Option Writing Strategies for Extraordinary Returns
Product Description
Option Writing Strategies for Extraordinary Returns details put and call writing techniques sophisticated investors can use to profit from market movement in any direction. It first outlines a strategy for selling options short, using tables and charts to illustrate each step, and then builds a three-legged model for using popular options tools when purchasing stocks. Additional features include techniques for extending a position or writing “… More >>
Option Writing Strategies for Extraordinary Returns
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May 31st, 2010 at 2:58 am
I am an option trader with 3 years of trading experience, and I am thoroughly alarmed after reading this book.
Here are my criticisms:
1. Lack of Clarity
Two problems here: name, and explanation of the strategy. Mr Funk insists to call his recommended strategy “the three-legged position”. OK, everyone is entitled to create their own pet names, but it would have been useful to tell the reader what the rest of the market calls this strategy – it is “Covered Strangle Writing” or “Covered Short Strangle”.
More serious than Mr Funk’s refusal to come clean about the name of his recommended strategy, is his failure to explain the WHYs of this strategy. Now the common use of Covered Short Strangle is to generate income, and this is discussed at some length in the book. However, there is no discussion about the relative merits of this strategy compared to other income-generating option strategies, such as Covered Call.
More dishearteningly, Mr Funk creates a twist in the standard Covered Short Strangle to devise a capital-appreciation strategy. Would a traditionally income-generating strategy be effective as a capital-appreciation strategy ? How does it compare to other capital-appreciation option strategies ? No discussion. Why does he recommend the sale of deep-in-the-money put options ? No explanation.
In short, we get good clear details of the mechanics of his recommended strategy, but zero explanation as to WHY he recommends each part of this strategy.
2. Fuzzy discussion of RISKS
No where in this book can we find a risk chart that shows clearly at what price ranges will this strategy make or lose money, and by how much. You need to read the book very carefully to deduce (yes, deduce – because Mr Funk does not spell it out clearly) that it will make money when the stock price moves strongly upwards.
Furthermore, Mr Funk only glancingly discuss risk management. What to do if the stock price moves down instead .. ? Well, don’t forget to set your stop-loss at 20%. That is it. There isn’t even any explanation whether the stop loss should be applied to all three positions (the stock, the short put and the short call options), or just the stock.
So, the blurb in the front cover “Benefit from both up and down markets” is misleading. This strategy will hurt on the way down, and for the capital-appreciation variation (with deep in the money short put) it will hurt when the stock price is moving sideway too!!
3. Zero discussion on the strategy’s disadvantages
Reading through this book, you will think that this strategy has no weakness at all. Let’s refer to what other leading option experts have to say about it:
“Very high risk and capped reward. Not recommended.” (Guy Cohen, “The Bible of Options Strategies”, 2005, p. 305) He goes on to say that while this strategy generates better yield compared to Covered Call, it is also substantially riskier, “the position can become loss-making at approximately double the speed as a simple Covered Call position” (p. 52).
“So a covered strangle – which is a covered write and a naked put – is equivalent to selling two naked puts. Therefore, it would be more efficient to just sell two naked puts rather than bother with the covered strangle write.” (Lawrence G. McMillan, “McMillan on Options”, 2004, pp 76-77) He goes on to say that simply selling two naked puts will bring lower collateral requirements, lower commision costs and avoid having to deal with three bid-asked spreads.
Every option strategy has a weakness; so this book’s silence on this very important subject makes it a serious DANGER to your financial health.
Rating: 1 / 5
May 31st, 2010 at 5:19 am
This book suggests what the author calls a “three-legged” approach; buying the stock, writing a covered call, and writing a cash collateralized put, where the options written are LEAPS. There are several problems in how he presents this idea:
He doesn’t show the payoff charts which are normally used to show potential returns as a function of price at expiration. Instead, for the few cases where he calculates the possible return, he calculates it assuming a zero price change, which corresponds to a single point on a payoff chart.
He doesn’t explain why he thinks this “three-legged” approach is better than just a covered call. In fact if the payoff charts are plotted for some of his examples (p. 120, GM), it is clear that a covered call would have given better returns than his approach regardless of the price at expiration.
He repeatedly states that the “three-legged” approach “benifits, within a range, from stock price movements in either direction”. This implies that returns increase as long as the stock price changes from where you bought it, which is not true. Again, showing the payoff charts would have made this clear.
This book is not a good use of your time or money. If you’d like an introduction to writing options, I’d suggest Wolfinger’s “The Short Book on Options”. If you are interested in a more aggressive strategy, I’d suggest Lehman and McMillan’s “New Insights on Covered Call Writing”.
Rating: 1 / 5
May 31st, 2010 at 6:21 am
I am an investor with 10 years of experience with writing options. I am very pleased with the conservative approach presented in this book.
Of course there are other capital appreciation strategies and other income-generating strategies, but this book’s strategy of the three-legged position (buy the stock, write the cash-collateralized put, and write the covered call) provides an excellent balance between risk and reward.
