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DesertCat,

You make it sound like there is no place for covered calls, that a stock is either good or bad. If bad then don't buy the stock, if good then don't sell the covered call.

Ignoring taxes, what if you buy a company only because you think it is underpriced? You don't buy it because you think the business has any outstanding potential, but merely because you look at the company's assets and you think the stock price is low compared to that. You buy it only because it shouldn't go down. Then both your short at the strike price as well as your long-term holding is justified.

(I rarely write calls because most of my picks don't fall into this category. I also agree with your underlying premise that if you are selling a call you are selling a call, and the value of that call is separate from your stock purchase)

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I don't agree with Desert Cat about how he reads the "tea leaves" all the time but he's a smart guy. He's totally right IMO regarding the value in writing covered calls i.e. it's a poor idea. If you must do it I'd recommend shorting puts instead. Same risk profile, same EV, less transaction costs, and less capital tied up. Really though, I'd strongly recommend not doing it FWIW.