CASH – ROAD TO WEALTH!

How a Covered Call Works for a Small Investor

May 15, 2022 by Road-to-wealth, posted in FINANCE / MONEY

On the famous Friday the 13th, I was scrolling my Twitter account. I felt like talking to people and answering my opinion on various investment issues and the market in general.

I saw a post (I’m not going to mention names because I didn’t ask for permission) where he mentioned covered calls, one of his primary sources of income through his investment portfolio.

Among the comments, there was one that caught my attention and said:

“I’m still learning. I have a $50 call on Verizon ($VZ) which expires in June of next year. Is there a better way to do this than buy and wait?”

I answered:

“Yes. Sell weekly or monthly covered calls. You’ll get income every month apart from dividends every three months (Verizon pays quarterly dividends). Reinvest profits. A call that expires in a year freezes your money.”

He tells me:

“Could you explain a covered call to me like I’m 6 years old? I understand calls and puts perfectly. I don’t understand anything beyond that. So I did that option really to learn and because it was so cheap. So I thought, why not?

I want to say I congratulate you and Thank you very much.

I congratulate you because not many dare to accept that they still do not have the necessary knowledge and are afraid to ask for help, especially in public, as is the Twitter network.

Thank you very much because I just got back from vacation from the island of Puerto Rico and I wasn’t sure what to write. You allow me to help you and others in a similar learning position.

Let’s do it this way first, I’ll give an example of a child investor, then I’ll cover what a covered call is, its risks and benefits, and I’ll finish with two real-life examples that I’m actively managing.

Key takeaways:

* What is a ‘covered call’?

* Risks of this strategy

* Benefits of this strategy

* Real examples

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The Small Investor

You’re 6 years old, and you buy 100 hot-wheels cars for $2. However, you want to sell them in the future at a higher price. A ‘covered call‘ gives you the option to sell them at a higher price in the future while earning you income while keeping the cars in your possession.

Therefore, you sell the option to Juanito to buy the cars from you for $2.50 if the cars are worth $2.50 or more in the future. Juanito pays you a credit, let’s say $0.50, for having the opportunity to buy those cars.

At a stipulated date in the future, say a month from now, one of two things will happen.

1. Cars are worth $2.50 or more. Juanito returns to you to buy the cars. He takes your cars and pays you the $2.50. You keep the $0.50 he paid you for the contract and receive the $2.50 per car in cash.

You have the cash and credit to go back and make another investment. You generated a profit of $0.50 per car ($2.50 sale price – $2 cost) plus the $0.50 credit.

2. Cars have not yet increased in value above $2.50. The contract expires. Since it is not worth more than $2.50, Juanito will not want to exercise his contract since he can get the cars at a lower price. Juanito loses $0.50 that you keep for yourself.

So you keep the $0.50 contract and keep your cars in your possession. It allows you to make a new contract for the next month, generating more income while you continue to reduce the cost of your cars.

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What is a ‘covered call’?

It is an income strategy that helps investors generate income in addition to dividends (if the company pays dividends) and capital gains on the stocks or ETFs that you already manage in your portfolio.

Risks of ‘covered calls’

There are two types of risks:

1. The most considerable risk we incur is that we limit our profits on price appreciation.

For example, we buy 100 shares at $45 and sell a call at $50. We limit our earnings to $5 per share ($50 – $45) plus the credit we receive. If the stock rises above $50, the person who bought the call will exercise their option to buy $50 from us and sell it at the current market price.

2. The other type of risk is if the share price falls too low from where we buy because the further the price is from our effective cost, the credit we receive also decreases.

Benefits of ‘covered calls’

1. Selling ‘covered calls’ provides weekly or monthly income depending on the company. Some companies, like Verizon, sell weekly options. Others, like MPLX LP, sell options on a month-to-month basis.

2. Regardless of what price does after selling a covered call, the credit we receive is ours to do with as we please.

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Possible results

When we sell ‘covered calls,’ there are 2 possibilities:

1. The stock price rises more than the price established by our sale. At this point, the buyer is very likely to exercise his option and take our shares. Then, automatically, the equivalent of the money appears in our account as cash, and our shares disappear.

In this example, we realize capital gains plus any credit we have received. Now we start looking for another investment to repeat the process.

2. The share price remains below the established price by our sale. At this point, the option loses most or all of its value, generating our credit income, and we keep our shares intact so we can repeat the process.

