator (TMC)

How to use Theta for portfolio overwriting: Graphic representation of time-value decay

• The theta (time-value) decay starts slowly (yellow field)
• As expiration approaches, the rate of time-value decay accelerates dramatically (brown field)
• Since we are selling short-term options (weekly and monthly), theta guides us to entering the trades early in the contract cycle

How to use Vega for portfolio overwriting: Can guide us to appropriate strike selection

• Implied volatility (IV) is based on an annualized basis and 1 standard deviation (SD- falls in the calculated range 68% of the time; 16% on the high end and 16% on the low end)
• The high end of the range represents a 16% risk of expiring ITM and subject to exercise
• The BCI Expected Price Movement Calculator has a conversion formula to convert the IV from the annualized stat to one reflecting the specific contract in question
• The price movement is calculated using the at-the-money (ATM) IV
• If we wanted to take less risk of exercise, we could use 2 SDs by doubling the calculated price movement and incur a 2.5% risk of expiring ITM and subject to exercise
• ***We could always buy back the option prior to expiration and prevent exercise if there is substantial share price acceleration

The BCI Expected Price Movement Calculator: NVDA has an ATM IV of 36%

• For a 16% risk factor, we would select a strike near $191.00
• For a 2.5% risk factor (2 SDs), we would double $16.48 and select a strike near $208.00
• Always check the annualized return to make sure it aligns with our pre-stated initial time-value return goal range

Discussion

The option Greeks (mainly, Delta, Theta and Vega) are critical to understanding how best to structure our portfolio overwriting trades. Since these metrics are readily available, we should take advantage of them to create opportunities to elevate our returns to the highest possible levels.

Covered Call Writing Alternative Strategies

Covered call writing is a cash-generating strategy that lowers our cost basis thereby improving our opportunities for successful investments. One of the many benefits of incorporating this strategy into our investment portfolios is that the system can be crafted to meet our trading style, market assessment, portfolio net worth and personal risk tolerance. This book details three such covered call writing-like strategies:

Portfolio Overwriting- using stocks in buy-and-hold portfolios
The Collar Strategy- using protective puts
The Poor Man’s Covered Call- using LEAPS options

Click here to learn more.

Your generous testimonials

Over the years, the BCI community has been incredibly gracious by sending our BCI team email testimonials sharing stories as to what our educational content has meant to their families. Moving forward, we have decided to publish several of these testimonials in our blog articles. We will never use a last name unless given permission:

From an attorney who hired Alan as an expert consultant & witness in a multi-million-dollar options trial:

Alan,

1. Mad Hedge Investor Summit

Wednesday September 16, 2026

12 PM ET – 1 PM ET

The Collar Strategy: Covered Call Writing with Protective Puts

Protecting covered call trades from catastrophic share loss 

Protect our covered call trades by purchasing protective puts. This results in lower risk transactions, with lower, but still significant option returns. This is the strategy Bernie Madoff pretended to use. He called it the split strike conversion strategy, but it was simply a collar. The covered call sets a max gain and the protective put guarantees a maximum loss.

Topics discussed

• What is the collar strategy?
• Uses for the collar
• Entering a collar trade
• Option basics for calls
• Option basics for puts
• Real-life example with NVDA
• What is an option-chain?
• Real-life example using the BCI Trade Management Calculator (TMC)
• Strategy pros & cons
• Event offer
• Q&A

Registration link to follow.

2. Toronto Money Show

September 24 – 25, 2026

MaRS Center, Toronto Canada

Generating a 3rd Income Stream in Existing Stock Portfolios

Details to follow.

3. Orlando Money Show

October 5 – 7, 2026

Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista

3 presentations:

• Portfolio Overwriting (2-hour Master Class)
• Setting Up High-Performance Option Portfolios
• Selling Cash-Secured Puts: The 2 Outcomes

Details to follow.

4. American Association of Individual Investors: NYC Chapter

Date and time to be confirmed.

5. Triple Edge Investing Summit: Technical Analysis • Options Strategies • ETF Mastery

Saturday January 23, 2027- All-day event

Zoom presentation

All-day paid event

All-day event hosted by 3 experts:

• Dr. Alan Ellman (options)
• Dr. Eric Wish (technical analysis)
• Les Masonson (ETFs)

Hosted by TraderLion University

Details to follow.

Combining covered call writing and selling cash-secured puts into one multi-tiered option-selling strategy is known as the Put-Call-Put (PCP) or “Wheel” strategy. In this article, a 68-day series of such trades will be analyzed, showing how a 160% annualized return was realized.

