Bringing in Additional Income with ETFs, Part 1

There are a number of ways to bring in additional monthly income with ETFs. The other day we looked at doing this with high potential return covered calls.

Today, let’s look at a low risk options income strategy which will potentially allow you to profit when the ETF moves in the direction that you correctly predicted.

Let’s say you believe the SPY’s are going to drop over the next few days (this is not a recommendation; it’s an example). I’ll round this off and we’ll say the SPY’s are trading at 77. Instead of shorting the SPY’s (or buying their inverse ETF which is SH), you will do a bear call credit spread. This means you could sell the 77 calls and then buy an equal amount of the 79 or 80 calls protecting your position. Your maximum risk is the difference between the two strike prices minus the credit you took in. If you are correct, you will likely have a larger profit on the calls you sold versus the calls you bought, therefore netting a gain on the position. This was all done with limited risk.

Credit spreads can be an excellent strategy for high probability ETF traders. If you have a methodology which has historically been correct at least 70% of the time, credit spreads are a solid way to bring in additional income while limiting you risk.

Tomorrow I’ll show you a more aggressive and potentially even more profitable way to trade spreads in order to bring in additional income from ETFs.

Special Note: If you’d like to attend the online presentation today on the upcoming 2 1/2 day High Probability ETF Trading Seminar I’m conducting, please call 1-888-484-8220 ext 1. The presentation is at 1:30 pm ET and is nearly full but we’ll do our best to get you in via the internet or via the conference line.

Larry Connors is CEO and Founder of TradingMarkets.com and Connors Research.