Discover The Truth About Out Of The Money Covered Call Option Writing!

By Marc Abrams

There are many investment training strategy websites and e-books that promise you incredible things. One of the more common stock market trading strategies taught is to sell covered call options on stocks. These websites maintain that you can earn monthly returns up to 10% or more using that very strategy! Sound good? Read on.

I will be the first to admit that selling out-of-the-money covered calls can bring lucrative monthly returns under the right circumstances. This strategy has been successfully used by me. However, this strategy is not without its disadvantages. The public has not been properly educated by the website and e-book marketers. They market this strategy as conservative with little risk. They leave you holding the bag when it all goes wrong.

Selling out-of-the-money covered calls works when the stock market is going up in value. They also work when the stock market is neutral, meaning the market trades sideways with little swing up or down. I don't know about you, but when was the last time the stock market traded sideways for any length of time?

We are currently in the midst of an extremely volatile market. We have recently seen swings in the Dow as much as 200 points in either direction on any given day. Hardly a profitable market for an out-of-the-money covered call writer. Once that stock you are holding starts to decline, so do your profits. I can assure you that profits can evaporate very quickly. I have seen stocks fall from $10 per share to $1 per share over night! There is never enough premium on an option sale to cover that kind of decline.

The key to out-of-the-money covered call writing is to select stocks that will get called. Many so called experts do not want the stock to get called. They want you to keep the stock so you can sell a covered call option on it the next month. This strategy is flawed. You need to select stocks that are trending up in value, hence, a rising market. Those stocks will make you the most money. If the stock gets called, I know I ended up making my maximum anticipated return.

What if the stock shoots way up in value? The stock simply gets called away if it rises up past the strike price and stays there through expiration. Isn't that what you wanted to begin with? Because you did not participate in those gains you may feel like you left money on the table. If that upsets you then just buy the stock outright and don't sell covered call options on that stock. Why not just let the stock get called away, take your profit and move on? Then look for another stock to buy and sell calls on for the next month.

Remember, selling out-of-the-money covered calls can provide an excellent source if income in a rising stock market. However, this strategy is less than ideal in a stock market like the one we find ourselves in today. There are, however, other strategies that will offer significant protection in a volatile or declining stock market. - 23211

About the Author:

Marc Abrams Is A Certified Public Accountant With Over 15 Years of Financial And Investing Experience. Visit Marc's Website at http://www.rebuildingmyfuture.com To Learn More About Writing Covered Calls In Today's Stock Market

International Students Health Insurance - Student Secure Plan

By Ray Sondeo

Student medical health insurance is one of the most important requirements for an international student. Health care expenses are usually on the expensive side in all foreign countries and as such, it is very important that we take up International Student Insurance before we leave for our studies abroad.

StudentSecure SM Medical Insurance is an international student health insurance plan, which is offered by HCC Medical Insurance Services. This plan offers several features and is also available in two levels- Select and Budget. Coverage for factors like Emergency Medical Evacuation, Acts of Terrorism, Medical Expenses and pre-existing conditions( covered after 12 months) , are included under these plans.

Both the Select and Budget levels offer different levels of coverage. Coverage up to $300,000 is provided under the Select level, whereas coverage up to $250,000 is available under the Budget option. The important aspects that these plans cover are - Dental Treatment due to Accident, Dental Treatment to alleviate pain, Maternity Care for a Covered Pregnancy, Routine Nursery Care of Newborn, Hospital Room & Board Local Ambulance Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Pre-Notification Penalty, Outpatient Treatment & Outpatient Prescription Drugs and Mental Health Disorders.

StudentSecure International Student Insurance also covers factors like Therapeutic Termination of Pregnancy, Physical Therapy & Chiropractic Care, Intercollegiate, interscholastic, intramural, or club sports, Terrorism, Benefit Period for coverage after Policy Termination Date, Emergency Medical Evacuation, Emergency Reunion and Accidental Death & Dismemberment.

Only full time students who are residing in a foreign country, holding a valid student visa (F-1) are eligible to take up these plans. It is important) that at no time these students apply or obtain a residency status in the foreign country they are pursuing their studies in.

We can extend the plan up to a year from the initial date of payment and afterward if we want, we can renew it to a time period of four years. Renewal of the plan is possible only if we continue to meet all the plan pre-requisites and is possible for maximum four years, after which we need to opt for a new plan.

It is very easy to enroll for this plan. We can easily and conveniently make our payment and submit our forms either by mail, fax or through an e-mail. We can expect an immediate response from the company and our insurance documents will be forwarded to us either through post or e-mail, depending on our choice.

These are a few features of the StudentSecure SM Medical Insurance plan. - 23211

About the Author:

Ray Sondeo often writes about international student insurance.

Getting Rates For Health Insurance Plans

By Clarissa Winegarten

Before deciding any kind of health insurance policy, you must obtain health insurance quotes so that you get the best in the market. You will find plenty of rates and conditions, which will make you confused about the whole subject. Many people find it difficult to do the job of getting a competent health insurance rate quotes. They generally become fed up with the vastness of the subject and take up the one which is readily available to them.

You can save a lot of money from the health insurance plans. There are thousands of people, who don't have coverage from an employer have to take out a health insurance policy. So they run after insurers to get them covered under some kind of health insurance policy.