In this example, we have 2 options:

a. We can wait for the option to expire and go up into the options heaven. It happens on Fridays, either weekly or monthly depending on the availability of the options. Then, when the market opens the following Monday after the expiration, we go back to sell another call with a new expiration date in the future.

b. We can do what is called a ‘roll over’ of the position, which means that we buy/close the current position before it expires for a low price between $1 to $5 and sell/open a new position for a credit to a new date in the future.

As an investor, it is up to you to decide which options to execute. It is your portfolio, and you must manage it your way. Both options are feasible.

Real examples:

Before we get into the examples, there are 2 requirements for this to work.

1. You must be authorized to buy and sell options.

2. You must be able to buy at least 100 shares of the company of your interest.

Each option consists of 100 shares. Therefore, if you do not have at least 100 shares in your portfolio, you cannot sell options contracts against that position. The part that refers to ‘covered’ means that your 100 shares are collateral for that position.

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MPLX LP ($MPLX)

1. The ex-dividend date for MPLX LP ($MPLX) was May 5, 22. If we wanted to receive its dividend, we had to buy the shares on May 4. That’s precisely what I did.

On May 4th, I bought 100 shares at $33 for an investment of $3,300. I sold the $33 call expiring May 20, 22, for a $40 credit.

It left me with two options:

1) the price closes below $33, and I keep the $40 credit and the shares to receive the $70 dividend ($0.70 dividend * 100 shares). By keeping the shares, I could continue to sell covered calls in the future.

2) the price closes above $33, and my shares get assigned to the person who bought my call. So I had $3,300 deposited into my account, and my shares disappeared.

The second option was what happened.

For a couple of hours of holding the stock, I received a $40 credit. After that, the shares disappeared, and my $3,300 returned to my account as cash. It left me with $3,340 to repeat the process.

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Intel Corporation ($INTC)

Like $MPLX, Intel Corporation had an ex-dividend date of May 5, but the difference is that $INTC has options available weekly.

So on May 3rd, I bought 100 shares for $45.40 for an investment of $4,540. I sold the call expiring on May 6 at $46 for a $38 credit.

Since the price of $INTC was below $46 on May 6, the option’s value lost the vast majority of its value, falling to $3. Therefore, I decided to roll over that position before the end of the day, buying the position for $3 and selling/opening a new position for $54 credit expiring May 13.

The price of $INTC is down, with the rest of the market hovering around $43.64 at yesterday’s close. Therefore, I did another ‘rollover,’ closing the position for $2 and selling/opening another position expiring on May 20th for a credit of $27.

I currently have a loss in the value of $INTC shares of ($176). However, I have received $114 in credits in two weeks. Here is the breakdown:

Credit: $38

Debit: $3

Credit: $54

Debit: $2

Credit: $27

Adding the credits ($119) and subtracting the debits ($5) gives us $114. Add to this the dividend of $36.50 ($0.365 dividend * 100 shares) that I will receive on June 1 since I held the shares as of May 5, and we have a total of $150.50 ($114 + $36.50).

I will keep doing this process until, in the future, the price of $INTC recovers to $46 or higher. Then, my shares get assigned to someone else, giving me my money back in the form of cash and allowing me to start the process with a new position either at $INTC or another company.

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Note: We have several things to keep in mind.

1. If we want to keep our shares, depending on the price recovers, we can sell ‘covered calls’ at higher prices like $48, $50, etc. Not only does this continue to leave us weekly or monthly income through credits, but we also ensure more significant capital gains.

2. If the stock price continues to decline with the market, two things can happen:

a. Credits decrease if we continue to sell covered calls at the same price we started.

b. We are forced to sell covered calls at lower prices than initially started. It decreases the capital gain when shares get assigned to someone else. However, the credits must be higher since we are approaching the current share price.

I hope this can help you understand and learn other ways to make money in the market. If you want to read from other sources, click on this Investopedia link.

Now, begin your Road to Wealth!

Leave your comment below. If you liked it, pay it forward. Please share it on social media and help others become successful as well. Your success will be the result of two things: Knowledge and Action.

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Dividends Up and Dividends Down – What Are You Holding?

February 19, 2022February 18, 2022 by Road-to-wealth, posted in FINANCE / MONEY

As investors, we have to keep an eye out for our holdings. Everyone is happy when things are good, but when things go south, everyone runs for the hills. As long-term investors, we don’t worry about the fluctuations in the stock market, but we do need to be aware of fundamental changes.

