Covered call sellers know the drill. You’re hunting for stocks with fat premiums that won’t blow up your position. But scanning through thousands of tickers and option chains manually? That’s a waste of time you don’t have.
Good covered call screeners cut through the noise and surface the opportunities worth your attention. They filter for the metrics that actually matter, premium yield, probability of profit, liquidity, and upcoming catalysts.
This guide breaks down the twelve best covered call screeners on the market. Some are free. Some cost money. All of them can help you find better trades faster if you know what you’re looking for.
What Makes a Covered Call Screener Worth Using?
Not all screeners are built the same. The mediocre ones just dump raw data at you. The good ones help you make decisions.
Here’s what separates the useful tools from the time-wasters:
Filtering That Actually Matters
You need to screen by premium yield, days to expiration, delta, and implied volatility percentile. Bonus points if the screener lets you filter by earnings dates, ex-dividend dates, and liquidity metrics like bid-ask spread.
Real-Time or Near Real-Time Data
Stale data costs you money. Options prices move fast, especially on volatile stocks. If your screener is showing you prices from 15 minutes ago, you’re already behind.
Quality Over Quantity
Some screeners show you 500 results. Others show you 20 high-probability setups. The best ones let you control how much noise you want to see.
Understanding Your Strategy
Different traders use covered calls differently. Some want steady 1-2% monthly income on blue chips. Others chase higher premiums on growth stocks and accept more risk. Your screener should let you filter for your specific approach.
The 12 Best Covered Call Screeners for 2025
1. Barchart
Barchart’s covered call screener is the Swiss Army knife of options tools. It’s been around forever, which means they’ve had time to get it right.
The interface looks a bit cluttered at first, there’s a lot going on. But once you know where to look, you can drill down into basically any metric you care about. Want to see only stocks with earnings more than 30 days away? Easy. Need to filter for options with open interest above 1,000? Done.
The screener updates throughout the trading day, so you’re working with recent data. You can save your custom screens, which is clutch if you run the same searches daily.
The real strength here is the depth. Barchart connects to their full suite of market data, so you can jump from the screener to detailed charts, fundamental data, and technical indicators without leaving the site. This makes it easy to vet a potential trade before you pull the trigger.
Key Features:
- Customizable filters for moneyness, expiration, volume
- Integration with Barchart’s full market data
- Ability to screen by Greeks (delta, theta, etc.)
- Historical options data
- Earnings and dividend calendar integration
Pros:
- Free version available with core features
- Deep customization options
- Strong data quality
- Can screen ETFs and indices too
Cons:
- Interface feels dated
- Can be overwhelming for beginners
- Advanced features require Barchart Premier ($29.95/month)
Best For: Intermediate to advanced traders who want granular control and don’t mind a learning curve.
Pricing: Free basic version; Barchart Premier at $29.95/month
Website: https://www.barchart.com/options/income-strategies/covered-calls
2. OptionStrat
OptionStrat made waves in 2024-2025 by dropping their pricing significantly while adding more features. It’s now one of the best values in the options space.
The platform is clean and modern. Everything feels intuitive, which is rare for options software. The covered call screener is part of their broader strategy builder, so you can quickly compare potential trades side by side.
What makes OptionStrat stand out is the visual approach. You’re not just looking at numbers in a table, you get profit/loss graphs that update in real time as you adjust strikes or expirations. This makes it easy to see exactly what you’re risking and what you might make.
The screener lets you filter by probability of profit, which is huge. You can set a target return, say, 2% per month, and it’ll show you trades that hit that threshold with your desired probability.
Key Features:
- Visual profit/loss modeling
- Probability of profit calculations
- Multi-leg strategy builder
- IV rank and percentile data
- Paper trading to test strategies
Pros:
- Modern, user-friendly interface
- Excellent value at current pricing
- Great for visual learners
- Mobile app works well
Cons:
- Options flow requires higher tier
- Some advanced analytics missing
- Smaller community compared to older platforms
Best For: Traders who want a modern interface and strong visual tools without breaking the bank.
Pricing: Live Tools (without flow) $19.99/month or $16.67/month annually; Live Flow (with options flow) $59.99/month or $50/month annually. 7-day free trial available.
Website: https://optionstrat.com
3. Market Chameleon
Market Chameleon is for traders who live and breathe options data. This isn’t a beginner tool, it’s built for people who want to geek out on volatility skew, historical IV patterns, and event-driven opportunities.
