COP Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money COP call expiring Oct 23, 2026, priced from the settled chain: what it pays, what it yields, and where the trade stops making money. The richest right now is the $137.00 strike at 2.8% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
COP covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $132.54 share price, not by delta — the published chain carries premiums and open interest, not greeks, and inventing a delta here would be inventing data. Premium is the bid/ask midpoint where both sides quote, otherwise the last trade. The chain artifact publishes the six nearest expirations, so this is the longest one listed — 36 days out. Annualising anything shorter than a week says more about compounding arithmetic than about the trade, so those cells stay blank.
| Strike | % OTM | Premium | Yield | Annualised | Break-even | If assigned | OI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $137.00 | 3.4% | $3.78 | 2.8% | 28.9% | $128.77 | 6.2% | 5 |
| $140.00 | 5.6% | $2.77 | 2.1% | 21.2% | $129.77 | 7.7% | 16 |
| $145.00 | 9.4% | $1.60 | 1.2% | 12.2% | $130.95 | 10.6% | 27 |
What the $137.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $132.54. Profit caps at $823.50 if COP finishes above $137.00; below $128.77 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $99.41 | $-29.36 | $-2,936.00 |
| $107.69 | $-21.08 | $-2,107.62 |
| $115.97 | $-12.79 | $-1,279.25 |
| $124.26 | $-4.51 | $-450.87 |
| $132.54 | +$3.78 | +$377.50 |
| $140.82 | +$8.24 | +$823.50 |
| $149.11 | +$8.24 | +$823.50 |
| $157.39 | +$8.24 | +$823.50 |
| $165.67 | +$8.24 | +$823.50 |
When a covered call fits COP
A covered call sells someone else the right to buy your shares at the strike. It pays you today and caps your upside there, so it suits a holding you are content to own flat and content to sell at the strike — not one you expect to run.
The premium is compensation for implied volatility. Rich implied volatility pays more, and usually pays more because the market expects a move; a high annualised number on a name about to report earnings is a warning as often as an opportunity. Check the COP expected move and the open-interest walls before assuming the strike is far enough away.
Full mechanics, assignment and rolling are in the covered call guide; to model a different strike or a multi-leg version, open the profit calculator with COP loaded.
Questions
- What does a COP covered call pay right now?
- The $137.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $3.78 per share, 2.8% of the $132.54 share price, or 28.9% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a COP covered call?
- Selling the $137.00 call against stock bought at $132.54 breaks even at $128.77 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if COP closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $137.00. Total return is 6.2%: the premium plus the move from $132.54 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on COP
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Educational, not investment advice. Options involve risk. Open interest is reported with a one-session lag by OCC, so these levels describe positioning as of the last settled session, not live intraday flow.