Volatility has dropped over the last few weeks as the markets seemed to have calmed down … for now. The VIX (the CBOE Volatility Index) is down around 23 … it was only a few weeks ago that it was hovering at 33 and the markets were getting hit hard … both ways.

The volatility lapse has taken the punch out of some of the premium we could collect on rolls or selling puts in our Triple Play Income portfolio. We have a few positions expiring this week but we may need to hold on another day or two before rolling so that we can collect a reasonable credit.

No trade actions today but here is a brief update on a few of our open positions.

AbbVie (ABBV):  149.65

AbbVie stock price has started to stabilize around the $150 level but there isn’t much premium to collect at the 155 strike or higher. We are looking to sell a covered call but let’s give this stock another few days to see if we can find more premium to collect.

ACTION: No Action. Leave stock uncovered for now.

Blackstone (BX): 117.48

Blackstone stock price has flirted with 120 and higher this past week. We will roll our 10 Jun 119 call this week but there is still plenty of time value left in our options making it likely we will roll this on Friday.

ACTION:  No Action. 

Dow Inc. (DOW):  67.53

Dow stock price has been up and down but may be settling into a manageable trading range. We will look to manage our 10 Jun 68 call tomorrow or Friday at the latest.

ACTION:  No Action

Gilead Sciences (GILD):  62.95

Gilead Sciences goes ex-dividend next Tuesday (6/14) while our 10 Jun 65 call is down to a few pennies. We can roll the calls out a week or two but we’re not seeing much in the way of reasonable premiums at this time anywhere near the 64 or 65 strikes. We will revisit this again before the end of the week.

ACTION:  No Action.