Who is Joel from Joel Income Journal?

Joel is a Singapore civil servant, husband and father of two. Since 2025 he has publicly documented his real income portfolio — high-yield ETFs, covered calls, cash-secured puts and PMCCs — on Substack and YouTube, with the goal of reaching $8,000 a month in passive income by age 50.

JIJ Options (jijoptions.app) is an options trading journal Joel built for wheel traders. It tracks cash-secured puts, covered calls and poor man's covered calls, links the full wheel cycle into one position, handles rolls in one click, and calculates win rate, realized P&L, break-even and annualised return. It costs $5.99/month after a 30-day free trial.

YieldScope (yieldscope.org) is a free tool Joel built that uses AI to score 100+ high-yield ETFs on yield quality, NAV health, risk and sustainability. No sign-up is required.

How are US dividends taxed for Singapore investors?

Singapore has no income tax treaty with the US, so under US rules for non-resident investors US-listed ETFs and stocks have 30% US withholding tax deducted from dividends. IRAS states that overseas income received by individuals in Singapore is generally not taxable, so the 30% withholding is generally the only tax. Return-of-capital distributions are usually not subject to that withholding.

What is the 99-delta ITM covered call strategy?

Instead of buying 100 shares, you buy a deep in-the-money call with a delta near 0.99, which moves almost like the stock for a fraction of the capital, then sell shorter-dated covered calls against it for income. Joel documents his 99-delta trades, including TQQQ and other leveraged ETFs, on Substack.

Which broker does Joel use for options and US ETFs?

Joel uses Interactive Brokers (IBKR) for options trading and margin, and Longbridge for commission-free US share trading.

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Options · 6 min read

The 99-Delta ITM Covered Call, Explained

By Joel · Updated 26 September 2026

The short answer

→Instead of buying 100 shares, you buy a deep in-the-money call with a delta near 0.99, which moves almost one-for-one with the stock.
→You then sell shorter-dated, out-of-the-money calls against it for income, like a normal covered call.
→It needs far less capital than owning the shares, so the return on capital is higher, and so are the percentage losses if the stock falls.
→Maximum profit per cycle is the gap between the two strikes minus the net cost.

Why a 99-delta call works as a share substitute

Delta measures how much an option's price moves when the stock moves $1. A call with a strike far below the current price has a delta close to 1.00, so it behaves almost exactly like owning 100 shares. Its price is nearly all intrinsic value (stock price minus strike), with very little time value to decay. You pay roughly the stock price minus the strike, so you tie up much less cash than buying the shares.

The setup

Buy one deep ITM call with a delta around 0.99 (the long leg).
Sell one out-of-the-money call with a shorter expiry against it (the short leg), just as you would against shares.
When the short call expires or you buy it back cheaply, sell the next one. Each round is one cycle.
If the stock rises above the short strike, you close both legs, or exercise the long call to cover assignment, and take the maximum profit for that cycle.

Worked example (illustrative numbers)

Stock price	$50
Buy $30 call (≈0.99 delta)	−$20.50 × 100 = −$2,050
Sell $52 call	+$1.50 × 100 = +$150
Capital tied up	$1,900 (vs $5,000 for 100 shares)
If called away at $52	(52 − 30) × 100 − $1,900 = +$300
Return on capital	≈15.8% for the cycle

The same covered call on 100 shares would make $350 on $5,000 of capital, or 7%. The 99-delta version makes a little less in dollars but uses 38% of the cash.

The risks

Leverage cuts both ways. A 10% drop in the stock is a much bigger percentage loss on the smaller capital, and if the stock falls below the long strike you can lose the whole long leg.
Short calls can be assigned early, especially just before an ex-dividend date. You don't own shares to deliver, so you need to exercise the long call or close the position.
Leveraged ETFs, where premiums are richest, also decay over time in choppy markets.
Deep ITM options can have wide bid-ask spreads. Use limit orders and stick to liquid tickers.

I run this strategy on tickers like TQQQ and NVDL and post each trade on Substack, including the losing ones. This guide is education, not a recommendation to trade.

Track your 99Δ cycles in JIJ Options

JIJ Options has a dedicated 99Δ ITM covered call type that tracks every cycle against the same long call.

Track your 99Δ cycles in JIJ Options →

Sources