Hi gang,
I would like to preface anything that I write here tonight with the following:
I want to stress ( no pun intended ), that this discussion will not be one of a deep technical nature. There are many people on the several threads that we all read that are far more educated in the realm of options than I. To expand your knowledge in this area I certainly suggest that you visit Jill and Poet's thread " SI - Options on Gorillas and Kings ", there are many contributions on this thread by individuals I consider to have the type of knowledge many of you are seeking, people like, edamo, Pal, Jill, Poet, Koplik, Kincaid to mention a few. Also I would like to say that in no way is my Philosophy set forth in order to repudiate or refute any contention by the above mentioned people or others, it is just simply a Right Brained Thinking Guy's Philosophy On A better Life.
You must understand that my attitude as it relates to Covered Call writing is a PHILOSOPHY and not necessarily a strategy. The foundation of my Philosophy is grounded in the aggrandizement of Life Quality through STRESS reduction as opposed to a strict " get the last dollar out of some theorized strategy ", if one's aim is realizing the Nth dollar out of his investments, I would suggest you read no further for there are many books written on such. As a matter of fact, that has been my biggest disappointment when reading even the most " semi-altruistic " books on Covered Call Writing, the emphasis is strictly, get the last dollar and rarely is the greatest dynamic of this fantastic tool discussed, the empowerment it provides in altering for the better, your life and the lives around you. I can not STRESS this last statement enough, look at the monetarily STRESSED out children you love so much, look at your parents if you are fortunate enough to still have them, look at that once proud friend of yours that was dismissed because of "whatever" from that Company ie. AT&T, IBM that supposedly offered life time security and bear witness to the awful changes that action has wrought. No my friend, there is much more to life that Nth dollar. The before mentioned paragraph brings to mind one of the great TENETS of the naysayers to Covered Call Writing and that is "Opportunity Lost", well my reply to that is, Opportunity for what? To get the last dollar or "Opportunity Gained", that of dramatically improving your life.
I don't feel I can do justice to this subject without giving you some background on yours truly and why I am such a fanatic about life quality whether it be physical or psychological.
Astonishingly, as I looked back on my life, it is with vivid recollection that I recall my first confrontation with STRESS at the tender age of ten. Now, at that age I was in no way so aware of stress that I could have given a definition but as I began to notice, STRESS as we know it today does not necessarily require the written word. This confrontation, though innocent would be emblazoned in my mind for the rest of my life. I was one of six children born to a hard working man who's greatest skill was the manipulation of the screwdriver and pliers, for my father was a mechanic. The confrontation of STRESS that mentioned occurred several times a year but none so impactful as those Monday mornings when six kids stood before this hard working mechanic to receive that weeks allotment for lunch and other misc. items. It is hard to believe that at the age of ten my mind would be on such things but I just couldn't get my father's look of what would turn out to be STRESS out of my mind and it has not lessened even to this day.
The most dramatic rejection on my part for no STRESS in my life occurred in a far different arena and about as far from that beloved mechanic as I could get, the Frankfort, Germany International airport. For times sake I will not get into every detail but suffice it to say that my career consisted of 30 years of what should have been nothing but day in and day out STRESS but the look on my father stood me in good stead as I journey through life in one of the most STRESSFUL careers a man could have. I was making my 7th trip to Tel Aviv in a span of about six months trying to complete the clean-up and recertification of Tel Aviv's largest Power Plant. I was resting on a leather and chrome bench when the individual I was traveling with came over, shook me and said, we need to get going, our flight leaves in an hour. I said, no my friend, your plane leaves, I refuse to participate in this STRESS TANK any longer. I got on a plane and never looked back. I have always said that my Angels speak to me in irrational acts on my part or others and this was just one example of such, however, this put me in somewhat of a dilemma, I HAD NO JOB and worse NO INCOME, but for some reason I thought little of it, I had seen stress destroy my father and I might die from many things but STRESS would not be one of them
The only asset I had outside of my home, truck ( lost company car ) was my IRA and certain options, which like everyone I meet today, I would protect at all costs right? Well you're right I did. Situations had occurred that had brought my son back to Atlanta from South Georgia and as he walked into my bedroom one day, he asked the proverbial question: " so what you going to do ", I said well, I don't know, but I can tell you what I am not going to do, what's that he asked, do anything that is stressful. He looked at me knowing I meant it and said, why don't you do this and he handed me a book and articles on Writing Covered Calls. Thinking it was about Puts and Calls I began to laugh and said, sport, that is all I need, the gamblers tools for transacting business in the largest Casino of all, the stock market, no thank you I said and pushed the material aside and continued my search in the paper for something menial but stressless. I will never know what made me pick up the material and began reading but I did. It did not take me long to realize that if what was written in this material was true, there was no limit as to what I could do. Oddly and maybe Angelically, to this day, I am the only person I know, and I have explained this to hundreds of people and I say again to this day I am the only one that has reacted in that way.
To be continued after a break:
MY LIFE TURNS AROUND: Part two -
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