Intel Corp (INTC)

[alan81]

AMD covered calls as INTC hedge...
I think going short AMD is a method of covering INTC as they do move together much of the time. That said, your covered call is really a long position, not a short. You lose money if it goes down and you make money if it goes up.
The way you lose with your strategy is if the PC market falls apart and both companies drop. Now that you are retired, volatility is a very important indicator... and using your spare change to buy covered calls in AMD does not diversify you at all.
I think you are right that at the current levels AMD is not a very good short candidate, so the question is if you think it is a good long candidate. My personal opinion is it is not a long candidate until somewhere below 5.
If you really have a lot of INTC (say more than 25% of assets) I would consider selling some and perhaps covering some. You need to watch tax consequences as you back out of the INTC position.
In terms of where to put that spare change, I would vote for some international iShares funds.
--Alan