I just got a nice premium with Dish Network (DISH), but earnings are coming.
I bought 1000 share of DISH on 9/16/19 at $35.80. At the time I thought the stock was gonna move so not only did I buy the stock, I also bought an option which will expire in June. The stock has really been stagnant! It’s been trading in a very narrow range. Mainly below where I bought. Since I bought the stock I was only able to sell 2 Calls bringing $1400 in premiums. I just sold the 3rd Call for a premium of $750. All of these Calls have been 10 contract Calls. With this 3rd Call my total premiums are now $2150.
Sell to Open 10 DISH 11/8/19 $36.00 C @ 75¢ (+$750)
One of my rules is to not get involved in a stock if earnings are due out within the option’s life. DISH is announcing earnings this Thursday and my option, I just sold, expires this Friday. So I will own DISH through the earnings announcement. The question is, why did I break my rule?
I already own the stock which is 60¢ below where I bought. I don’t want to sell the stock at a loss. I’m gonna hold the stock through earnings so I might as well bring in a premium. I could have just held the stock without an option attached, and keep the gains if earnings are good. But that means I’ll also be holding the stock if the earnings are bad and the stock goes down. I really want to move on from DISH so if the earnings are good and the stock flies up, fine! I’ll take my $2150 of premium money, and a few cents on the stock, and move on. If I get assigned on Friday I’ll be up over 6% on the investment that started back on 9/16, about 2 months. I’ll take it and run! I really hope this is what happens.
This trade is a Covered Call on a previously owned stock so it gets a Risk Factor 1. You might say the risk factor should be higher because of earnings but this trade did not add any risk. It might give me an Opportunity Lost, but no added risk.
Successful trading,
Steve
The Options Coach