How to Use the Covered Call Scanner

What it does

The covered-call scanner finds, for every S&P 500 stock, the call nearest your target delta in your expiry window, and ranks by income — gated by the same catalyst risk score so you're not writing calls into an earnings gap. It's the covered-call strategy made into a live shortlist.

Step 1 — choose moneyness

• OTM (strike above price) — keep some upside, smaller premium, lower odds of being called. The default for "I want income but might keep the shares."
• ATM (at the money) — maximum time premium, ~50% called-away odds.
• ITM (strike below price) — deep premium and downside protection, but you're likely selling the shares. Useful when you're happy to exit.

Step 2 — read the two returns correctly

This is where people fool themselves, so the scanner separates them:

• Static return — income if the stock stays flat. We show time value only (premium minus any intrinsic), so a deep-ITM call's intrinsic doesn't masquerade as yield. This is your true "rent."
• If-called return — total return if the stock finishes above the strike and you're assigned: premium + the gain up to the strike.

Annualized scales the static return to a year (a ranking aid), and downside cushion = the premium as a % the stock can fall before you're underwater.

Step 3 — read the odds and risk

Called % ≈ the call's delta (your odds of assignment); Prob. worthless is the complement. As always, a low risk score (green) is the goal — writing calls right before earnings is how you get assigned at a bad price or capped on a gap up.

The honest catch on premiums

Premiums shown with a ~ are estimates (our data plan doesn't carry live option bid/ask); confirm the real bid in your broker before trading. Off-hours, treat every number as an estimate.

Try it

Open the covered-call scanner, start with OTM + balanced, and compare static vs if-called to see which strike matches your goal: income, or income plus an exit.