Selling cash secured puts on stocks an investor is happy to take ownership of is a great way to generate some extra income. A cash-secured put involves writing an at-the-money or out-of-the-money put option and simultaneously setting aside enough cash to buy the stock. The goal is to either have the put expire worthless and keep the premium, or to be assigned and acquire the stock below the current price. It’s important that anyone selling puts understands that they may be assigned 100 shares at the strike price.
Why Trade Cash Secured Puts?
Selling cash secured puts is a bullish trade but slightly less bullish than outright stock ownership. If the investor was strongly bullish, they would prefer to look at strategies like a long call, a bull call spread, or a poor man’s covered call. Investors would sell a put on a stock they think will stay flat, rise slightly, or at worst not drop too much.
Cash secured put sellers set aside enough capital to purchase the shares and are happy to take ownership of the stock if called upon to do so by the put buyer. Naked put sellers, on the other hand, have no intention of taking ownership of the stock and are purely looking to generate premium from option selling strategies.
The more bullish the cash secure put investor is, the closer they should sell the put to the current stock price. This will generate the most amount of premium and also increase the chances of the put being assigned. Selling deep-out-of-the-money puts generates the smallest amount of premium and is less likely to see the put assigned.
IBKR Cash Secure Put Example
Yesterday, with Interactive Brokers (IBKR) trading at $74.90, the March put option with a strike price of $70 was trading around $1.55. Traders selling this put would receive $155 in option premium. In return for receiving this premium, they have an obligation to buy 100 shares of IBKR for $70. By March 20, if IBKR is trading for $69, or $65, or even $50, the put seller still has to buy 100 shares at $70.
But, if IBKR is trading above $70, the put option expires worthless, and the trader keeps the $155 option premium. The net capital at risk is equal to the strike price of $70, less the $1.55 in option premium. So, if assigned, the net cost basis will be $68.45. That’s an 8.61% discount from the price it was trading yesterday.
If IBKR stays above $70, the return on capital is:
$155 / $6,845 = 2.3% in 30 days, which works out to 27.6% annualized.
Either the put seller achieves a 27.6% annualized return or gets to buy a quality stock for an 8.61% discount. You can find other ideas like this using the Naked Put Screener.
Company Details
The Barchart Technical Opinion rating is a 88% Buy with a Strengthening short term outlook on maintaining the current direction.
Long term indicators fully support a continuation of the trend.
Relative Strength just crossed above 50%. The market is indicating support for a bullish trend.
Of 8 analysts covering IBKR, 8 have a Strong Buy rating.
Implied volatility is currently 42.15% compared to a 12-month high of 80.26% and a low of 30.22%. The IV Percentile is 69% and the IV Rank is 23.84%.
Interactive Brokers Group Inc. operates as an automated global electronic market maker and broker.
The company specializes in routing orders, besides executing and processing trades in securities, futures, foreign exchange instruments, bonds and mutual funds on more than 135 electronic exchanges and market centers world wide.
In the United States, it conducts its business primarily from Greenwich and Chicago. Across the globe, it conducts business through offices in Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Hungary, India, China (Hong Kong and Shanghai), Japan, Singapore, and Australia.
The company has been working continuously to wind down its Market Making segment and focus more on the Electronic Brokerage segment.
The company strives to provide customers with advantageous execution prices and trading, risk and portfolio management tools, research facilities and investment products, all at low prices, positioning the company to achieve superior returns on investments.
Summary
While this type of strategy requires a lot of capital, it is a great way to generate an income from stocks you want to own. If you end up being assigned, you can sell covered calls against the shares. You can do this on other stocks as well but remember to start small until you understand a bit more about how this all works.
Risk averse traders might consider buying an out-of-the-money put to protect the downside.
Please remember that options are risky, and investors can lose 100% of their investment.
This article is for education purposes only and not a trade recommendation. Remember to always do your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
On the date of publication, Gavin McMaster did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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