The covered call screener here goes way beyond basic filtering. You can screen for stocks with upcoming earnings, filter by unusual options activity, and even look at historical patterns to see how similar setups performed in the past.
One of the coolest features is the pre-earnings analysis. If you like to sell covered calls ahead of earnings to capture the IV spike, Market Chameleon shows you historical moves, implied moves, and how often the stock beat or missed expectations. This helps you avoid getting crushed by an earnings surprise.
The downside? There’s a lot to take in. The interface is dense with information, and you’ll spend some time learning where everything lives. But if you’re managing a serious covered call portfolio, the depth here justifies the learning curve.
Key Features:
- Unusual options activity scanner
- Pre-earnings analysis tools
- Historical volatility comparisons
- IV rank and percentile
- Options chain heat maps
Pros:
- Institutional-level data
- Excellent for event-driven strategies
- Historical backtesting capabilities
- Daily high-premium ideas
Cons:
- Steep learning curve
- Premium pricing at $99/month
- Interface is data-heavy
- Can be overwhelming for casual traders
Best For: Experienced options traders who want deep analytics and are willing to pay for quality data.
Pricing: Premium plan at $99/month with 7-day free trial
Website: https://marketchameleon.com
4. optionDash
optionDash takes a different approach. Instead of drowning you in data, it uses a proprietary scoring system to help you quickly evaluate potential trades.
Every stock gets three scores: Value, Quality, and Trend. This makes it dead simple to spot fundamentally strong companies that might be good covered call candidates. High quality score? The business is solid. High value score? The stock might be undervalued. High trend score? Momentum is positive.
The screener itself is straightforward. You pick your criteria, maybe you want monthly expirations on stocks above $50, and it shows you opportunities that fit. The interface is clean and easy to navigate, which makes this a good choice if you’re newer to covered calls.
optionDash also lets you screen for cash-secured puts, which pairs naturally with covered calls if you’re running the wheel strategy. You can save favorite stocks and get alerts when new opportunities pop up.
The limitation here is focus. optionDash is laser-focused on covered calls and cash-secured puts. If you want to explore other strategies, you’ll need a different tool.
Key Features:
- Proprietary VQT scoring system
- Cash-secured put screener included
- Watchlist functionality
- Index and theme overlays (S&P 500, Dividend Aristocrats)
- Custom screening criteria
Pros:
- Beginner-friendly interface
- Free version available
- Scoring system simplifies stock evaluation
- Good for wheel strategy traders
Cons:
- Limited to covered calls and CSPs
- Less data depth than competitors
- Fewer filtering options
- No complex strategy support
Best For: Beginners to intermediate traders who want simplicity and a focus on income strategies.
Pricing: Free version with core features; premium subscription for advanced tools
Website: https://optiondash.com
5. Unusual Whales
Unusual Whales built its reputation on options flow tracking, but the platform has evolved into a comprehensive options analytics suite. The covered call screener is part of a broader toolset that includes dark pool data, unusual activity alerts, and sentiment analysis.
What sets Unusual Whales apart is the flow data integration. When you’re looking at a potential covered call, you can see if there’s unusual buying or selling activity in that strike. This gives you a peek at what bigger players might be doing.
The platform tracks millions of contracts daily and surfaces the ones that matter. The screener lets you filter by premium yield, but you can also layer in flow data, maybe you only want to see covered calls where there’s been bullish unusual activity in the underlying stock.
The interface is modern and mobile-friendly. Everything updates in real time, and the alerts system is solid. You can set notifications for specific criteria and get pinged when new opportunities show up.
Pricing is competitive, especially considering you’re getting flow data and not just a basic screener.
Key Features:
- Options flow integration
- Dark pool tracking
- Unusual activity alerts
- Real-time premium calculations
- Political and congressional trading tracker
Pros:
- Strong flow data component
- Modern interface
- Mobile app included
- Active community
- Competitive pricing
Cons:
- Can be overwhelming with all the data sources
- Flow data has a learning curve
- Premium features require subscription
- Some users report occasional data delays
Best For: Active traders who want to combine covered call screening with institutional flow tracking.
Pricing: Starter tier around $30-35/month; higher tiers for more features
Website: https://unusualwhales.com
6. BlackBoxStocks
BlackBoxStocks is all about real-time scanning and social trading. The platform combines a covered call screener with live chat rooms where traders share ideas and discuss setups as they happen.
