$1.$Describe how a covered call strategy functions$/$works using roughly at$-$the$-$money calls. What is the rationale? What contributes to the yield of the overall portfolio?

$2.$For each of the following market scenarios, would you expect a covered call strategy $($again$,$ assume roughly at$-$the$-$money calls$)$ to outperform or underperform the underlying portfolio? Why?

a$.$Market Downturn

b$.$Rising markets

c$.$Range$-$bound markets, with relatively flat underlying returns

$3.$Which of the three proposed indices $($S&P $500,$ Nasdaq $100,$ or Solactive Equal Weight Banks$)$ would you expect to generate the highest cash distribution $($payout$)$ yield as part of a covered call strategy? What factors contribute to the yield of the covered call strategy.

$4.$Questions $1-3$ are general in nature, and explicitly assume the written call in the strategy is at or near$-$the$-$money, and that we write options on the entire underlying position. Consider, as an alternative, only writing calls on half the underlying position. How would this alter the payoff profile?

$5.$As an alterative to $(4),$ consider instead raising the strike price of the written options but with options still sold against the entire portfolio. How does that alter the payoff?