We’ve legged into a covered write: long 200 shares from 40.41, short two January 40 calls for 1.20. Do nothing further for now. We could have done better on the calls, as you will already have surmised. It is usually risky for me to recommend a price at which options should be bought or sold on the opening, since that is when professional predators are at their most brazen. However, in some situations I would rather try to second-guess the opening than suggest that you return to the website during trading hours for further instructions. In this case, second-guessing caught a whipsaw. _______ UPDATE: Newmont’s mini-crash this morning portends further slippage to 36.36, a Hidden Pivot support. If and when the stock reaches 36.41, cover the short calls. _______ FURTHER UPDATE: Newmont appears to have bottomed for the time being at 36.32, four cents beneath the target. This would have allowed one to cover the short Jan 40 calls for around 0.48. We’ll apply the 0.72 profit to the stock, giving us an adjusted cost basis per round lot of 39.69. No further action is suggested right now.