How to Find Covered Call Opportunities in the Power E*TRADE Options Screener

The Short Answer: Where to Start in Power E*TRADE

To find covered call opportunities in Power E*TRADE, open the platform, go to the Screener tab at the top, select Options, and filter for calls with a delta between 0.20 and 0.35, at least 21 days to expiration, and open interest above 500 contracts. That three-filter combination surfaces liquid, out-of-the-money calls on stocks you may already own — the core of any covered call strategy.

Power E*TRADE is E*TRADE's advanced desktop and browser platform. It gives retail traders a built-in options screener that does not require a separate subscription. You can layer filters, sort results, and jump straight to an options chain without leaving the screen.

Setting Up the Options Screener Step by Step

Log in to Power E*TRADE at etrade.com or launch the desktop app. Along the top navigation bar, click Screener, then choose Options from the dropdown. The screener opens with a blank filter panel on the left and a results table on the right.

Start with these five filters:

1. Option Type — set to Call. You are selling calls, so you only need to see calls. 2. Expiration Range — set the minimum to 21 days and the maximum to 45 days. This window captures the steepest part of time decay, which is what you collect as premium. The Options Industry Council (OIC) describes this 21-to-45-day zone as the sweet spot for theta-based strategies. 3. Delta — set the range to 0.20–0.40. A delta of 0.30 means the market is pricing roughly a 30% chance the call finishes in the money. That leaves a 70% chance you keep the full premium and your shares. 4. Open Interest — set the minimum to 500 contracts. Low open interest means a wide bid-ask spread, which eats into your net premium. 5. Bid Price — set the minimum to $0.50. Calls priced below $0.50 rarely justify the commission and assignment risk for most retail accounts.

Click Run Screener. Power E*TRADE returns a sortable list of calls matching your criteria across all optionable stocks.

A Worked Example: Selling a Covered Call on AAPL

Suppose the screener surfaces an Apple (AAPL) call and you already own 100 shares. Here is how the math works with realistic but illustrative numbers.

AAPL is trading at $213.00. The screener shows the AAPL $220 call expiring in 30 days with a bid of $2.85 and an ask of $2.90. Open interest is 12,400 contracts. Delta is 0.28.

You sell one contract (100 shares) at the $2.85 bid. Your immediate cash credit is $285 (before commissions). If AAPL stays below $220 at expiration, the call expires worthless and you keep all $285. That is a 1.34% return on the $213 cost basis in 30 days, or roughly 16% annualized if you repeat the trade every month.

If AAPL closes above $220 at expiration, your shares get called away at $220. You still keep the $285 premium, and you sell shares at $220 instead of the market price. Your total proceeds per share are $220 plus $2.85 in premium, or $222.85. That is still a gain from $213, just a capped one.

The screener's Annualized Return column does this math automatically. Sort by that column descending to rank your best premium-per-risk opportunities.

Which Filters Matter Most — and Why

Delta is your probability dial. A delta of 0.20 means roughly an 80% chance the call expires worthless and you keep the premium. A delta of 0.40 means roughly a 60% chance. Higher delta equals higher premium but also higher chance of assignment. Most covered call traders stay in the 0.25–0.35 range as a starting point.

Implied Volatility Rank (IVR or IV Rank) is the filter Power E*TRADE lists as IV Percentile. When a stock's implied volatility is high relative to its own history, options premiums are inflated. Selling calls when IV Rank is above 50 means you are collecting above-average premium. The CBOE publishes volatility indexes like the VIX that reflect this same principle at the index level.

Open interest and volume together tell you whether a market is liquid. FINRA reminds retail investors that wide bid-ask spreads are a hidden cost. If the bid is $1.00 and the ask is $1.60, you will likely fill near $1.10 — not $1.60. Stick to names where the spread is $0.10 or less on the calls you plan to sell.

Days to Expiration (DTE) controls how fast time decay works in your favor. Options lose value fastest in the last 30 days before expiration. Selling at 30–45 DTE and closing or rolling at 21 DTE is a common rhythm among active covered call traders.

Risks You Need to Know Before You Screen

Covered calls cap your upside. If AAPL jumps from $213 to $240 and you sold the $220 call, you miss $20 of that move. You sold that potential gain in exchange for $2.85 in premium. That is the core trade-off, and it is not a flaw — it is the strategy. But you need to be comfortable owning the stock at a price where you would be happy to sell it.