The author stresses the importance of fully collateralizing the put, with either cash or near-cash investments such as tax-qualified preferred stock. Naked puts are never recommended. Writing covered calls and cash-collateralized puts are the key to safer long-term investing.
The relevant comparison for me is how the three-legged strategy with fully collateralized puts and 100% covered calls (all LEAPS) compares with the standard investment strategy of either buying to hold a stock, or attempting to “time the market” by buying, selling, or selling short a given stock. I am convinced, through my experience with the three-legged strategy, that it is the best approach.
The fact that an extremely large number of options expire worthless (about 85% of them) provides fertile field for the investment strategy of writing options for a third source of income. I can reap the rewards from the option expiration when it occurs, or, prior to expiration, I can re-write the option at a different strike price or different expiration date, or simply buy it back.
I strongly recommend this book for long-term investors seeking additional investment tools with an acceptable risk level.
Rating: 5 / 5
May 31st, 2010 at 8:58 am
I have 15 years of experience with options trading. For the past 2 years I have invested in accordance with the strategies described in this book – and have benefited as much as the author did in his verified account statement published in the book.
This book is not about options strategies. It is about investment strategies – very successful ones. It uses covered option writing of both puts and calls to generate a third source of income from common stock holdings. The strategies provide me with the opportunity to partially hedge my stock portfolio as a way of offsetting the extreme volatility that characterizes recent stock market trading. The third source of income – premium income from writing options – is a significant addition to the first two sources of income from common stock, dividend income and capital appreciation, both of which currently have special tax advantages.
As an example,
- On August 16, 2007, I bought 1,000 shares of TE at 15.01.
- On the same day, I “sold to open” 10 TE Jan 2009 17.5 calls at 1.00.
- On September 4, 2007, I “sold to open” 10 TE Jan 2009 15 puts at 1.25.
The annual dividend from this NYSE-traded utility stock is 78 cents, or 19.5 cents per quarter. To calculate the return (not counting any price change) from the 3-legged position over the 17 months until option expiration, first add together five dividends of 19.5 cents, or 98 cents per share. Then add 1.00 from writing a call, and 1.25 from writing a put; that’s a 3.23 return on a 15.01 investment – giving me 21.5% on my total investment over the 17-month period – which works out to be an annual rate of return of 15.1%.
Of course, the options may be bought back, written up, or exercised before Jan. 2009, and the stock price may go up or down. In any case, the investment strategies described in this book serve me very well.
The author of this book has put in place three “guidelines” that reduce risks associated with writing covered LEAPS.
Guideline 1: On the upside, the investor is encouraged to write only that number of calls covered by the underlying shares of common stock (for example, 1,000 shares of stock allow the writing of ten covered call contracts).
On the stock market downside, guidelines 2 and 3 are employed
Guideline 2: Puts written should be 100% cash-collateralized so that funds are present to purchase any shares actually assigned.
Guideline 3: A mental loss limit of 2% of a portfolio’s value is recommended. A “portfolio” should have at least ten different holdings at any time. The portfolio’s value is the sum of the values of the three legs for each of the ten or more investment positions. For example, if a portfolio value is $50,000, then any position (consisting of long stock, short puts, and short calls) that is down more than $1,000 should be closed and replaced with another position When any of my net positions are down more than the loss limit, I close the position and move sideways into a comparable stock. In this way, as stated in the book, I benefit from realizing a loss for tax purposes while maintaining the same (approximate) relative financial position.
These investment strategies have helped me traverse the wide swings in the stock market while still earning an attractive yield.
Rating: 5 / 5
May 31st, 2010 at 10:55 am
This book is a “must have” for the sophisticated investor interested in benefiting from writing LEAPS options for a third source of income. (As the book points out, the first source is capital appreciation, the second source is dividends, and the third source is option premiums.)
I am particularly impressed with the effectiveness of the “three-legged position” (Leg 1, buy a stock; Leg 2, write a put; Leg 3, write a call) which the book clearly describes and illustrates. I have set up my own “income account” and “capital appreciation account”, based on the instructions in the book, and I am delighted with the results. I plan to use the book as my guide as I re-write, write-up, and close option positions.
I appreciate that the three-legged position benefits from stock price movements in either direction, because investors do not know what a stock will do when they open a position. With a three-legged position, Legs 1 and 2 move in the same direction at any time and Leg 3 moves in the opposite direction. Leg 1 always benefits from any dividends received. Legs 2 and 3 always benefit from the passage of time. If the stock declines in value, the loss on Legs 1 and 2 is reduced by the gain on Leg 3 (the short covered calls). If the stock moves up, the gains on Legs 1 and 2 are reduced by the loss on Leg 3 (except that the calls can usually be re-written, thereby increasing option income and expanding the potential gain over time). “Payoff charts” are not relevant, since option writing positions are closed well before the contract expiration date.
This book is invaluable, filled with practical examples of the three-legged position and steps to take regardless of which way the stock moves.
Rating: 5 / 5