Dividend increases are one of my favorite strategies (Dividend Growth Investing). But on the other hand, dividend cuts are one of the first red flags and early signs to show that a company may be in financial trouble.

Another red flags to consider are low amounts of cash available. Again, you can use Finviz to find the current and quick ratios. A metric of 1 or higher is usually a sign of enough money to cover expenses. However, that also depends on their debt.

Starbucks (SBUX) is Shaquille O’neal’s greatest regret for not investing early.

Debt to Equity and Long-term Debt to Equity is preferable under 1 to show a low debt. It is all dependable on the industries and sectors. Some sectors run with high debt, while others may have zero debt.

In my book, as long as the quick ratio and current ratio are higher than debt to equity and long-term debt to equity, it is good enough for me.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the dividend increases and dividend cuts for the first 18 days of February 2022.

Dividend Increases

Dividend Decreases

The stock market will move up over time. However, that doesn’t mean we have to marry a stock forever. Some companies manipulate their books to look better than they should show, but that only lasts for so long until they can’t do it anymore. The best example for all investors was Enron. You can Google information on all the tricks they did until going bankrupt.

We can ride the ship up but should never ride it all the way down. We are not the captains of those ships. We are captains of our investment accounts, and that is all we care about now and in the future.

Stay vigilant and protect your capital.

Now, begin your Road to Wealth!

Leave your comment below. If you liked it, pay it forward. Please share it on social media and help others become successful as well. Your success will be the result of two things: Knowledge and Action.

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AT&T (T) STOCK ANALYSIS FOR 2022

December 28, 2021December 30, 2021 by Road-to-wealth, posted in FINANCE / MONEY

Do you use AT&T (T) as your cell phone provider? How long have you used it as your provider? A long time probably, since AT&T is a behemoth of a company. Founded in 1983 and currently holds 230,000 employees. It’s as close to a dinosaur as you may think since it has been around forever.

Verizon Communications (VZ) is the only telecom service bigger than AT&T, with a market cap of $218.48 billion, and was founded in 1983 as well. AT&T’s market cap is $176.95 billion. Closing in on (T) is T-mobile US (TMUS), with a market cap of $150.59 billion.

AT&T will spin off a part of their business (WarnerMedia) and merge it with Discovery Inc (DISCA). Expect the merger to close out by mid-2022. It’s preferable to wait for the completion of the merge and see how other investors react to the price. It is a cheap stock looking like a bargain, but it could get “more affordable,” if you know what I mean.

Netflix (NFLX) has returned over 450% over the last 5 years.

Their 5YR P/E is currently at 11.78, making it very attractive and hinting at undervalued or discounted prices. However, return on investment (ROI), assets (ROA), and equity (ROE) are all subpar, with a return of under 2% on all of them. Big red flag for me.

An eye-popping dividend at 8.5%, which makes many investors salivate. However, we can expect a cut next year once the merger is complete with high certainty. Also, the dividend paid takes about 60% of the Free Cash Flow (FCF), which is not good if you have debt or are trying to grow the business. Currently, a total of $15 Billion is paid off in dividends by the $25 Billion of FCF. That leaves (T) with only $10 Billion of FCF to pay debt and grow the company.

To make matters worse, their FCF is $23.44 billion. As a rule of thumb, we can multiply that amount by 5 (5YR projection), and we get a total of $117.2 billion. We would love to see their debt under $117 billion. However, their total long-term debt is sitting at an outstanding $284.2 billion, which more than doubles our estimated numbers. It means that (T) has too much debt relative to their free cash on hand.

Understand that FCF is critical because you can do many great things to help your company when you have free cash. Things like paying down debt, buying back shares, reinvesting in the company, making acquisitions, or paying dividends. As a result, the excellent use of FCF will be more appealing to shareholders than paying a hefty dividend while burying themselves in debt. Just think about it, is the bank willing to lend money to the guy with little to no debt or the guy that makes $50K a year but owes over $200K?

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Their revenue has grown slowly over the last 5 years. I like that. It is preferable to see slow and steady growth than a chart that looks like a cardiogram with random spikes. When reality sets in, those spikes are always followed by crashes. My only concern is that although they have acquired many smaller companies, their revenue growth has not shown much improvement.

Following that, their Net Income has shrunk for the last 5 years from $12 billion in 2017 to $1 billion in 2021. Another reason for concern besides their shrinking income is the outstanding shares have gone up from 6.1 billion to 7.1 billion. We want the outstanding shares to shrink and net income to grow. But, just like Santa Claus got it backward when I asked for a lean body and a fat wallet, AT&T got confused as well and had it all backward.

