Can Microsoft Sustain its Recent Surge?

Commonly touted as a gateway strategy, covered calls provide an alluring
introduction into the options realm for equities traders looking to not only
improve returns, but also to get paid to obtain some downside protection on
their investments. If you're new to the covered-call strategy, it merely
consists of purchasing 100 shares of stock and selling a call option against
those shares (as one option contract represents 100 shares). The premium brought
in through the sale of the call provides the double benefit of income and
downside protection. One of the ideal times to sell a covered call on an
existing stock position is after it has rallied and is perhaps encountering some
overhead resistance. With that in mind, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT ) is one
such stock that may be ripe for the picking. Let's take a look at its recent
performance to see why. From the pivotal Thanksgiving low formed on Nov. 25,
2011, MSFT is up 15%. Since the beginning of the New Year, it is up an
impressive 7.8% alone. Yet, if recent history is any indication, MSFT is
anything but a momentum stock. The odds of it beginning a rip-roaring uptrend
are slim. While it may indeed continue its upward trajectory, it will likely be
at a much-slower pace. Source : MachTrader MSFT shareholders looking to
simultaneously exploit the recent run as well as lower their exposure in the
event it falls from these heights should consider selling the MSFT Feb 28 Call
options for around 80 cents. If you don't own the shares, you can buy them
here at market and sell these Feb 28 Calls against them immediately. This
transaction is known as a buy-write. You won't want to sell calls on this or
any stock without owning (or buying) the underlying shares. If the stock
continues to power higher in the coming weeks, traders can still capture an
additional $80 (80 cents x 100) in their position. On the other hand, if MSFT
pulls back in the coming weeks, the 80-cent premium received from the call will
offset up to an 80-cent drop in the stock price. Either way, covered calls
currently provide some alluring advantages for traders owning shares of MSFT. At
the time of this writing Tyler Craig had no positions on MSFT.