The screener itself is highly customizable. You can filter by dozens of criteria, premium percentage, days to expiration, delta, volume, open interest, you name it. Results update in real time, which is crucial if you’re trying to catch opportunities before they disappear.
One of the standout features is the alert system. You can set up custom alerts for specific screening criteria, and BlackBoxStocks will notify you the moment a trade hits your parameters. This is huge if you can’t watch the market all day.
The social component is polarizing. Some traders love the community chat and find it valuable for bouncing ideas around. Others find it distracting. Either way, it’s there if you want it.
The platform includes unusual options activity scanning too, so you can spot when smart money is moving into or out of positions. This can help you avoid selling covered calls on stocks that might be about to make a big move.
Key Features:
- Real-time scanning engine
- Customizable alerts
- Live chat rooms
- Unusual activity detection
- Options flow analysis
- Mobile app
Pros:
- Fast real-time data
- Active trader community
- Strong alert system
- Educational resources included
Cons:
- More expensive than most competitors
- Interface can feel busy
- Social features aren’t for everyone
- Learning curve for all the tools
Best For: Active traders who value real-time data and want community interaction.
Pricing: Monthly plan at $99.97; annual plan at $959 ($79.92/month); promotional offers available
Website: https://www.blackboxstocks.com
7. Quantcha
Quantcha is a quant-focused platform that brings a probability-based approach to covered call screening. It’s built for traders who want to understand the math behind their trades.
The screener shows you probability of profit, expected value, and other statistical measures for every potential trade. This helps you compare opportunities on an apples-to-apples basis. Instead of just chasing the highest premium, you can filter for the best risk-adjusted returns.
The trade analyzer is where Quantcha really shines. You can model different scenarios, what if the stock drops 5%? What if volatility collapses? The platform shows you how your position would perform under various conditions.
The interface is clean but data-heavy. You’re looking at a lot of numbers, which some traders love and others find overwhelming. If you’re the type who wants to understand the probabilities and make data-driven decisions, Quantcha delivers.
One limitation: the platform is subscription-based, so there’s no free version to test drive. But if you’re serious about covered calls and want institutional-level analytics, it’s worth considering.
Key Features:
- Probability-based analysis
- Expected value calculations
- Trade analyzer with scenario modeling
- Historical performance data
- Volatility analysis tools
Pros:
- Strong quantitative approach
- Detailed probability metrics
- Scenario analysis capabilities
- Clean interface
Cons:
- No free version
- Data-heavy (not beginner-friendly)
- Requires understanding of options Greeks
- Less community/social features
Best For: Analytical traders who want probability-based decision making.
Pricing: Subscription required (pricing varies by tier)
Website: https://quantcha.com
8. Born To Sell
Born To Sell has one job: help you find high-yield covered call opportunities. It’s been around since 2006, which makes it one of the OGs in this space.
The screener is straightforward. It scans the entire market for buy-write combinations and ranks them by yield. You can filter by expiration date, moneyness, and sector. The focus is on finding the fattest premiums relative to stock price.
What makes Born To Sell useful is the portfolio management side. Once you’ve entered trades, the platform tracks them and sends alerts for important events, upcoming earnings, ex-dividend dates, or positions that might be at risk of early assignment.
The interface is… functional. It’s not winning any design awards, but it gets the job done. If you value substance over style, you won’t care. If you like slick modern interfaces, this might feel dated.
The screener updates throughout the trading day, so you’re working with current prices. You can customize which columns you want to see, which helps reduce clutter if you don’t care about certain metrics.
Key Features:
- High-yield focus
- Portfolio tracking
- Earnings and dividend alerts
- Sector filtering
- Customizable display columns
Pros:
- Laser focus on covered calls
- Good portfolio management tools
- Been around forever (proven track record)
- Free trial available
Cons:
- Interface looks dated
- Limited to covered calls only
- No advanced analytics
- Fewer filtering options than newer platforms
Best For: Income-focused traders who want a no-frills tool dedicated to covered calls.
Pricing: Subscription required; free trial available
Website: https://www.borntosell.com
9. ORATS
ORATS is institutional-grade options analytics in a retail package. It’s built by quants for quants, but it’s accessible enough for serious retail traders who want professional-level tools.
The covered call screener is part of ORATS’ broader analytics platform. You get access to their proprietary volatility forecasts, earnings move predictions, and historical pattern analysis. This helps you make more informed decisions about which stocks to target.
