How to Track Your PMCC Performance
A long LEAPS plus short calls sold against it — the PMCC is elegant but tricky to track. Here's how to see if yours is actually working.
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The problem
Why this is harder than it looks
The Poor Man's Covered Call pairs a long-dated LEAPS call with short calls sold against it. Your broker shows the LEAPS as one trade and each short call as a separate trade. When you roll the short call — which happens frequently — you generate more fills that all belong to the same position. Tracking your net debit, cumulative premium collected, and true breakeven requires connecting all of these fills manually. Most spreadsheets give up after the third roll.
Difficulty in market analysis
Limited understanding of options strategies
Loss of capital due to poor trade decisions
Confusion over complex strategies
Step by step
Here's how to do it
Export trades covering the full PMCC lifecycle
Export your broker CSV with a date range that starts from when you bought the LEAPS. PMCCs can run for months or even a year, so set your start date accordingly.
Your LEAPS might have been opened much earlier than your most recent short call. Go back far enough.
Import into OptionsEdge
Upload the CSV. OptionsEdge parses both the long LEAPS call and all short calls sold against it, identifying them as related fills on the same underlying and expiration cycle.
Verify the LEAPS and short calls are grouped together
On the Positions page, you should see a single PMCC position showing the long LEAPS and all short call activity. The net debit and total premium collected are calculated automatically.
If the LEAPS was opened in a prior import, make sure to include that date range. The grouping depends on having all fills.
Track premium collected vs. LEAPS cost
The key metric for PMCCs is how much premium you've collected from short calls relative to what you paid for the LEAPS. OptionsEdge shows this in the position detail so you can see your recoup rate at a glance.
Monitor rolls and adjustments
Each time you roll the short call, import updated data. OptionsEdge adds the roll to the existing position and updates your cost basis. You can see the full history of every short call you've sold against the LEAPS.
Watch out
Common mistakes to avoid
Tracking the LEAPS and short calls as separate positions — you need the combined view
Forgetting to include the LEAPS purchase in your export date range
Not accounting for roll credits/debits when calculating your breakeven
Closing the analysis too early — PMCCs are designed to run for months, and early data can be misleading
The easier way
How OptionsEdge handles this for you
Groups long LEAPS and short calls into a single PMCC position automatically
Tracks net debit and cumulative premium collected so you see your breakeven at a glance
Roll tracking shows the full history of short call adjustments with P&L impact of each roll
Strategy-level P&L separates your PMCC performance from other strategies
Import from ThinkorSwim or Tastytrade CSV — diagonal spread legs matched automatically
Keep reading
Related guides
See your PMCC's true performance.
Import your broker CSV and see your LEAPS plus short calls as one position with real cost basis. Free to start.
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