Curious what the thesis is here that would warrant covered calls...

A lot of people think that covering a call is a sensible way to reduce risk. Actually, it just converts your short call (infinite potential loss) to a short put (significant, but not infinite potential loss). It's a net long delta / short vega position, which will result in a profit if the either a) the stock price goes up (your long stocks will go up more than your short call goes down) or if volatility remains low. You could be looking at significant losses if the stock prices drops or volatility is high...

Anyway, my two cents: unless your thesis is specifically about volatility being mispriced, you're better off steering clear of options (particularly short options) altogether. They are a very complex product and the options market-makers hold a significant informational advantage, plus you have to cross the spread to get in, making it very hard to win in the long run.