Chris Thom - CIM, DMS, FCSI

He likes Canadian energy where such companies make good energy, valuations are attractive and are coming back after being overlooked for US energy. Many are returning capital to shareholders as they control spending. Overall, are strong financially. Also, he likes the car-makers who also make a lot of money, have good PEs and are buying back shares. He likes Ford, but is neutral the Canadian auto-parts-makers.

Not buying it now. For options, you could go out to the May $94 put and sell it for close to $4. If it pulls back, you're force to buy at $94. The implied volatility is decent. Pays a 3% dividend; you can get more yield by selling upside calls.

Selling a cash-covered put means you have money to buy this stock, then pick a level to enter. So, sell the April $75 put for $4. Uber is doing very well, trading at a good PE and they have a large car network. Growth lies ahead. Enter by selling puts.

It enjoys little competition. If you sold the February $62 calls (now $64.60), so if you do nothing between now and Friday, you will get called away. So, you can roll that option: buy back the call that you're short, then sell a new call further into the future to replace it. So, pay $2.65, then roll it out to May, sell the $62 again, and collect $3.15.

Of the Mag 7, he likes this, but it's tough to buy at currently high levels. For an options trade: sell that $650 put (almost 10% downside) into May, then collect $21.50, which is a large premium, but huge downside protection.

Is a lower-volatility stock, so options are less expensive than others. Also, call premiums will be weighed down by the dividend. Wait for a pullback before entering and selling a put. 

Covered calls make tons of sense when the market is sideways or moving up a bit, but underperform in a raging bull market like last year. Owning blue chip names and selling some calls. If you're not that overall bullish, set premiums for a short time and a lower price. You give up some upside, but capture more of the premium. Also, if you do this several times a year, then your gains add up.

Trades under 12x PE and are buying back lots of shares. Likes it. Options: sell the April $25 call and get 20 cents, not a big premium, but leaving lots upside to get closer to the upper-$20s. But he is not selling calls on CVE, because he expects the share price to recover. But at $27-28, he will sell at $30s. For new money, he will sell $20-22 puts.

Options add or remove risk, depending on whether you forecast the current direction of a stock. Also, they can create a lot of leverage. You buy a call when you are bullish a stock; you have the right, no obligation, to buy a stock at a certain price by a certain date. A put is the opposite. A cash-covered put means you will sell a put--give somebody the right to sell you a stock at a certain price below the current price by a certain date; the cash part means you actually have the money, and aren't using leverage.

Trades around 20x PE. Options: implied volatility is over 30, so you're paid twice as much as the broader market. Because the stock has been under pressure for a long time, these options are more expensive than others. Currently, at May $70 puts you can get $3.90, an attractive 5% return if shares stay flat over 3 months. 

Doesn't own high-PE tech names like this, and shares have run up so much. Maybe wait for a pull back to $90-100 to enter. In this case, he'd sell a put: sell the May $100 put for $8.85; this will generate nearly 9% over 3 months if the stock doesn't drop more than 12%. Can't recommend this. Then again, you can make money if this stock doesn't rise above current levels.

The Brookfield stocks have done well recently. BAM can be decent for calls. You can sell the $60 call to April for $1.20; you're adding 2% yield and still leaving upside.

Very volatile. Options are very expensive. Sell puts $165 April for around $5. 

A great business, good valuations, pays under a 5% dividend.

Are buying back lots of shares. Option premiums are decent. Likes it.