Today, 6/1/10, I sold 6 ALSK Oct10 10 Covered Calls for a net deposit of $35.40 in two IRA accounts, four in one and two in the other.  My basis for these ALSK shares is now 13.43 and 15.47 respectively, excluding dividends received.

I sold these Covered Calls at a strike price below my basis but it just appears that ALSK cannot quite get back above $10.  The last time it was there was Oct08.  The current option premium is not great but does serve to further reduce my basis a little and provides some small addition to my cash position for further investment.

On a positive note, ALSK pays a good dividend at about 6.4% and 5.5% on my basis.  It is actually about 10.3% on its current market price.  That dividend is possibly a red flag about the company but I am going to continue to hold it for its dividends and the occasional option premiums I collect.  I read the ALSK annual report and the VZ annual report.  ALSK is certainly not as strong as VZ and has some greater competitive challenges, but I saw no compelling reason to dump ALSK at this time