Graphic representation of the PCP (Wheel) strategy

• 1: Sell OTM cash-secured puts
• 2: If exercised, by shares at a discount
• 3: Sell covered calls on shares “put” to us
• 4: If exercised and shares are sold, use the cash to secured new put trades

Real-Life Example with Solaris Energy Infrastructure Inc. (NYSE: SEI): Initial put leg + rolling-up

• 1/20/2026: SEI trading at $55.77
• 1/20/2026: STO 2 x 2/20/2026 $42.50 puts at $1.16
• 1/20/2026: STO 2 x 2/20/2026 $37.50 puts at $0.58
• 2/13/2026: SEI trading at $59.50
• 2/13/2026: BTC 2 x 2/20/2026 $42.50 puts at $0.35
• 2/13/2026: STO 2 x 2/20/2026 $52.50 puts at $0.95 (rolled up)
• 2/13/2026: BTC 2 x 2/20/2026 $37.50 puts at $0.08
• 2/13/2026: STO 2 x 2/20/2026 $50.00 puts at $0.50 (rolled up)

Expiration Friday: 2/20/2026

• SEI closed at $49.24
• 4 contracts expiring ITM
• “Allowed exercise”
• History of earnings beats
• Held through 2/24 ER

PCP or Wheel Strategy with SEI: Call leg on 2/25/2026

• STO 4 x 3/20/2026 $60.00 calls at $3.51
• SEI trading at $55.22 (appreciated after the 2/24/2026 earnings release)
• Place a BTC/GTC limit order at $0.70 (20% guideline)
• 3/9/2026: Change BTC/GTC limit order to $0.35 (10% guideline)
• 3/20/2026: SEI closed at $61.81, and exercise and sale of the shares were “allowed”
• 3/23/2026: 400 shares of SEI sold at $60.00

Graphic representation of the 68-day trades

The PCP or Wheel Strategy: Realized results from 1/20/2026 – 3/20/2026

Discussion

Mastering both covered call writing and selling cash-secured puts will provide opportunities for greater returns by invoking the PCP (Wheel) strategy. It results in prospects of generating cash flow as well as buying shares at a discount. In this real-life example, an annualized 160% return was realized.

Selling Cash-Secured Puts: Softcover

Using stocks and stock options to develop a low-risk, wealth-building strategy for retail investors. Selling puts is a strategy similar to, but not precisely the same as, covered call writing. Mastering either strategy is a huge opportunity for retail investors to secure our financial futures. Mastering both will allow us focus in on the best investment choices depending on market conditions and personal risk tolerance.

Click here to learn more.

Your generous testimonials

Over the years, the BCI community has been incredibly gracious by sending our BCI team email testimonials sharing stories as to what our educational content has meant to their families. Moving forward, we have decided to publish several of these testimonials in our blog articles. We will never use a last name unless given permission:

From an attorney who hired Alan as an expert consultant & witness in a multi-million-dollar options trial:

Alan,

1. Mad Hedge Investor Summit

Wednesday September 16, 2026

12 PM ET – 1 PM ET

The Collar Strategy: Covered Call Writing with Protective Puts

Protecting covered call trades from catastrophic share loss 

Protect our covered call trades by purchasing protective puts. This results in lower risk transactions, with lower, but still significant option returns. This is the strategy Bernie Madoff pretended to use. He called it the split strike conversion strategy, but it was simply a collar. The covered call sets a max gain and the protective put guarantees a maximum loss.

Topics discussed

• What is the collar strategy?
• Uses for the collar
• Entering a collar trade
• Option basics for calls
• Option basics for puts
• Real-life example with NVDA
• What is an option-chain?
• Real-life example using the BCI Trade Management Calculator (TMC)
• Strategy pros & cons
• Event offer
• Q&A

Registration link to follow.

2. Toronto Money Show

September 24 – 25, 2026

MaRS Center, Toronto Canada

Generating a 3rd Income Stream in Existing Stock Portfolios

Details to follow.

3. Orlando Money Show

October 5 – 7, 2026

Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista

3 presentations:

• Portfolio Overwriting (2-hour Master Class)
• Setting Up High-Performance Option Portfolios
• Selling Cash-Secured Puts: The 2 Outcomes

Details to follow.

4. American Association of Individual Investors: NYC Chapter

Date and time to be confirmed.

5. Triple Edge Investing Summit: Technical Analysis • Options Strategies • ETF Mastery

Saturday January 23, 2027- All-day event

Zoom presentation

All-day paid event

All-day event hosted by 3 experts:

• Dr. Alan Ellman (options)
• Dr. Eric Wish (technical analysis)
• Les Masonson (ETFs)

Hosted by TraderLion University

Details to follow.