Assignment can happen early. American-style equity options — which is what you trade on individual stocks like AAPL, MSFT, and NVDA — can be exercised by the buyer at any time before expiration, not just on the last day. The OIC notes that early assignment is most likely when a call goes deep in the money or just before an ex-dividend date. If your shares get called away early, you may owe taxes sooner than expected.

Tax treatment matters. The IRS treats covered call premiums as short-term capital gains in most cases. If you hold shares long enough to qualify for long-term rates, selling an in-the-money covered call can suspend that holding period under IRS rules (see IRS Publication 550). Canadian investors should check CRA guidance on option premiums, which are generally treated as capital gains or income depending on trading frequency. Neither the IRS nor CRA rules are simple here — consult a tax professional before you trade.

Screeners show you opportunity, not certainty. A high-premium call on a volatile stock can look attractive until the stock drops 15% and you are sitting on an unrealized loss that dwarfs the premium you collected. Always check the underlying chart and earnings calendar before selling. Power E*TRADE flags upcoming earnings dates in the options chain — use that feature.

Saving Your Screener and Building a Watch List

Once your filters are set, click Save Screener in the top-right corner of the screener panel. Give it a name like 'CC 30DTE Delta30' so you can reload it in one click next time. Power E*TRADE stores saved screeners in your account and they persist across sessions.

From the screener results, click any ticker to open its options chain directly. You can also click the + icon next to a ticker to add it to a watch list. Build a watch list of 10–15 stocks you already own or would be comfortable owning at a lower price. Run your screener weekly — Sunday evening or Monday morning before the open is a common routine — and compare the new results against your watch list.

For stocks you already hold, cross-reference the screener output with your Positions tab. Power E*TRADE shows your cost basis per share in the Positions view. If your cost basis on MSFT is $380 and the screener shows a $400 call paying $3.20 with 30 DTE, you can see at a glance that selling that call gives you $3.20 in premium and a potential exit at $400 — a $20 gain on the stock plus the premium.

Common Mistakes When Using the Screener

Chasing the highest premium without checking the reason for it is the most common error. A call paying $8.00 on a $50 stock looks incredible until you realize earnings are in three days and the stock could move 20% in either direction. High implied volatility before earnings inflates premiums for a reason — the risk is real.

Ignoring the bid-ask spread is the second mistake. The screener's premium column often shows the midpoint price. You will fill at or near the bid when selling. Always look at the actual bid before you calculate your expected income.

Selling calls on stocks you do not want to own long-term is a trap. If the stock drops 30%, the covered call premium you collected does not come close to covering that loss. The covered call strategy works best when you are genuinely comfortable holding the underlying stock through normal volatility.

Finally, do not set the screener and forget it. Markets change. A filter that worked well in a low-volatility environment may surface very different names when the VIX spikes. Review your screener settings monthly and adjust the IV Percentile floor if market conditions shift.

Does Power E*TRADE have a built-in covered call screener?

Power E*TRADE has a general options screener that you can configure for covered calls by filtering for calls, setting delta, expiration, and open interest thresholds. It does not have a button labeled 'covered call screener,' but the custom filter setup takes about two minutes. Once saved, you can reload the same filter set with one click.

What delta should I use when screening for covered calls?

Most covered call traders start with a delta range of 0.20 to 0.35. A delta of 0.30 implies roughly a 70% probability the call expires worthless and you keep the full premium. Higher delta means more premium but also a higher chance your shares get called away at the strike price.

How many days to expiration is best for covered calls in the screener?

The 21-to-45-day window is widely used because time decay accelerates in that range. The Options Industry Council (OIC) highlights this zone as optimal for theta-based income strategies. Many traders sell at 30–45 DTE and close or roll the position when it reaches 21 DTE to avoid gamma risk near expiration.

Can I get assigned early on a covered call I sold in Power E*TRADE?

Yes. Individual stock options in the US are American-style, meaning the buyer can exercise at any time before expiration. Early assignment is most common when a call moves deep in the money or just before an ex-dividend date. The OIC recommends monitoring your positions around dividend dates if you have sold covered calls.

How are covered call premiums taxed in the US?

The IRS generally treats covered call premiums as short-term capital gains. Selling an in-the-money covered call can also suspend the long-term holding period on your underlying shares under IRS Publication 550 rules. Tax treatment can be complex, so consult a qualified tax professional before trading.

What open interest minimum should I set in the Power E*TRADE screener?

A minimum of 500 contracts is a reasonable starting point for most retail covered call traders. Higher open interest generally means tighter bid-ask spreads, which means you collect closer to the midpoint price when you sell. FINRA notes that wide spreads are a real cost that reduces net returns on options trades.