Covered Call of the Month – 26% Annualized Return on this Stock

You have heard all of the old adages about investing such as there is no free lunch and many more.  In general, these saying suggest that higher returns will always require higher risk of some type.  Still, money managers and hedge funds continue to attempt to ink out higher returns on a risk adjusted basis through a numerous variety of customized approaches to stock selection, asset allocation, hedging strategies and so on.  For them, this is the holy grail that generates higher returns than their competitors or market averages.  In my opinion, investors can simplify this process through covered call writing.

Covered call writing consists of selling call options on stock whose shares you own.  This strategy places the investor somewhere between stock ownership and fixed income investments.  While the investor owns shares, they also create income from the premium received from selling call options on those shares.  While this strategy will not produce wealth overnight, it does produce a steady stream of income while owning shares of stock.  This strategy is designed to produce an annual return in the area of 15% on conservative stocks and higher as investors write calls on higher volatility stocks.

Covered Call of the Month

Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) ended the last trading session at $95.02. So far the stock has hit a 52-week low of $66.85 and 52-week high of $96.15. CELG has had an S&P Capital IQ 5 STARS (out of 5) ranking since 10/23/2008. On 1/13/2014 S&P Capital IQ equity analysts set a 12-Month price target of $104.00 for the stock. Celgene stock has been showing support around $93.83 and resistance in the $95.89 range.

For a hedged play on this stock, consider a Nov ’14 covered call with a 95 sold call for a net debit in the $89.77 area. The strategy has an 81 day duration, provides 5.53% downside protection and a 5.83% assigned return rate for a 26.25% annualized return rate (for comparison purposes only). This strategy has a 4 Key (out of 5) Low Relative Risk ranking.