Last year was a good one to be writing calls: Up a bit, down a bit, and a strong finish in the last few months. More positions have been called away recently, probably making money for covered call writers.  So say a word of thanks to the buyers of our call options.

January Covered Calls

Congratulations to those who sold MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD) covered calls for the January option cycle. It is the most commonly held position for the January cycle among Born To Sell subscribers. The premiums were rich a few weeks ago and subscribers took advantage by selling in-the-money covered calls.

Last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it needed four more weeks to render a decision on MannKind’s inhaled insulin product Afrezza. This pushed the expected decision date past the January option expiration and the Jan options lost tremendous time premium. This is a boon for anyone who had shorted them while the stock barely moved.

With three weeks to go until the January options expire, the top four covered calls that Born To Sell members have written are (in order of popularity):

Equity                           Symbol                         Strike Price

MannKind Corp.        NASDAQ: MNKD 7.5

Apple Inc.                    NASDAQ: AAPL 330

Inspire Pharm.           NASDAQ: ISPH 7.5

Netflix Inc.                   NASDAQ: NFLX 170

This article is by Mike Scanlin, CEO of Born To Sell, www.borntosell.com, a web site dedicated to helping people earn monthly income from selling call options.