Worth buying a few hundred September calls? He likes this bank. They passed their stress test. He needs to see movement on the 10-year rates. If there's no bump, then BAC will have a hard time moving up--a serious headwind. The 10-year should be higher now. If we get an inverted yield curve, that leads to a recession within a year.

He doesn't like European banks. They face a lot of headwinds. For example, Deutsche Bank didn't pass their stress test. Look at U.S. or Canadian banks instead. Europe is 18 months behind the U.S. in the business cycle so it's growing at a slower pace.

(Past Top Pick, July 17, 2017, Up 5%) It owns the S&P 500 and writes covered calls on it. It typically underpforms the S&P in a rising market and does better in a flat/down market. It's a low-risk ETF and pays a monthly income, but
they're U.S. gains, so that's not good for tax-paying Canadians. This is okay if you want U.S. income.

Owning this alone isn't a diversified portfolio. BLK is itself diversified, but they operate in a single sector, asset management. Instead, if you're a new stock trader looking to divsersify, then consider at XIU-T to cover the TSX, or EFA to cover Europe.

These are mostly the smaller regional banks, which are raising their dividends after passing the stress test. Higher interest rates will not hurt these dividends unless we get rising rates at the short end of the curve without a commensurate rise of the 10-year rate. Nothing wrong with this ETF at all.

What's a covered call, international dividend ETF, hedged to the CAD? Just go with the S&P 500, made up of companies that have a footprint around the world. Consider ZWB-T, a covered call on Canadian banks. A hedge against CAD but has global exposure.

The options on this are some of the most expensive in the U.S. market, though lately the stock has stabilized. If you have made more 100% profit, then take half of it in profits and ride the rest of it out. An interesting company considered an up-and-comer. It's a volatile stock, so beware.