The "daily Call" From Option Alpha: Options Trading | Stock Options | Stock Trading | Trading Online

Hey everyone. This is Kirk here again at Option Alpha and welcome back to the daily call. Today, we’re going to be answering the question, “How do I keep my covered call stock from being assigned?” And so, the short answer to this is that since you are an option seller, you really don't have the choice. It's the choice of the option buyer, whoever bought that option contract from you, as to whether they want to assign the contract or not. Now, it’s not the direct person, obviously. It goes through a whole random process, through the OCC and then down to the broker. It is a random process, but I’m saying anybody who bought the other opposing side to that. They ultimately have the choice as the option buyer. But there's a couple of things you have to know about assignment and I think this will help out as to understanding if your option contract is at risk of assignment, so if your covered call is at risk of assignment. The first thing is how much time you have until expiration. Now again, most option assignmen