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Thursday, February 13, 2020

Rolled Out Covered Calls Position in Alaska Air Group Inc.

This morning, with the price of Alaska Air Group (ticker ALK) at $65.73, the Covered Calls Advisor rolled out an existing Covered Calls position from the February 21st $62.50 strike price to the March 20th identical $62.50 strike price.  This was done with only $.02 time value remaining in the February 21st Call options and a net credit from the rollout of $.60 per share ($3.85 income for the three March 20th Calls sold minus the $3.25 debit for the February 21st Calls bought-to-close).  A primary reason the remaining time value was only $.02 is that ALK goes ex-dividend tomorrow at $.375 per share.  The Covered Calls Advisor wants to retain an ALK Covered Calls position and it is very likely that the Feb 21st position would be assigned by the owners of the Calls to capture the dividend.  For the Covered Calls Advisor to avoid assignment and to instead capture the dividend myself and also maintain an ALK Covered Calls position, the existing Feb 21st Covered Calls were rolled out to the March 20th options expiration date.  Based on the Covered Calls Advisor's current market overall Slightly Bearish sentiment, it was decided to roll out at the same $62.50 strike price.
Note: the next quarterly earnings report was checked and it is not until April 23rd, well after the March 20th expiration.

As detailed below, a potential return-on-investment result for this Alaska Air Group position is +2.2% absolute return for 44 days (equivalent to a +18.3% annualized return-on-investment).  


Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) -- Covered Calls Position
The transactions were as follows:
02/06/2020 Bought 300 shares of Alaska Air Group stock @ $64.86 per share 
02/06/2020 Sold 3 Alaska Air Group February 21st, 2020 $62.50 Call options @ $2.77 per share
Note: this was a simultaneous Buy/Write transaction
02/13/2020 Bought-to-Close 3 Alaska Air Group Feb 21st $62.50 Call options @ $3.25 per share
02/13/2020 Sold -to-Open 3 March 20th, 2020 $62.50 ALK Call options @ $3.85 per share
Note: this was a simultaneous Net Credit transaction of $.60 when the ALK stock price was $65.73.
02/14/2020 Upcoming ex-dividend of $.375 per share x 300 shares = $112.50


A possible overall performance result (including commissions) if Alaska Air Group is in-the-money at the March 20th options expiration would be as follows:
Covered Calls Original Cost Basis: $18,629.01
= ($64.86 - $2.77)* 300 shares + $2.01 commission

Net Profit Components:
(a) Options Income: +$1,007.00
= ($2.77 - $3.25 + $3.85) * 300 shares) - $4.00 commissions
(b) Dividend Income: +$112.50
= $.375 per share * 300 shares
(c) Capital Appreciation (If Alaska Air Group stock is above $62.50 strike price at Mar 20th expiration): -$708.00
= ($62.50 -$64.86) * 300 shares

Total Net Profit: +$411.50
= (+$1,007.00 options income +$112.50 dividend income -$708.00 capital appreciation)

Absolute Return: +2.2%
= +$411.50/$18,629.01
Equivalent Annualized Return: +18.3%
= (+$411.50/$18,629.01)*(365/44 days)