IPO stocks: does selling covered calls trigger the flipping rule?

External question — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: puzzled Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169726 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. Various brokerages have flipping rules like 15/30 days for IPO stocks. I see recently issued IPOs have options being traded within 3-4 days. So suppose one (I do not have any, just learning and surveying the playing field) has been assigned 100 shares of QNT or SPCX (recently issued IPOs) can the person safely sell a covered call for July 17, 2026, a date more than 30 days from today and not be counted against the investor by the brokerage so the investor can take part in upcoming IPOs and not be blocked.

External answer — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: Franck Dernoncourt Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/169727 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. Here is Fidelity's policy, as posted by the Fidelity official "Community Care Representative" on their official sub on Reddit : Selling covered calls doesn’t cause a flip as long as the shares in the account are equal to the quantity you were allocated for each of the 15 days. If calls are assigned and the resulting share quantity falls below your allocated amount, you will be labeled a flipper.