A lot of money can be saved by choosing a competent plan. You need to collect good quotes, compare them and choose the best out of the lot. This might take up a lot of time and energy, but the end result is bound to be worth it as you will end up with a plan that is a best fit for you.

The telephone directory is the first place where you should look into. You will find many insurance companies in your vicinity. You can go to them and ask for a rate quote against some basic information that you have to give to them. You should not to make a decision right away but wait till you have approached other insurance companies and for rate quotes.

You should talk to your friends, relatives or coworkers to learn about their experience with health insurance companies where they are covered. You will be able to get some definite information and names of reliable companies. Approach them for fresh rate quotes.

The most effective and time saving way is to get rate quotes form online insurance companies. You can reach them through their websites and get plenty of health insurance quotes and study them to reach a final decision in the matter. - 23211

About the Author:

Today with instant online health insurance quotes, we can quickly get the coverage we need. The Internet allows us to get an instant health insurance quote and apply for coverage that is right for our situation.

What Is Your Investing Knowledge

By Jens Jackson

Investing is not easy as anyone that has been around for awhile will tell you. You put your own hard earned money on the line and when you get it wrong, it hurts. You need other traders to share with you their investing knowledge. It is very expensive to learn the hard way all the lessons that you need to learn. You can find an online investing message forum or blog. There is a lot of free information that would cost you money elsewhere but that is free on the Internet. You need to hook up with the right people to learn how to make money investing in stocks.

Teaming up with other investors over the Internet is awesome power. You can learn a ton of free investing advice by simply networking with other stock traders over a financial blog or message forum. Yes you will meet traders you do not like but more than half of the traders you meet will be eager to show you the ropes and give you a helping hand for just a little bit of praise from you. Using the World Wide Web to connect with other investors is an awesome power. If two heads are better than one, then what are thousands of heads connected over the Internet worth: priceless. I have learned a ton of free methods at becoming a better, more profitable trader over stock investing blogs and websites.

You need to read the rules, regulations, and disclaimers before becoming a regular reader of a message forum or blog. You should also check out a financial websites reputation. If they have a bad reputation, stay away from it. Comments should not be deleted by so called moderators. Moderators are bad in any form as they restrict the free flow of information and speech by nature. Any website that needs moderators is probably a website that has a bad reputation and has made a ton of enemies and so they have to keep deleting comments on a regular basis. Spend time researching a financial blog or message forum before you become a regular reader. It is easier to walk away from a website or blog in the beginning before you get emotionally addicted to the content.

Some stock blogs require no user account information whatsoever. These are the best financial blogs to subscribe to. Whatever you decide, connecting with other stock traders will increase the profitability of your trades.

A lot can be learned by the type of investments an investment blog, message forum, or club is recommending. Watch out for investment clubs that recommend mostly OTCBB, pink sheet, or small cap stocks. The liquidity on these stocks are very low and so any buying will move the stock higher. You need to make sure you are not the target of a pump and dump scam involving small cap stocks. - 23211

About the Author:

By Jens Jackson. Do not purchase any stock training materials until you check Lance Jepsen's awesome free stock market blog at investing

Understanding The Gold Standard

By Alyssa Rogers

The gold standard refers to the use of gold as the "insurance" to back what a country's paper currency was actually worth - if there was no physical asset to support the value of the paper, well, the dollar bill in your wallet was worth just that - paper. The gold standard has been in use in one form or another since the earliest days of coinage when rulers minted coins and the value of a coin was the intrinsic value of the gold or other precious metal contained within it. Stamping the head and name of the king or emperor whose treasury issued the coinage was not just a political statement as to who was boss, but also a symbol of quality control - you have one of my coins, I am saying it has this much gold included in it!

Pirates operating in the Caribbean raided Spanish treasure ships taking gold cargo back to the Old World - the problem was that their ill-gotten gains were too large a denomination to spend, especially when it came time to settling their bar tabs. As the gold was in a form which meant uniform purity and weight, the pirates and landlords of the inns they frequented would break the large standard gold coins up in to eight pieces - this is the origin of the pirate phrase, "Pieces of Eight".

In the middle of the Second World War, the Allies and most everyone else who was not on the German/Japanese side, met and thrashed out the Bretton Woods Agreement which laid out the financial foundations for the world for after the hostilities. Underpinning every country's currency was a tie to a "gold standard" - and within the range that was established a country could only issue so much currency in relation to its gold reserves. This arrangement continued until 1971 when gold lost its luster and Black Gold - oil - replaced it as the effective asset backing many of the world's currencies including the US Dollar.

The need for gold to support the "real" value of the paper currency issued meant that country's had to accumulate and maintain bullion reserves of gold. You may remember the James Bond film, Goldfinger and an audacious plot to raid Fort Knox in Kentucky. Though it was a fictional film, Fort Knox is certainly not and along with the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, the US maintains enormous gold reserves required to support the US dollar - but it is not only the US that stores gold at these locations, friendly countries with close trading ties also maintain their gold reserves at these locations to, and while the gold standard does not apply as it once did, these reserves of gold bullion still play an enormous part in the global economy and how nations do business with each other.

The last country to be tied to the gold standard was Switzerland who dropped the standard in 1999, but after the recent economic upheaval and the almost total, global banking collapse, there are renewed calls for the gold standard to be re-introduced once again. - 23211

About the Author:

Need quick cash, sell gold or sell silver with the most respected online guaranteed resource. http://www.refinity.com