gphill@montanasky.us wrote:
> Mark, If I write an in the money covered call and am called
> out, do I give up the difference in the underlying stock? For
> example: If I buy a stock at $13 and sell a $12.50 call
> option and get called out, do I give up the $.50 difference
> between the stock price and the call price? Thank You
>
    Yes. If you are assigned an exercise notice, you must sell your
stock at the strike price.
    But remember this: Because you sold your option when the stock was
13, you already received a higher price for the option when you sold
it. In other words, you may 'give up' the '50 cent difference' when
selling the stock, but you already collected that difference when you
sold the option.
    It's a small point, but 'called out' is a commonly used, but
inappropriate term. I suggest using the term 'assigned'.

Mark