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How do I get called out?

On the strike date you may or may not be called out. Generally, if the closing price of the stock on the strike date is higher than the strike price, you will be called out. If the stock price is lower than the strike price you will not be called out, and you will still own the stock.

Check your account after the close of trading on Friday to see if you have been called out. Sometimes you might not find out until the opening of the next trading session whether you were called out or not. By no later than the opening of the market on Monday morning, you will know whether you got called out or whether you continue to own the stock. Also, you can call your broker to find out.


What sort of premium do I need to receive?

There is no set numeric answer for this question, because various factors go into setting a premium, and these factors have different levels of importance to investors. The more conservative a stock you invest in, the smaller premium you are likely to receive. Conversely, the riskier the investment, the higher the premium.

Therefore, the most important thing is to invest in good companies and not just good returns.


Which broker do you recommend?

WinningInvestments.com does not recommend one specific broker. We do however, encourage you to look at online brokers, such as Charles Schwab, ETrade, Ameritrade, etc.. Among those, we would suggest that you determine your broker based on your own criteria, which most likely includes such factors as commission costs, website reliability, customer service, etc..


Is WinningInvestments.com a broker, and can I invest my money through you?

WinningInvestments.com is a stock screening, research, analysis, news and education service. We are not registered brokers nor are we in any way affiliated with one. People use our service as a way to get quality information and research on the stock market before they decide which stocks to invest with through their brokers.


How can I get a copy of the One-Third Strategy?

Please go to the following link: http://www.winninginvestments.com/ViewArticle.asp?article=3


Can you sell a call and LEAP at same time on same stock?

This involves two different investment strategies. Even if they are on the same stock, they are still separate strategies and transactions. It is not one inclusive strategy because one does not depend on the other. With these strategies, the thing that may get you in trouble is that while everything can work out great, you also are adding to your risk level. We are not saying that this is a bad thing, or something you may not want to do, but we are saying that it is a higher risk level and something different than what our service is typically about.


What is the difference between a LEAP and a call?

There is no real difference between a call and a LEAP in principles. The only real difference between the two is the time factor. Leaps, by definition, are calls that will not expire until January of the following year, or year after that. However, what we usually do is give LEAPS that are only 5-to-7 months away, which is almost like a much longer call than a true LEAP.

Deciding when to buy yourself out of a LEAP is a personal decision. However, if the return is good, and if you are in a position when you can buy back the LEAP and sell out for a profit, it is something you should consider.


How do I find a company’s earnings date?

To find the next earnings date, we would suggest that you look at a company's news under Yahoo and find the date that they last announced and just add three months to that date. Then, as you get closer to the actual earnings date, you can check the news again to see if they have announced a date, or check the company's website or even call the company.


Market vs. Limit?

Whether you ultimately decide to use Market or Limit, is strictly up to you. All we can do is offer you the pros and cons of each and let you know that we find the limit order to be the one that we use.

The only advantage to a market order is that your order will get placed and doesn't have to hit a certain price before the transaction executes.

However, in our opinion, that is negated by the fact that you are at the "mercy" of your broker, and the price you wind up paying is dictated to you, rather than you deciding what is the most you are willing to pay (or least you are willing to receive). We like the Limit order because it protects us in case the market takes a sudden turn and the stock price changes drastically. We always say that it is not worth trying to eke out 1/16 and 1/8, but it is definitely worth it if much more can be saved, and that is why we find market orders too risky.


How should I invest a lot of money?

WinningInvestments.com recommends that you consult with a professional before investing large sums of money. We also recommend a strong amount of diversification in your portfolio (not limiting yourself to under 10 stocks), especially when dealing with a large amount of capital. We also recommend that when you do invest, you do not buy into anything that you do not want to own long term. Since you are dealing with a large amount of cash, we also would recommend conservative investing, because you have more to lose, but yet even small percentage gains equate to a nice monetary profit.

WinningInvestments.com also encourages you to look at some of the better quality stocks that tend to be higher priced, but they are often a better investment. Also, remember that before buying a stock, you need to pay special attention to the volume and open interest of a particular option call, because you do not want to be buying stocks where there is no interest when you go to sell the call.


Define sell open, sell close, buy open, buy close.

Sell to open: This is the one you want to choose, if you are simply trying to sell a call on a stock you bought. You are opening up the call contract on a stock you purchased.

Sell to close: This is for when you have already bought a call, and now want to sell back the option that you bought. For example, you paid someone a premium of $2 for a $20 call on ABC (buy to open), when ABC was at $21. Now, ABC is at $27, and that same premium has gone from $2 to $6. You can now choose sell to close and try to sell it for $6 a share. This closes your deal, you are now completely done with the transaction.

Buy to open: This is what you do when you want to buy in a call contract. In the above example, when you paid $2 a share for ABC, you bought to open.

Buy to close: This is done when you are trying to buy yourself out of a contract you already sold (sell to open). You are closing a position you already opened. For example, you sold to open ABC for $2 a share at a $20 strike price when it was at $21. Now, ABC is at $27, and you don't want to wait until the strike date to be called out. You will buy to close, pay let's say $6 a share to close out your contract. You will have paid $6 and only received $2, for a $4 net loss, but remember, you now own the stock at $27, as opposed to $21.

Please note on the buy to close that you also want to consider a buy to close when your stock has sunk, and you want to buy and close out before the stock drops even more. Also note, the numbers provided were examples, and in real life it will vary based on the stock, strike price, strike date, etc....


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