Second straight drop in GDP released today … the technical definition of recession. Stocks opened flat, traded lower and are now trading higher. Market may have settled for a while. Let’s sell a covered call on Blackstone.

Covered Call

Blackstone (BX):  100.83

Blackstone stock price is trading higher after the recent financial events (Fed rate hike and GDP number release) and goes ex-dividend tomorrow (paying $1.32) meaning it should trade lower.

We can enter a covered call today far enough out of the money to avoid being called out and missing the dividend.

ACTION:  Sell to open BX 12 Aug 105 call for a net credit of around 1.24 to 1.27 and a 1.18% return.