One of the unique features is the ability to backtest covered call strategies. You can see how a particular approach would have performed historically, which helps you validate your strategy before risking real money.
The data quality here is top-notch. ORATS has its own volatility models and forecasting algorithms that often outperform standard measures. If you’re geeking out on volatility term structure and skew, this is your playground.
The trade-off is complexity. ORATS isn’t a “scan and trade” kind of platform. It’s for traders who want to dig deep, analyze every angle, and make highly informed decisions. You’ll spend time learning the platform, but the edge you gain can be worth it.
Key Features:
- Proprietary volatility forecasting
- Historical backtesting
- Earnings move predictions
- Advanced filtering options
- API access for developers
Pros:
- Institutional-quality data
- Sophisticated analytics
- Backtesting capabilities
- Regular updates and improvements
Cons:
- Expensive ($99+ per month)
- Steep learning curve
- Overkill for casual traders
- Dense interface
Best For: Serious options traders and portfolio managers who want the best data available.
Pricing: Starts around $99/month; higher tiers available
Website: https://orats.com
10. Power Options (Schwab)
If you’re a Schwab client, Power Options is included with certain account tiers. It’s a solid covered call screener that integrates directly with your Schwab account, making execution seamless.
The screener lets you filter by all the standard criteria, strike price, expiration, premium yield, probability of profit. The interface is professional and easy to navigate. Everything feels polished, which you’d expect from a major broker.
One nice feature is the education component. Power Options includes strategy guides and tutorials that explain how to use covered calls effectively. If you’re still learning, this hand-holding can be valuable.
The limitation is that you need a Schwab account, and not all account types get free access. If you’re not a Schwab client or don’t meet the account requirements, you can subscribe separately, but at that point you might be better off with a dedicated third-party tool.
For Schwab clients who qualify, though, this is a no-brainer. Free access to a quality screener that integrates with your brokerage? Easy yes.
Key Features:
- Integration with Schwab accounts
- Probability calculator
- Strategy guides and education
- Standard screening filters
- Direct trading execution
Pros:
- Free for qualifying Schwab accounts
- Seamless broker integration
- Professional interface
- Educational resources included
Cons:
- Requires Schwab account
- Not free for all account tiers
- Less customization than dedicated platforms
- Limited compared to specialty tools
Best For: Schwab clients who want a solid screener without paying extra.
Pricing: Free for qualifying Schwab accounts; standalone subscription available
Website: Available through Schwab platform
11. Fidelity Options Screener
Similar to Schwab, Fidelity offers a built-in covered call screener for its clients. It’s not as feature-rich as some third-party tools, but it’s free and it’s right there in your brokerage platform.
The screener includes basic filtering, expiration date, strike price, volume, open interest. You can scan for covered calls across your watchlist or the entire market. Results show you estimated return, probability of profit, and other key metrics.
The best part is the integration. When you find a trade you like, you can execute it with a few clicks without leaving the platform. No jumping between tools or copying symbols, everything happens in one place.
The weakness is depth. Fidelity’s screener doesn’t offer the advanced analytics you get with specialized tools. There’s no unusual activity tracking, no volatility forecasting, no historical backtesting. It’s functional, not fancy.
If you’re a Fidelity customer and you’re just getting started with covered calls, this is a fine place to begin. Once you outgrow it, you can always add a third-party tool while still using Fidelity for execution.
Key Features:
- Built into Fidelity platform
- Basic screening criteria
- Integration with trading platform
- Strategy evaluator tool
- Options chain analysis
Pros:
- Free for Fidelity clients
- Seamless execution
- No learning curve if you use Fidelity
- Decent for basic screening
Cons:
- Limited features compared to specialists
- No advanced analytics
- Interface is functional, not exciting
- Fewer customization options
Best For: Fidelity clients who want basic covered call screening without additional tools.
Pricing: Free for Fidelity clients
Website: Available through Fidelity platform
12. Thinkorswim (TD Ameritrade)
Thinkorswim (now belongs to Charles Schwab) is legendary among active traders, and for good reason. It’s a powerhouse platform that includes a robust covered call screener among dozens of other tools.
The screener is highly customizable. You can build complex filters that combine technical indicators, fundamental data, and options metrics. Want to find covered calls on stocks above their 50-day moving average with IV rank above 50? Done. Want to exclude stocks with earnings in the next 30 days? Easy.