The Poor Man’s Covered Call (PMCC) is a covered call writing-like strategy where deep in-the-money LEAPS options (1–2-year expirations) are purchased and short-term out-of-the-calls are sold against the long calls. It is a low-cost way to enter a covered call trade, but it is so much more than simply “covered call writing, but cheaper”.

Technical term

• Long call diagonal debit spread
• Simultaneous purchase and sale of an equal number of call contracts on the same stock but with different strikes and expiration dates
• Goal is to generate income as we reduce the cost-basis

Pros & Cons of the PMCC

***Screenshot from the book, Covered Call Writing Alternative Strategies.

Real-Life Example: Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): $43.34 on 3/9/2026:

Buy the $37.00 1/21/2028 LEAPS at $17.85

INTC: Short Call Selection

 STO 4/10/2026 $55.00 call at $0.58

INTC Calculations with the BCI PMCC Calculator

• The red bold “YES” means that, if the trade is closed early due to significant share price appreciation, it will be closed at a profit
• The initial 32-day return is 3.25%, 65.32% annualized
• The upside potential is 68.57%
• The max annualized return is 782.14%
• The breakeven price is $54.27
• The max loss is $17.27

Discussion

• The PMCC is a covered call writing-like strategy with pros and cons
• Must master all the “moving parts” and then decide if this is an appropriate strategy for our goals and personal risk-tolerances
• Like traditional covered call writing, mastering the 3-required skills (stock selection, option selection & position management) is essential to generate the highest long-term returns

Stock Investing for Students: A Plan to Get Rich Slowly and Retire Young

Self-investing starting at a young age can ensure a successful financial future and an early and comfortable retirement. So why is nobody doing this? The answer includes such factors as the social pressures facing our youth, certain pre-conceived ideas regarding our ability to successfully self-invest and the education or lack thereof needed to motivate our youth to undertake such a long-term project.

Learn more.

Your generous testimonials

Over the years, the BCI community has been incredibly gracious by sending our BCI team email testimonials sharing stories as to what our educational content has meant to their families. Moving forward, we have decided to publish several of these testimonials in our blog articles. We will never use a last name unless given permission:

Alan,

1. MoneyShow Masters Symposium Las Vegas

Tuesday July 21, 2026

Caesars Palace Hotel, Las Vegas

Title: The Put-Call-Put (PCP) or Wheel Strategy

Subtitle: Generating cash flow & buying shares at a discount using covered call writing and cash-secured puts 

Description:

Selling stock options is a proven way to lower our cost-basis and beat the market on a consistent basis. Two such low-risk strategies are covered call writing and selling cash-secured puts. This presentation will detail how to incorporate both strategies into one multi-tiered option-selling strategy where we either generate cash-flow or buy stock at a discount. I refer to this as the Put-Call-Put (PCP) Strategy, also referred to as the wheel strategy.

The basics and pros and cons are discussed as well as a real-life example and introduction into the BCI Trade Management Calculator (TMC). This seminar is appropriate for those who look to generate modest, but repeatable, returns which will enable us to beat the market on a consistent basis while focusing on capital preservation.

 Register here.

2. Mad Hedge Investor Summit

Wednesday September 16, 2026

12 PM ET – 1 PM ET

The Collar Strategy: Covered Call Writing with Protective Puts

Protecting covered call trades from catastrophic share loss 

Protect our covered call trades by purchasing protective puts. This results in lower risk transactions, with lower, but still significant option returns. This is the strategy Bernie Madoff pretended to use. He called it the split strike conversion strategy, but it was simply a collar. The covered call sets a max gain and the protective put guarantees a maximum loss.

Topics discussed

• What is the collar strategy?
• Uses for the collar
• Entering a collar trade
• Option basics for calls
• Option basics for puts
• Real-life example with NVDA
• What is an option-chain?
• Real-life example using the BCI Trade Management Calculator (TMC)
• Strategy pros & cons
• Event offer
• Q&A

Registration link to follow.

3. Toronto Money Show

September 24 – 25, 2026

MaRS Center, Toronto Canada

4. Orlando Money Show

October 5 – 7, 2026

Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista

Details to follow.

5. American Association of Individual Investors: NYC Chapter

Date and time to be confirmed.

6. Triple Edge Investing Summit: Technical Analysis • Options Strategies • ETF Mastery

Saturday January 23, 2027- All-day event

Zoom presentation

All-day paid event

All-day event hosted by 3 experts:

• Dr. Alan Ellman (options)
• Dr. Eric Wish (technical analysis)
• Les Masonson (ETFs)

Hosted by TraderLion University

Details to follow.