RE: Take a look at the RY's 20 year chart!!Give me a break Cannonball. ANY 20 YEAR CHART OF ANY CANADIAN BANK IS ABSOLUTELY USELESS! As of Aug. 2007 the game changed completely. A chart of RY's performance from 08/2007 will certainly give you a better overview.
As BlueTdi stated very well a covered call option indicates you have a neutral stance on the play. The problem is the performance of RY has been anything but neutral. How many times do people have to tell you that holding for the dividend is not worth the loss in market cap? The dividend is eating away at huge chunk of the banks "earnings" and is not sustainable. It is a matter of time before the dividends get, at the very least, cut.
In fact it won't be long before all of you will be talking about the good old days when RY traded above $30.
El-Mark-O