How OptionsAnalytx reads a covered call.

A premium on its own tells you very little. 1.5% of the share price for a month sounds good or bad depending on the stock, the date and how far the strike sits above the price.

So we ask one narrow question: is this premium high or low for this stock, compared with calls like it that came before?

Here is the example on our homepage. On September 17, 2026, GOOG closed at $343.68. Its $360 call for October 16, 29 days out, was bid at $5.25, which is 1.53% of the share price. Similar GOOG calls in the past usually paid 1.29%. Half the time they paid between 1.04% and 1.61%. This call paid more than usual, about 19% above the typical figure. The comparison rests on 280 past GOOG calls.

That is the whole idea. The rest of this page is about doing it honestly.

A past call counts as similar when it matches on three things.

Same stock. Only that stock’s own past calls, never another stock’s.

Similar time to expiry. Calls that had a similar number of days left. A 29-day call is compared with other calls around a month from expiration, not with weeklies or calls a year out.

Similar odds of finishing above the strike. The market prices every call with a rough estimate of how likely it is to end above its strike, a number traders call delta. The GOOG call above carried about a 31% chance. It is compared with past calls the market rated roughly as likely. That is what keeps a far-out strike from being compared with one right at the price.

Premiums are measured as a share of the share price, so a $50 stock in 2017 and a $500 stock today sit on one scale.

A call 5% above the price, a month out, means something completely different on a slow utility than on a stock that swings 4% a day. Same distance, same date, different trade, because the stocks underneath are not alike.

So every comparison stays inside one stock’s own history. We never say one stock’s call beats another’s. That is a different question, and not one this tool claims to answer.

Picture a call paying 2.0% of the share price for a month on two different stocks.

On a quiet stock whose similar calls usually paid 1.1%, 2.0% is well above usual. On a volatile stock whose similar calls usually paid 3.2%, the same 2.0% is below usual.

The call didn’t change. The history it is measured against did. A premium tells you almost nothing until you see it next to what calls like it have paid on that same stock.

Columns. Each expiration date gets a reading at the top, such as "74th", and a shade from very low to very high. It compares that whole expiration with the stock’s own past at the same distance from expiry. GOOG’s October 16 column read 74th: typical for GOOG.

Figures. Each cell shows that call’s premium as a share of the share price, for the days until that date. It is not turned into a yearly rate.

Bars. The bars under each figure show the market’s rough odds of the call finishing above its strike. More bars, higher odds.

Single calls aren’t coloured yet. A reading for each individual call is still being tested and isn’t on the board. For now, open a call to see its comparison.

Empty cells mean no contract is listed at that strike and date.

Click a call and the Inspector shows the comparison in full.

• This pays and similar usually paid, side by side.
• The verdict in words: more than usual (over 10% above what similar calls usually paid), about usual (within 10%), or less than usual (over 10% below).
• How many past calls the comparison rests on.
• The usual range: the band that half of those calls paid within.
• The call’s own terms: dollars per contract, break-even, and what you’d make if the shares are called away.

The usual figure is taken from those past calls directly, not from a fitted curve.

Too few similar past calls. If a stock doesn’t have enough calls like this one in its history, we show the premium and leave the comparison out. We say so instead of guessing.

A quote too wide to trust. Every option has a price buyers will pay (the bid) and a price sellers ask. When the gap between them is very wide, the premium you could actually collect is uncertain. We flag that beside the comparison rather than letting the number stand on its own. More on quote gaps.

Blanks are normal in the thinly traded corners of a board: far strikes, long dates, quieter stocks. A blank is the tool being honest about where it can’t help.

We show the count. Every comparison says how many past calls it rests on, so you can judge how much weight it deserves.

No hindsight. Each comparison uses only calls that existed before that day.

Same yardstick across the years. Premiums are measured as a share of the share price, so years with very different share prices sit on one scale.

No advice. We show the comparison. We never tell you which call to write.

"More than usual" is not a recommendation, a prediction or a sign that a trade will work. It says the market is paying more than it usually did for calls like this. There is often a reason:

• an earnings report before the expiration;
• a market-wide spell of nerves;
• a quote nobody is really trading.

A bigger premium is the market pricing in bigger risk. The comparison tells you how today’s premium compares with what calls like it usually paid. The decision, and everything about why you own the stock, stays with you.