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How to Find a Covered Call

Use the Calls tab to find covered call candidates on stocks you own.

A covered call lets you generate income on stocks you already own by selling call options against your shares. The screener's Calls tab helps you find the best candidates.

When Covered Calls Make Sense

Covered calls work best when:

  • You own at least 100 shares of a stock (one options contract)
  • You're comfortable potentially selling the stock at the strike price
  • You want to generate income while holding the position
  • The stock isn't about to report earnings (calls could get exercised early on a gap up)

Step 1: Open the Calls Tab

Navigate to Screener and click the Calls tab. The table shows call options sorted by setup score, filtered by the same DTE (7–55 days), delta (0.10–0.55), and premium ($0.15+) criteria as the Puts tab.

Step 2: Filter for Your Holdings

Use the symbol search bar to find stocks you already own. Or if your holdings are on your watchlist, use the Watchlist Only toggle to filter the screener to just those symbols.

Step 3: Choose Your Strike

The delta tells you roughly how far out-of-the-money the strike is:

  • Low delta (0.10–0.20) — Strike is well above current price. Lower premium, but you're less likely to have shares called away.
  • Moderate delta (0.20–0.35) — Balance of premium and protection. Good default.
  • Higher delta (0.35+) — Strike is closer to current price. More premium, but higher chance of assignment.

Step 4: Check for Upcoming Events

Before selling a call:

  • Check the Earnings Calendar tab — avoid selling calls right before earnings
  • Check the Dividends Calendar — if a stock goes ex-dividend soon and you want to capture it, don't sell a call that could get exercised before the ex-date

Step 5: Log the Trade

After executing through your broker:

  1. Open the Trade Journal
  2. Click Add Trade
  3. Select Option, enter: symbol, "Short" side, "Call", strike, expiration, quantity, premium received
  4. Save

When the call expires or you buy it back, close the trade to record your P&L.

Tips

  • Rolling: If the stock approaches your strike near expiration, you can buy back the call and sell a new one at a later expiration (rolling). Log both transactions in the journal.
  • Return/Day: Prioritize contracts with higher return/day — this normalizes premium across different expirations.
  • HV Rank: Stocks with higher HV rank offer richer call premiums. A rank above 50 is a good starting point.

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