The platform is desktop-based, which means it’s more resource-intensive than web-based screeners. But the trade-off is power and speed. You can create custom watchlists, scan in real time, and execute trades instantly.
Thinkorswim also includes the Trade Ideas feature, which analyzes market conditions and suggests potential covered call setups. This is helpful when you’re not sure where to start or want fresh ideas.
The learning curve is real. Thinkorswim has so many features that new users often feel overwhelmed. But TD Ameritrade offers extensive education, videos, webinars, tutorials, to help you get up to speed.
If you’re a TD Ameritrade client and you’re serious about options, taking time to learn Thinkorswim is worth it. It’s one of the most powerful retail trading platforms available.
Key Features:
- Highly customizable screening
- Real-time scanning
- Integration with full platform
- Custom scripting (thinkScript)
- Paper trading mode
Pros:
- Free for TD Ameritrade clients
- Incredibly powerful and flexible
- Strong educational resources
- Desktop and mobile versions
Cons:
- Steep learning curve
- Requires TD Ameritrade account
- Desktop app can be resource-intensive
- Overwhelming for beginners
Best For: Active traders who want maximum customization and power.
Pricing: Free for TD Ameritrade clients
Website: Available through TD Ameritrade
How to Actually Use a Covered Call Screener
Having a tool is one thing. Using it effectively is another. Here’s a practical framework for screening covered calls that balances income potential with risk management.
Start With Your Stock Universe
Don’t screen the entire market. You’ll get overwhelmed with results, many of which are on stocks you’d never want to own.
Instead, start with stocks you’re comfortable holding. This might be:
- Stocks you already own
- Stocks on your watchlist
- Blue-chip names you know well
- Sector ETFs you understand
The key principle: only sell covered calls on stocks you’d be okay owning if they dropped 10-20%. If you’re selling calls purely for the premium on a stock you don’t actually want to hold, you’re setting yourself up for pain.
Set Your Income Target
Be realistic. Consistently earning 2-3% per month on covered calls is excellent. Chasing 5-10% monthly returns usually means taking on massive risk.
In your screener, set filters like:
- Minimum annualized return: 20-25% (that’s roughly 2% per month)
- Maximum annualized return: 50-60% (anything higher is probably too risky)
This keeps you in the sweet spot where premiums are meaningful but you’re not betting the farm on volatile names.
Filter for Liquidity
Illiquid options cost you money on every trade. Set minimum thresholds:
- Bid-ask spread: No more than $0.10-0.15 for options under $2, or 5% of the option price for more expensive contracts
- Volume: At least 100 contracts traded daily
- Open interest: Minimum 500-1,000 contracts
These filters ensure you can get in and out of trades at fair prices.
Check Implied Volatility
IV percentile tells you whether current volatility is high or low relative to the past year. You want this above 50 for fat premiums.
Set your filter for:
- IV percentile: 50-80 (the sweet spot)
Below 50, premiums are usually too thin. Above 80, you’re often dealing with a stock that’s about to make a massive move, which can blow up your covered call.
Mind the Calendar
Filter out stocks with:
- Earnings in the next 7-14 days (unless you specifically want pre-earnings premium)
- Ex-dividend dates that fall before your option expires (unless you want to capture the dividend)
These events can trigger early assignment or cause unexpected moves that complicate your trade.
Evaluate Individual Opportunities
Once you’ve filtered down to 10-20 candidates, manually review each one:
Check the Chart Pull up a 3-6 month chart. Look for:
- Clear support levels below your entry price
- Relatively stable price action (not wild swings)
- Uptrend or sideways movement (not a falling knife)
Review Recent News Spend 30 seconds scanning recent headlines. Make sure there’s no pending litigation, management shake-up, or other drama that could crater the stock.
Verify Your Math Calculate:
- Return if the stock stays flat (premium collected)
- Return if the stock is called away (premium plus capital gain)
- Breakeven point (stock price minus premium received)
Make sure all three scenarios are acceptable to you.
Execute and Manage
Once you’ve identified a trade:
Start Small If you’re new to covered calls, start with one or two positions. Get comfortable with the mechanics before scaling up.
Set Your Exit Plan Decide in advance:
- At what profit level you’ll close the call early (many traders buy back at 50-75% profit)
- What you’ll do if the stock drops significantly (ride it out, sell the stock, roll the call)
- How you’ll handle early assignment risk
Track and Learn Keep a log of your trades. Note what worked and what didn’t. Over time, you’ll develop an intuition for which setups work best for your risk tolerance and goals.