Not all is bad news with (T). They have grown their FCF from $15 billion to $28 billion. The average FCF for the last 5 years is about $23.4 billion. Estimating this average can be kept for the next 20 years, we can calculate a market cap of about $468 billion. In the beginning, we said the current market cap is $176.95 billion. Our numbers suggest that this metric undervalues it.

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Summary:

(T)’s good points: Low P/E, big dividend (suitable for investors looking for cash flow), slow but steady revenue growth, slow and steady FCF growth, and “undervalued” per FCF metric.

(T)’s bad points: Not sure what to expect from the spin-off merger as far as price action, meager returns on ROI, ROA & ROE. There is a high probability of seeing a cut on the dividend, and their debt is too high. Revenue has not grown much despite their acquisitions. Net income is shrinking, and outstanding shares are rising.

Right now (T) has a lot of work to do. The negative points about the company outweigh the positive. This is only a starting point, so ensure you research and analyze before investing. I believe AT&T has to implement better use of their FCF, lower their debt, generate better returns for their shareholders or they will be painfully looking at their market value fall into a quiet and deathly take over. Therefore, we will only trade (T) with a dividend catch strategy. The only way to consider a long-term position is if the price falls below $20.

Now, begin your Road to Wealth!

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HOW TO BUILD AN EASY, S.M.A.R.T. BUDGET

April 13, 2019October 14, 2019 by Road-to-wealth, posted in FINANCE / MONEY

“Don’t underestimate the power of consistency and desire” – Unknown.

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My friends! We have a simple goal here, and the goal is to become rich, not just look rich. So, how do we get there? Well, you have to put your money to work for you. In order to do that, you need to ensure that every single cent that you receive as income has a job to do.

But Joey, what does that mean? It means that you have to prepare a plan, follow that plan and tweak it as necessary. If you still don’t understand or don’t know how to budget, don’t be ashamed. You are not alone!

What I learned from wealthy friends is, they know how much they will make, they know how much has to go towards paying the bills. They also know how much they want to save and invest. Finally, they know how much they will have for fun. Yes, when you prepare your budget, ensure to account for some fun and entertainment too.

Let’s begin with the basics. Before we draw our map, we need to understand what we are doing. We will definitely not learn this on Instagram or Twitter. You have several options. If you know Excel, you can do this a lot quicker than most since the formulas will help you automate the results. If you are not tech-savvy, then you can write it on paper and will probably need a calculator to plug in the numbers and results.

What is a S.M.A.R.T. budget? It is an easy acronym that helps you remember what is important when you are planning and preparing your budget.

Specific – you need to be specific with your financial goal and know what do you want to do with your money. That includes the short term (buying something now) and long term (plans for retirement).

Measurable – as you go, you want to see your progress. That is how you will know if you need to step it up or just keep going with the flow. It will also help you see if you overspent or underspent and where.

Achievable – In order for your budget to be successful, it needs to be achievable. If necessary, you can examine your budget at the end of the month to compare your projected numbers against your actual numbers. Make adjustments as you go and if necessary.

Realistic – you need to be honest. For example, you plan to spend $20 eating out at your favorite restaurants but you know you like to order Dominos, take friends or family to Burger King and pay for them, and end up at the Chinese buffet to end the week. Know your tendencies and patterns.

Time-oriented – In order to achieve your financial goals and meet your timeline, you need to break down the big goals into small steps that will gradually take you to where you want to be.

Now that you have a better understanding of what a SMART budget is, know that making your budget is just the first step. You need to keep planning. Discipline and perseverance will help you sustain it and improve it.

Few tricks to making a budget that works are:

* Ensure every penny of your income has a job to do. If you don’t account for every cent you make and don’t give it a job before you even receive it, that penny will find a place to land and most likely will not be where you want.

* Do not charge your credit cards more than you can afford. A big problem is that many of us use our credit cards when we already used up all of our cash. But we are wrong. The right way to use a credit card is having the funds available in your account. That way it won’t hurt you when it’s time to pay off your card. A rule you can use is the rule of 7. When you are tempted to buy something, wait 7 days. Then ask yourself again if you still want it. More than likely you won’t.

* Review your budget several times for adjustments. You want to have this budget ready before you get paid. Do not wait until you start paying your bills, or your money will have control over you instead of the other way around. It is essential that you sit down, review your budget and make adjustments. Stay on top of your game. The great MLB hitters are the ones that prepare for the pitcher they will face. They don’t wait until the pitcher is on the mount to ask for a scouting report.

