12k is way too expensive for such a call. I picked up a book called Covered Call, spend a week to read it, and went into market with USD3k.Then after, I made -3% to 5%(only once) per month, and 1 year now, I got 30% return, that's including Forex loss.

Next I read some books on Technical analysis, went into CPO futures with 10k, and left with 7k now.

For 12 to 18k, you can learn a lot from the market...