Common Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
Most covered call mistakes come from chasing premium without thinking through the consequences.
Mistake #1: Selling Calls on Stocks You Don’t Want to Own
The worst covered call trades happen when you pick a stock purely for the fat premium, then it drops 30% and you’re stuck holding it.
Fix: Only screen for covered calls on stocks you’d genuinely be happy to hold long-term. If the business is garbage, no premium is high enough.
Mistake #2: Ignoring Liquidity
You find a covered call yielding 5% monthly. Amazing! Except the bid-ask spread is $0.50 wide, and there’s only 20 contracts of open interest.
You try to enter the trade and end up paying way more than mid-price. Then when you want to exit, you can’t find a buyer at a reasonable price. The “5% return” turns into 2% after slippage.
Fix: Always filter for minimum volume and open interest. Stick with liquid names where you can enter and exit at fair prices.
Mistake #3: Selling Calls Right Before Earnings
Earnings IV spike looks tempting. You sell a call the day before earnings to capture that juicy premium.
The stock beats, gaps up 15%, and your shares are called away at a strike that’s now way below market price. You missed out on a massive gain to collect one week of premium.
Fix: Unless you specifically want to trade earnings (which is a different game), filter out stocks reporting in the next 2-4 weeks.
Mistake #4: Setting Strikes Too Close
You want maximum premium, so you sell an at-the-money call with your strike at the current stock price.
The stock moves up even slightly, and your shares get called away. You lost your position for a tiny premium.
Fix: Most traders sell calls 2-5% out of the money. This gives the stock room to move up while still collecting decent premium.
Mistake #5: Holding Winners Too Long
Your covered call is up 75% in a week because volatility collapsed and the stock went sideways. Instead of closing for a quick win, you hold for maximum profit.
Then news hits, the stock moves, and your 75% profit turns into a 20% profit, or worse, a loss.
Fix: Many experienced traders close winners at 50-75% of maximum profit. You free up capital for new trades and avoid giving back gains.
Mistake #6: Ignoring Dividends
You sell a call on a stock you own, not realizing it goes ex-dividend next week. The call is in-the-money, and early assignment risk is high.
You get assigned before the ex-dividend date and miss the dividend you were planning to collect.
Fix: Always check ex-dividend dates before selling calls. If you want the dividend, make sure your strike is out of the money and expiration is after the ex-date.
Free vs. Paid Screeners: Which Do You Actually Need?
Free screeners are great for learning and for casual traders. Paid screeners make sense once you’re running a serious covered call strategy and need edge.
When Free Screeners Are Enough
If you’re:
- Just getting started with covered calls
- Trading 1-5 positions at a time
- Not trading daily
- Using blue-chip stocks you already know well
Then free tools like Barchart’s basic version, broker screeners (Fidelity, Schwab, TD Ameritrade), or optionDash’s free tier will work fine.
When Paid Screeners Make Sense
If you’re:
- Managing 10+ covered call positions
- Trading actively (multiple times per week)
- Focusing on volatility-driven strategies
- Want access to unusual activity data or flow
- Need custom alerts and advanced filtering
Then paying $30-100/month for tools like Market Chameleon, ORATS, BlackBoxStocks, or Unusual Whales starts to pay for itself. One avoided mistake or one better trade usually covers the monthly cost.
The Hybrid Approach
Many successful covered call traders use a free screener for basic scanning and a paid tool for deep analysis. For example:
- Use Barchart to find 20-30 candidates
- Use Market Chameleon to analyze the top 5 with earnings data and historical patterns
- Execute through your broker’s platform
This gives you breadth and depth without paying for features you don’t use.
Real Example: How to Screen for Covered Calls Step-by-Step
Let’s walk through a real screening process so you can see how this works in practice.
Goal: Find a monthly covered call trade that generates 2-3% return with moderate risk.
Step 1: Choose Your Stock Universe
For this example, let’s screen large-cap stocks in the S&P 500. These tend to be liquid, fundamentally sound, and have active options.
