How to Get Started With Writing Calls

How do you get started with trading covered calls?  Once you understand the principles of writing options, you must determine what stock to purchase for this trade.  The simplest method is to start with a list of stocks.  I suggest the S&P Dividend Aristocrats list.   Since this trade requires buying stock, why not get paid a dividend in addition to the call premium.  This is more effective when you continue to write calls on the stock month after month until you are assigned.  This gives you a second dividend income to increase your monthly income stream.

The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats is currently a list of 42 companies that have increased dividends (not just remained the same) for 25 years straight.  Keep in mind just because they are on this list now, doesn’t mean in the future they will be forced to reduce their dividend.  Unfortunately during our last recession in 2008 many investors found out their dividend was cut on their once stable stock.  For example, Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and General Electric Company (GE) both cut their dividend, and were removed from the Dividend Aristocrat list in 2009.  In 2009 a total of 10 companies were removed from the list.  As you can see from the list of stocks, these aren’t exactly a list of highflying tech stocks like Apple (AAPL) or Google (GOOG). In fact most people consider these stocks boring, but boring is sometimes better.

The list below shows the stocks included in the Dividend Aristocrats list for 2011.  You should start looking at the company’s with a 4 or 5 star rating by Standard & Poors.  You can find a level of ease when a stock is rated a strong buy or buy by S&P.  There are 5 stocks rated strong buy on the list: XOM, WMT, KO, PPG, and VFC.

Company Name Symbol Price PE Yield % SP Rating SP Recommend
Exxon Mobil Corp XOM        85.22 12.1 2.2 5 Strong Buy
Wal-Mart Stores WMT        54.52 12.7 2.7 5 Strong Buy
Coca-Cola Co KO        69.73 13.0 2.7 5 Strong Buy
PPG Industries Inc PPG        88.94 14.0 2.6 5 Strong Buy
VF Corp VFC      120.50 21.1 2.1 5 Strong Buy
Chubb Corp CB        64.45 9.1 2.4 4 Buy
AFLAC Inc AFL        46.21 10.4 2.6 4 Buy
Target Corp TGT        51.81 12.6 2.3 4 Buy
Abbott Laboratories ABT        52.95 12.7 3.6 4 Buy
Dover Corp DOV        66.84 15.0 1.7 4 Buy
Walgreen Co WAG        40.02 15.6 2.3 4 Buy
Johnson & Johnson JNJ        66.72 16.0 3.4 4 Buy
PepsiCo Inc PEP        65.76 16.7 3.1 4 Buy
Becton, Dickinson & Co BDX        87.16 16.8 1.9 4 Buy
Grainger, W.W. Inc GWW      155.45 18.5 1.7 4 Buy
Brown-Forman Corp B BF/B        75.96 19.5 1.7 4 Buy
Stanley Black & Decker SWK        70.10 19.5 2.3 4 Buy
Leggett & Platt LEG        23.50 20.3 4.6 4 Buy
Cintas Corp CTAS        34.37 20.5 1.4 4 Buy
Automatic Data Processing ADP        53.23 21.7 2.7 4 Buy
Sigma-Aldrich Corp SIAL        73.53 22.4 1.0 4 Buy
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co ADM        32.12 10.0 2.0 3 Hold
Cincinnati Financial Corp CINF        28.40 12.5 5.6 3 Hold
CenturyLink Inc CTL        38.66 13.0 7.5 3 Hold
Consolidated Edison Inc ED        53.58 14.4 4.5 3 Hold
Pitney Bowes Inc PBI        22.41 14.6 6.0 3 Hold
Kimberly-Clark KMB        67.90 15.4 4.1 3 Hold
Lowe’s Cos Inc LOW        22.62 15.9 2.5 3 Hold
3M Co MMM        95.38 16.4 2.3 3 Hold
Bemis Co Inc BMS        33.95 16.7 2.8 3 Hold
Procter & Gamble PG        64.25 16.9 3.3 3 Hold
Air Products & Chemicals Inc APD        91.90 17.2 2.5 3 Hold
McCormick & Co MKC        50.25 17.5 2.2 3 Hold
Family Dollar Stores Inc FDO        54.14 17.9 1.3 3 Hold
McDonald’s Corp MCD        88.56 17.9 2.8 3 Hold
Emerson Electric Co EMR        55.10 19.2 2.5 3 Hold
Ecolab Inc ECL        53.05 23.8 1.3 3 Hold
Bard, C.R. Inc BCR        99.28 26.9 0.8 3 Hold
Clorox Co CLX        74.36 39.4 3.2 3 Hold
Hormel Foods Corp HRL        30.29 17.7 1.7 2 Sell
Sherwin-Williams Co SHW        79.64 17.4 1.8 1 Strong Sell
McGraw-Hill Cos Inc MHP        43.92 16.1 2.3 NA NA

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