Today, 4/19/10, I sold 5 DSX Sep10 17.50 Covered Calls for a net deposit of $176.17 in 2 IRA accounts, 3 in one account and 2 in the other.  My basis for these DSX shares is now 26.78 and 13.74 respectively, excluding dividends received.

My Apr10 DSX Covered Calls were written at the 15 strike price.  It was touch and go for me on Friday afternoon as I watched DSX move around just below $15.  I was prepared to let those shares that owned a little under 15 be called away but did not want the others called away just yet.  In the end, DSX closed just a few pennies below $15 allowing me to once again sell Covered Calls on all of them.

I chose to go a little farther out in order to increase my strike price up to the 17.50 level.  I considered selling the 15 strike once again but in the end decided to take a smaller premium in exchange for the higher strike.

My thoughts about DSX have not changed since my last posting in March.  I repeat below what I wrote then.

DSX last paid dividends in 4th quarter of 2008.  It had been increasing its dividends each quarter with the last one being .95.  I am hopeful and expect that dividends will resume as the world economy recovers.  In the mean time I will continue to sell Covered Calls to “make my own dividend”. 

To some degree I think DSX is an extension of Warren Buffet’s purchasing railroads.  If the railroads are going to move coal, foreign steel and grains then there needs to be dry bulk shippers to move those same products across the oceans.  That is what DSX does.