Many of the stocks that I own and write Covered Calls upon also pay dividends.  Dividends occur on a regular basis and add significantly to my annual investment income.  Year to date I have received a total of $5,898.16 in dividends in my various accounts for 2011.  My year to date average monthly dividends received is currently $807.17.  The year-to-date dividends currently represent about 29.55% of my average monthly investment cash flow and about 2.28% return on my current basis value.

My YTD dividends are up by $202.89 on a monthly average from last year.  That represents a 33.58% increase to date year over year.  I attribute the increased dividends to a few companies raising their dividends and to my purchasing additional dividend paying stocks.  During July, I received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $1.152.32.

Please notice that PGF is an ETF and pays dividends monthly.  The annualized dividend yield for PGF is based upon the simple and false assumption that it will pay the same dividend each month for the next 12 months.  The actual annualized dividend yield may be more or less than illustrated here.

 ANH, MFA and NLY are mortgage REITs that make their money on interest rate spreads.  Their current high annualized dividend yields on my basis are probably at risk when the Fed begins to raise its discount rates.  As of this writing, my current basis, excluding dividends, for many of these stocks is now below their current market price which increases my yield on those stocks.  I attempt to sell Covered Calls on these stocks to reduce my basis which, to some extent, will help mitigate any possible future reduction in their dividend payouts.  I find myself just holding some of these stocks sometimes while I wait for their price to rise to a point that I am comfortable selling new Covered Calls.  If I do not sell new Covered Calls I am content to capture the nice dividend for an indefinite period.  Notably, PGF, NLY, ANH and MFA fall into this category.

I use my basis per share to determine the simple and annualized percentage return because I feel that it gives me a better representation of the value of the dividends as they relate to my portfolio.  My basis may be above or below the market price which causes my return to be lower or higher than published yields for a stock.  I calculate my basis per share as my acquisition price less any option premiums received on those shares.  I do not use dividends to reduce my basis.

Many of the stocks that I own and write Covered Calls upon also pay dividends.  Dividends occur on a regular basis and add significantly to my annual investment income.  Year to date I have received a total of $3,123.51 in dividends in my various accounts for 2011.  My year to date average monthly dividends received is currently $780.88.  The year-to-date dividends currently represent about 30.15% of my average monthly investment cash flow and about 2.44% return on my current basis value.

My YTD dividends are up by $176.60 on a monthly average from last year.  That represents a 29.23% increase to date year over year.  I attribute the increased dividends to a few companies raising their dividends and to my purchasing additional dividend paying stocks.  During April, I received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $1,178.35. 

Please notice that PGF is an ETF and pays dividends monthly.  The annualized dividend yield for PGF is based upon the simple and false assumption that it will pay the same dividend each month for the next 12 months.  The actual annualized dividend yield may be more or less than illustrated here.

ANH, MFA and NLY are mortgage REITs that make their money on interest rate spreads.  Their current high annualized dividend yields on my basis are probably at risk when the Fed begins to raise its discount rates.  As of this writing, my current basis, excluding dividends, for many of these stocks is now below their current market price which increases my yield on those stocks.  I attempt to sell Covered Calls on these stocks to reduce my basis which, to some extent, will help mitigate any possible future reduction in their dividend payouts.  I find myself just holding some of these stocks sometimes while I wait for their price to rise to a point that I am comfortable selling new Covered Calls.  If I do not sell new Covered Calls I am content to capture the nice dividend for an indefinite period.  Notably, PGF, NLY, ANH and MFA fall into this category.

I use my basis per share to determine the simple and annualized percentage return because I feel that it gives me a better representation of the value of the dividends as they relate to my portfolio.  My basis may be above or below the market price which causes my return to be lower or higher than published yields for a stock.  I calculate my basis per share as my acquisition price less any option premiums received on those shares.  I do not use dividends to reduce my basis.

Many of the stocks that I own and write Covered Calls upon also pay dividends.  Dividends occur on a regular basis and add significantly to my annual investment income.  Year to date I have received a total of $5,860.80 in dividends in my various accounts for 2010.  My year to date average monthly dividends received is currently $586.08.  The year-to-date dividends currently represent about 26.58% of my monthly investment cash flow and 2.00% return on my current basis value.

Despite BP not paying a 3^rd quarter dividend my YTD dividends are now up by $14.07 on a monthly average from last year.  I attribute the increased dividends to a few companies raising their dividends and to my purchasing additional dividend paying stocks.  Normally I would have received an additional $420 in BP dividends in August.  BP will also not pay its regular dividend in November which will be another $420 hit.  On the plus side, BP is starting to talk about paying dividends again in 2011.  During September, I have received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $938.90. 

MFA, ANH, and NLY are mortgage REITs that make their money on interest rate spreads.  Their current high annualized dividend yields on my basis are probably at risk when the Fed begins to raise its discount rates.  As of this writing, my current basis, excluding dividends, for most of these stocks are above their current market price.  I attempt to sell Covered Calls on these stocks to reduce my basis which, to some extent, will help mitigate any future reduction in their dividend payouts.  I find myself just holding some of these stocks sometimes while I wait for their price to rise to a point that I am comfortable selling new Covered Calls.  If I do not sell new Covered Calls I am content to capture the nice dividend for an indefinite period.

I use my basis per share to determine the simple and annualized percentage return because I feel that it gives me a better representation of the value of the dividends as they relate to my portfolio.  My basis may be above or below the market price which causes my return to be lower or higher than published yields for a stock.  I calculate my basis per share as my acquisition price less any option premiums received on those shares.  I do not use dividends to reduce my basis.