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You should read and study the publication Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options available from the Options Clearing Corporation before making any option investments. Please also read the disclaimers and additional information at the bottom of the main page of www.FreeOptionInfo.com.

Following is some general descriptive information to help in understanding some of the assumptions and approximations used in calculating the table entries. Note that on any given day you will not find options for all of the same stocks included in all of the tables because most options are filtered out due to the yields being relatively low.

Covered call yields assume the stock is purchased in a cash account and the option is sold right away so that the net investment is the stock purchase price minus the option premium. The unchanged yield is equal to the income divided by the net investment. The income is the premium received for out-of-the money calls, or the amount above and beyond the in-the-money amount for in-the-money calls. The "yield if called" adds in the gain from selling the stock at the strike price. Note that the first table is grouped by Month and within each month sorted by Unchanged Yield from highest to lowest. The second table is an alphabetical listing by Stock Symbol and for each stock the entries are ordered by Month and Strike Price. With covered call writes, the goal is to profit from the option income and possibly even more if the stock is called away. If the stock goes down below your purchase price by more than the option income received, you have a loss. If it goes up above the strike price you have a gain, but perhaps less of a gain than if you had not sold the call, just held on to the stock.

Cash-covered put yields assume that the required net amount to purchase the stock is deposited prior to writing a naked put. If the put is assigned the stock would be purchased at a net cost of the strike price minus the premium received. The yield is calculated by dividing the income by the net cost. The income is the premium received for out-of-the money puts, or the amount above and beyond the in-the-money amount for in-the-money puts. With cash-covered put writes, the goal is to either pocket the premium if the option expires worthless, or if assigned on the put option to buy the stock at the strike price which is a discount to the current price. If the stock goes down below your purchase price by more than the option income received, you have a loss.

Put spread writes involve selling an out-of-the-money put and buying a further out-of-the-money put. The income is the net credit, which is the premium received minus the premium paid. The margin is the difference between the strike prices less the premium received. The spread yield is the income divided by the margin. This table is grouped by Month and within each month sorted by out-of-the-money Distance as a percentage of the stock price, from highest to lowest. With spread writes the hope is both options will expire worthless so you will pocket the net credit. If the stock goes down below the strike price of the option you sold, you could be assigned on that put resulting in a partial profit or loss. If it goes down further below the strike price of the put you bought, your loss will be limited to the margin amount.

The preceding three strategies are bullish because you profit if the stock goes up (or at least doesn't go down much).

Strangle writes involve selling an out-of-the-money put and an out-of-the-money call. This is a neutral strategy. The hope is the stock will remain approximately unchanged. If the price stays below the call strike and above the put strike both options will expire worthless and you will pocket both premiums as income. The yield is calculated by dividing the income by the margin. For this table the margin is assumed to be 50% of the call strike price. Consult your broker for actual margins, which may be 30% or less and typically vary depending on the out-of-the-money distance. With strangle writes, both option are naked. If the stock goes above the call strike price your risk of loss is unlimited. If the stock goes below the put strike price your risk of loss is also enormous, limited only by the fact that the stock cannot go below zero.

The following three strategies are bearish because you profit if the stock goes down (or at least doesn't go up much).

Call spread writes involve selling an out-of-the-money call and buying a further out-of-the-money call. The income is the net credit, which is the premium received minus the premium paid. The margin is the difference between the strike prices less the premium received. The spread yield is the income divided by the margin. This table is grouped by Month and within each month sorted by out-of-the-money Distance as a percentage of the stock price, from highest to lowest. With spread writes the hope is both options will expire worthless so you will pocket the net credit. If the stock goes up above the strike price of the option you sold, you could be assigned on that call resulting in a partial profit or loss. If it goes up further above the strike price of the call you bought, your loss will be limited to the margin amount.

Short-covered put yields assume the stock is sold short in a margin account with 50% initial margin which is considered to be the net investment amount. The unchanged yield is equal to the income divided by the net investment amount. The income is the premium received for out-of-the money puts, or the amount above and beyond the in-the-money amount for in-the-money puts. The "yield if put assigned" adds in the gain from buying back (covering) the stock at the strike price. With short-covered put writes, the goal is to profit from the option income and possibly even more if the put is assigned. If the stock goes up above your purchase price by more than the option income received, you have a loss. If it goes down below the strike price you have a gain, but perhaps less of a gain than if you had not sold the put, just held the stock short. As always with short selling your potential loss is unlimited because the stock could keep going up and up.

Naked call yields assume an out-of-the-money option is sold in a margin account and the net investment is an initial margin amount equal to 30% of the stock price minus the out-of-the-money amount, or 10% of the stock price, whichever is greater. In the real world this margin will increase if the stock goes up. The unchanged yield is equal to the income divided by the net investment. The income is the premium received for out-of-the money calls, or the amount above and beyond the in-the-money amount for in-the-money calls. The risk of loss is unlimited because the stock price could keep going up.

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