Last August I wrote about how to get paid from Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM). The trade on WFM stock was a success, and I created income out of thin air.
![Go Long Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) Stock for Free](https://investorplace.com/wp-content/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
Today, I want to reload for another run of income from Whole Foods.
Although Main Street’s opinion of Whole Foods is high, Wall Street lost its love for WFM. But this has created an opportunity to sell downside risk against the extreme pessimism that currently plagues the stock.
The predominant stance of analysts is a “hold,” so the threat of downgrades has abated. This usually means that the count of incremental sellers is low. Furthermore, bears have failed since last September to break the recent flat channel, so maybe this is as bad as it gets for now.
Don’t confuse my commitment to go long WFM stock here as a statement of optimism. It’s not. This is me betting that the worst case for the stock is mostly priced in here.
I don’t want to worry about the intermediate-term on this one. So I will go out in time and use leaps to accomplish my goal. This trade can be done using the August expiration.
How to Trade WFM Stock Right Now
The Trade – Bullish WFM: Sell the Jan 2018 $20 put for 50 cents per contract to open. By selling naked puts, I’ve committed to buying the stock at my sold strike should price fall below it. I only do this if I am willing and able to own it at that price. My breakeven point is $19.50 per share.
I chose $20 because it would put me long WFM stock at a level that allows for another level reset lower should traders decide to further punish the stock. The 34% buffer from current price gives me a 90% theoretical chance of success.
I can alter this trade into a credit put spread to better fit a small account.
The Alternate – Bullish WFM: Sell the Jan 2018 $23/$20 credit put spread for 42 cents per contract to open. This has a smaller price buffer but still yields 16% on money risked if successful. The benefit of this trade is that it carries a smaller worst case scenario.
I won’t hedge my bet yet by selling credit call spreads on WFM stock yet. I am confident that I would be able to manage the price action in the short-term for this long-term trade.
I am not required to hold these trades into expiration. I can close them at any time for partial gains or losses.
Nicolas Chahine is the managing director of SellSpreads.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can follow him on Twitter at @racernic and StockTwits at @racernic.