* Know how much money you have at all times. Staying with the MLB analogy, life is great at throwing us curve balls. We need to know what we have in order to prepare for the unexpected things that happen every month.

* Always track your spending. Your rent, car loan, and some other bills rarely change. We know we won’t overspend there. But dining out, buying groceries, buying on vending machines at school or work can throw us off. By the way, get cashback and great offers in groceries with Ibotta. Just register for free and see how much you will save each month.

Without further ado, let’s see how a budget should look like. At the beginning of the month, we use projected numbers but at the end of the month we use actual numbers to know what adjustments are needed.

Let’s begin with:

Projected income:

All of your income, paycheck, wages or whatever and add any extra income you make, like answering surveys online, washing cars, paint houses, cut grass, etc.

Projected Housing expenses:

Mortgage / Rent, Phone, Electricity, Gas, Water and sewer, cable/internet, waste removal, maintenance or repairs, supplies, other

Projected Loans:

Personal loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.

Projected transportation expenses:

Vehicle payment, insurance, gas, maintenance, other.

Projected savings:

Savings will vary by individual needs. You can use a percentage of your income. If you choose that option, then do this step first before anything. Another option is to use a specific amount. Option three is taking an amount from what is left after paying all bills.

Projected entertainment:

Movies, concerts, sporting events, other.

Projected balance:

This is what you projected as your income and subtract all the expenses and savings. Ensure this number is positive. This is the amount that you will have left for your personal use or whatever you decide to spend it on.

Tools used to aid with budgeting:

Acorns – automated savings, investing and cashback rewards, rolled into one. Just $1 monthly fee. (full report)

Credit Sesame – raise your credit score and follow their tips. You will be able to get lower rates in future loans, hence pay less and save money. (full report)

Fundrise – easiest way to save and grow your money while becoming a landlord without the hassle. The best part is you can start with only $500. (full report)

Gabi – is a service that will help you find the lowest price you can find for your car insurance. I saved $936 when I switched. And it took me no more than 10 minutes. (full report)

Ibotta – Save on groceries, get offers and rewards every week. Bonuses and cashback. (full report)

Inboxdollars – watch videos, answer surveys, search the web, get paid, transfer to your paypal account. I use it for extra income (full report)

Lucktastic – extra income, scratch digital lottery tickets, join different contests to win free groceries, free gas, or cash. (full report)

Swagbucks – extra income, get paid to watch videos, search the web, answer surveys and much, much more. (full report)

LendingClub – is my number one (#1) choice to save, and grow your money substantially. But, it is restricted to the United States and some states can’t invest either. Cross your fingers your state is in and not out. Also, you will need some money saved to begin. In order to get all the bonuses, you need to begin with $5,000. If you don’t want the bonuses, it is recommended you begin with half of that. (full report)

Paribus – will verify your emails, keep track of the price you paid for items and get your money back when the item’s price drops. Also, can get you compensated when your shipment is late. Everything while you sleep or go about your day. (full report)

Robinhood – my number one platform for trading. Commission-free and simple. Plus get a free stock like Amazon or Coca Cola when you sign up. (full report)

S’more – easy extra income, download to your phone, get paid every morning when you unlock your phone. Get extra points when you watch videos or complete surveys. Redeem prices. (full report)

Sweatcoin – more extra income, download to your phone, get paid to walk outside your house or building. The idea is to give incentives to individuals while helping them to get or stay in shape. (full report)

Truebill – save on monthly bills and stop overpaying for them too. This app will search for refunds and it will also negotiate on your behalf to get better deals. (full report)

Wish.com – Is my favorite site to buy items coming from China, cutting the middle man out of the picture. Cheaper than eBay, Amazon, Walmart, you name it. Use code: PJXXZYH (full report)

I will leave you with a picture so you know what it needs to look like. At the beginning of the month is going to be projected, but ensure that you keep track of your numbers throughout the month and do it again at the end of the month with your actual numbers. That is how you know, what type of adjustments you have to make. Also, modify it as necessary. Everyone’s circumstances are different.

I hope it helps! Leave your comment below.

Remember, it’s all about the road to wealth. If you liked it, pay it forward. Don’t forget to share it on social media and help others become successful as well. There is plenty of room for all of us. In the end, your success will only depend on you and not what others do.

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