HAL Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money HAL 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 $36.00 strike at 3.4% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
HAL covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $34.51 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $36.00 | 4.3% | $1.18 | 3.4% | 34.7% | $33.33 | 7.7% | 8 |
| $38.00 | 10.1% | $0.70 | 2.0% | 20.6% | $33.81 | 12.1% | 17 |
What the $36.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $34.51. Profit caps at $267.00 if HAL finishes above $36.00; below $33.33 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $25.88 | $-7.45 | $-744.75 |
| $28.04 | $-5.29 | $-529.06 |
| $30.20 | $-3.13 | $-313.37 |
| $32.35 | $-0.98 | $-97.69 |
| $34.51 | +$1.18 | +$118.00 |
| $36.67 | +$2.67 | +$267.00 |
| $38.82 | +$2.67 | +$267.00 |
| $40.98 | +$2.67 | +$267.00 |
| $43.14 | +$2.67 | +$267.00 |
When a covered call fits HAL
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 HAL 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 HAL loaded.
Questions
- What does a HAL covered call pay right now?
- The $36.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $1.18 per share, 3.4% of the $34.51 share price, or 34.7% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a HAL covered call?
- Selling the $36.00 call against stock bought at $34.51 breaks even at $33.33 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if HAL closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $36.00. Total return is 7.7%: the premium plus the move from $34.51 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
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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.