What does it mean to “Sell a Call” on a commodity, stock, or index?
This simply refers to: The selling of a call option.
A “call” option is the right to “buy.”
(Whereas, a “put” option is the right to “sell.”)
The most common example of options is in real-estate.
One buys the right, but not the obligation, to buy a property at a set price within the next so many days.
It is the same for an option on a stock or commodity.
Selling one call option on cotton at 70.00 cents/lb. gives someone else the right to buy from you 100 bales of cotton (or one futures contract on cotton) for 70.00 cents/lb. anytime between now and the option’s expiration date.
If 2.00 cents/lb. is paid for the option, and the price of cotton goes up by 10.00 cents/lb, the loss is 8.00 cents/lb.
Selling a call option limits the potential gain to the premium paid for the option – while the potential loss is unlimited.