Step 2: Set Your Filters
Open your screener (we’ll use Barchart for this example) and set:
- Stock price: $50 – $200 (avoids penny stocks and ultra-expensive names)
- Expiration: 30-45 days (monthly cycle)
- Moneyness: 2-5% out of the money
- IV Percentile: 50-70 (elevated but not extreme)
- Volume: Minimum 500 contracts
- Open interest: Minimum 1,000 contracts
Step 3: Review Results
The screener returns 25 candidates. Let’s look at one:
Intel (INTC) – Currently trading at $50.00
- Strike: $52.50 (5% OTM)
- Premium: $1.20 per share
- Expiration: 35 days
- IV Percentile: 62
- Volume: 5,000 contracts
- Open interest: 15,000 contracts
Step 4: Calculate Returns
- If called away: ($52.50 – $50.00 + $1.20) / $50.00 = 7.4% (77% annualized)
- If expires worthless: $1.20 / $50.00 = 2.4% (25% annualized)
- Breakeven: $50.00 – $1.20 = $48.80 (2.4% downside protection)
Step 5: Due Diligence
Check the chart: Intel has been trading between $48-52 for the past three months. There’s support around $48.
Check earnings: Next earnings date is 60 days away, so we’re safe.
Check news: Nothing major in the past week.
Step 6: Decision
This looks like a solid trade. You’re collecting 2.4% in 35 days on a large-cap stock you’d be okay owning. If Intel rallies above $52.50, you make 7.4%. If it stays flat or drops slightly, you keep the premium.
Execute the trade: Buy 100 shares of INTC at $50, sell one $52.50 call for $1.20.
Your capital at risk: $4,880 ($5,000 in stock minus $120 in premium collected)
Step 7: Monitor and Manage
- Set an alert if INTC drops below $47
- Plan to close the call if it reaches $0.30 (75% profit)
- Re-evaluate in 2-3 weeks whether to hold through expiration or roll
This is how professional covered call traders think through trades. It’s systematic, risk-aware, and focused on consistent returns over home runs.
Advanced Tips for Better Covered Call Screening
Once you’ve got the basics down, these advanced techniques can improve your results.
Screen by Sector Rotation
Different sectors show volatility at different times. In a rising rate environment, financials might offer fat premiums. During earnings season, tech stocks heat up.
Instead of screening the whole market, focus on 2-3 sectors that are currently showing elevated volatility. This is where the best premiums are.
Use Technical Levels as Strike Selection
Instead of randomly picking 5% OTM, look at the chart and identify resistance levels. Sell your call at or just above resistance.
This way, even if the stock rallies, it might stall at resistance and you won’t get assigned. You’re using technical analysis to improve your probability of keeping shares.
Layer in Fundamental Screens
Before selling calls, run a quick fundamental check:
- P/E ratio in line with sector averages
- Positive earnings and cash flow
- No massive debt problems
This filters out companies that might be cheap for a reason. You want fundamentally sound businesses that happen to have elevated volatility, not garbage stocks with high premiums.
Consider Correlation
If you’re running multiple covered calls, check correlation between your positions. Selling calls on five tech stocks means you’re concentrated in one sector.
If tech gets hit, all five positions suffer at once. Diversify across sectors to smooth out returns.
Track IV Percentile Trends
Watch for stocks where IV percentile has been rising over the past few weeks. This often signals building uncertainty (maybe ahead of a product launch or FDA decision).
You can collect elevated premiums, then close the trade once the event passes and volatility collapses. This is event-driven covered call trading, and it can be very profitable.
Use Earnings Calendars Strategically
Most traders avoid earnings. But you can flip this around: sell calls 45-60 days out on stocks that just reported earnings.
Post-earnings, IV typically collapses (the “volatility crush”). You can sell calls a few days after earnings at still-decent premiums, knowing you have 45-60 days of lower volatility ahead.
The Bottom Line on Covered Call Screeners
A good screener doesn’t make you a good trader. But it does save you time and help you focus on opportunities that actually fit your strategy.
Free screeners work great when you’re learning. As you scale up, paid tools with deeper analytics and better data can give you an edge.
The most important thing isn’t which screener you use, it’s that you use it consistently, with clear criteria, and you actually understand the trades you’re taking.
Start with one or two positions. Learn what works for your risk tolerance and goals. Refine your screening criteria over time based on results.
Most traders who succeed with covered calls aren’t finding secret trades nobody else knows about. They’re just consistently executing a proven strategy with good risk management.
The screener is your first filter. Your analysis is the second. And your discipline is what determines whether you actually make money.
Pick a tool from this list, set it up with sensible filters, and start scanning. The best way to learn covered calls is to do them, just start small until you get the hang of it.