Customer Reviews

Stocks for Options Trading: Low-Risk, Low-Stress Strategies for Selling Stock Options -- Profitably!

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I started writing covered call options shortly before I read this book. I sure wish I had read this book first. It's hard to lose money writing covered calls because you're getting paid to offer stock that you already own. I feel like I own a bank.

What I really liked about this book more than anything else is that it covered a lot of ground. Particularly, I appreciated the discussion about taxes. I had no idea that you don't report income on writing covered calls until the option expires, someone calls your shares or you cover your position by buying back the option you already sold. This means, as the author points out, that you could sell options late in the year, pocket the money, and assuming nothing happens until January or later of the following year, the income would be taxable to that year. Get paid now, pay the taxes later. I like that idea a lot. It's information like this that helps map out a strategy for investing in the market.

Another thing the author does very well is show numerous examples of his strategies. I was surprised when he showed different ways to purchase a stock, write a covered call against it with a strike price less than the price paid for the stock and still make money. I had to read those sections a few times to figure out just how that worked.

In short, this is an excellent book for beginners and people with some experience in writing covered calls. The lack of hype was a relief. Yes, you can make 50% a year or more easily writing covered calls. It's not some mysterious gambling strategy. I always thought options were some wild trading strategy that only professional traders use. To my surprise and delight I found out that college endowment funds, churches and insurance companies write covered calls as a regular part of portfolio management. As Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" said: "Investing isn't risky. Being uneducated is risky." Do yourself a big favor and get educated about the stock market and writing covered calls. Writing covered calls has very little risk and you get paid for owning and holding stock you already have.

I'm giving this book an enthusiastic 5 stars. If you're an advanced covered call option trader, perhaps you don't need this book. If you're looking for outrageous returns, this book probably isn't for you either. If, like me, you know very little about options or have never traded them, by all means, get this book and study it. The information in this book is excellent, but as with any useful information, you've got to put it into practice. I can't see how anybody with a moderate strategy couldn't earn a decent return on their money using this.

I read his first book "investing without fear" after having stumbled across it at the libary. I liked it so much I ordered this book. He shows you how to make steady returns selling covered call without all the hype like so many others sell you. It's really investing without fear like I have never seen. Most books don't deliver on their promises you read on the cover but this one does. If you apply what he shows you in the book you should have know problem making 50% a year on your money. If you are an aggresive trader This book is not for you. If you are the type of investor who wants to make a good return each year and does not want to watch the market everyday then this book is for you!

I have read and applied the strategy for writing covered call options. This IS an excellent manual for trading with far less risk and with much greater return than I thought possible. If you are conservative and yet want better than above average returns with less risk, (heaven right?) then this book is for you!

In general covered call writing is a conservative option trading strategy, and this book covers the subject in more detail than any other option book I've seen. It is incumbent on me to say several things about it though. For one, writing puts is identical to covered call writing, yet is a superior technique since it involves one commission instead of two. If you're interested in covered call writing, after you get some experience in it learn about put writing. Second, and most important, you can lose plenty of money with covered calls. All that has to happen is the stock goes way down. You'll never get even close to all your money back by writing lower strike calls on it. You do lose less than if you just owned the stock, but get past the idea that this is a perfectly safe way to make money. It's not. Another main point is that over time, its hard to beat the market with this technique. You can match the market with less risk though, so it is a good technique from a risk reward basis. But, especially after taxes, you probably won't beat an index fund.

It took me about a week to read this book a little bit each evening. The day after I was done I wrote covered calls for a portion of my portfolio and instantly added about $700 to my account.

The whole book deals with only one basic strategy - covered call writing, but I still feel it is a good introduction to the complex world of options.

The first thing that struck me about the book was its size - just 200 pages. However once you read the book you won't be disappointed. Friedentag opens with the fundamentals of buying stock, but rather than suggests what one does, tells you do this - do that, which struck me as being a little odd. However page 49 and beyond deal with a really solid strategy for writing covered calls in almost any type of market - up, down and across, and also quickly up and quickly down. The numbers that I see on the ASX support his strategy which can be improved with active monitoring. My only query was why he did not refer to the use of a put option to protect against large downward movements beyond this 'breakeven' price although there might be a reason why ... However the book is worth buying and the strategy definately worth reading. It seems pretty foolproof. His commentary on tax issues was also worth knowing about. He could not have anticipated every countries tax system, but the principle he applies for "long term" investment is similar here (Australia) where CGT applies to half of Capital Gains for assets held for more than a year. The only other thing was the unusual pricing system used in the US took some getting used to. In the US, they quote in eighths and quarters of a dollar - we just use a straight out price. The other difference to note is that options in the US seem to be quoted on stocks valued at more than $10 and only for 100 shares - in Australia, options are available for stocks well below this amount and for lots of 1000 shares. If you just make some allowances for these differences, you will be able to follow Friedentags examples with actual data from the ASX. Get the book.

Best book I ever read on how to profit selling covered calls. You learn from the success of another. Great book and an equally good reference source. Buy it; you will love it.

Unfortunately this little book tells almost nothing about how to actually do covered call writing. It is filled with hype about what covered call writing can do for you, but that's where it stops. The whole subject deserves far better treatment, as it can be a very lucrative technique. I returned this book and got my money back.

Not for anyone who already has a reasonable understanding of writing covered calls. Nothing new here. Most of the book, which is short to begin with, is introductory fluff, appendixes and indexes all geared toward not merely options newbies, but stock market neophytes.

I bought this book thinking that there would be more thoroughly detailed covered call writing practices offered, but there was not much there.

I just wanted to say that I grew up being best friends with one of Harvey's sons, David. I have not yet read any of his books, although two of them are on order, but I have some thoughts to share about Harvey, the man. Let me say first off that Harvey has been a successful options investor since Dave and I were just kids - we are now in our late thirties. In reading some of the other reviews about his books, it is obvious that people feel he knows his subject. Truer words were never spoken! Harvey lives to trade options! He absolutely loves it and has got himself a proven strategy, or maybe several strategies, that have paid off for many years. He is an interesting character and very funny. If you are thinking about checking out his books for yourself as a prerequisite to becoming an independent investor, or just for enjoyment, I am sure you will not be disappointed.