Today, 5/14/13, I sold 2 BP May 31, 2013 $44 Calls for a net deposit of $26.46 in an IRA Account.  My basis for these BP shares is now $43.46.  This transaction represents a simple return of about .33% and an annualized return of about 6.26% on my prior basis.  There are 19 days to option expiration.

My $44 weekly Puts were assigned to me last Friday.  Now I start to sell Covered Calls on my new shares.

I wrote last week that I might have been a little aggressive selling the $44 Puts.  BP went ex-dividend last Wednesday so I am not too surprised that it would take a small hit, at least as much as the .54 dividend.  BP is trading at $42.97 as I write this.  I suspect that part of the decline has to do with the general unease in the market place, but maybe not.  I see that other integrated oil and gas companies are up while others are down.

I originally thought to sell Covered Calls on these shares above my assigned price.  However, I would have had to gone out to at least June 7 to even get a $44.40 strike with any premium at all.  I decided to go ahead and sell the $44 strike a week earlier.  I will only net about $108 if called away but a profit is a profit.  I will watch BP and probably roll the Calls out and maybe up if the $44 strike appears in jeopardy as expiration approaches.

I already own 500 BP shares in this IRA account and would like to own more.  I also like that weekly options are available.  I think that BP is finally getting out from under theGulf of Mexicodisaster.  Apparently they are doing more drilling in the Gulf than before.

BP pays a good dividend, currently .54, which is about a 4.88% yield on its current price.  BP paid a dividend of .84 prior to the oil spill.  The dividend was cut in half to .42 after the spill and has been increased twice since then to .48 and the current .54.

S&P continues a 12-month price target of $56 with a Hold recommendation.  MarketEdge has a price opinion of $43.96 and a Long recommendation.  The 10 Yahoo! Analysts continue a 12-month price target of $51.42 and a recommendation of 2.3 where 1.0 is a Strong Buy and 5.0 is a Strong Sell.

Today, 5/6/13, I sold 2 BP May 10, 2013 $44 Puts for a net deposit of $102.46 in an IRA Account.  My basis for these BP shares, if put to me, would now be about $43.59.  This transaction represents a simple return of about 1.18% and an annualized return of about 85.79% on my potential basis.  There are 5 days to option expiration.

I had previously sold a series of Puts on BP that were eventually assigned at $41.  I then sold Covered Calls at $42 on those shares.  Those Calls were assigned last Friday.  I made $499.24 on the series of trades.

So…now I begin selling Puts on BP again.  This time I had to increase the strike price to sell a weekly Put.  I may have been a little aggressive though as BP close below $44 at $43.97 today.  I see that it is at $44.01 in after hours trading.  BP goes ex-dividend in a couple of days on 5/8/13.  Theoretically BP will drop by the amount of the dividend (.54) on the ex-dividend date.  However, a rising oil price and uncertainty in theMiddle Eastmight support the price.  Jim Cramer recently had positive comments on BP that will probably help support the price a little, at least for a day or two.

I already own 500 BP shares in this IRA account and would like to own more.  I also like that weekly options are available.  I think that BP is finally getting out from under theGulf of Mexicodisaster.  Apparently they are doing more drilling in the Gulf than before.

BP pays a good dividend, currently .54, which is about a 4.78% yield on its current price.  BP paid a dividend of .84 prior to the oil spill.  The dividend was cut in half to .42 after the spill and has been increased twice since then to .48 and the current .54.

S&P continues a 12-month price target of $56 with a Hold recommendation.  MarketEdge continues a price opinion of $42.35 and a Neutral recommendation.  The 10 Yahoo! Analysts have a 12-month price target of $51.42 and a recommendation of 2.3 where 1.0 is a Strong Buy and 5.0 is a Strong Sell.

Today, 4/23/13, I sold 2 BP May 3, 2013 $42 weekly Call for a net deposit of $46.46 in an IRA account.  This transaction represents a simple return of about .58% and an annualized return of about 19.39% on my prior basis.  My basis for these BP shares is now $39.50.  There are 11 days to option expiration.

These shares were assigned to me last Friday as the result of a $41 Put I sold.  I wrote last week that I would not be surprised if I was assigned these shares.  I used the option premiums I received while selling the series of BP Puts to reduce my basis on these shares.

Even though I like owning BP I am treating these shares as a trade.  That is why I sold a Call so close to the current stock price.  BP closed at $41.62 today.  I may roll the Call out next week if BP moves above my strike.  Or, I may just let them be called away and begin selling Puts again.  The decision will probably be based upon how far above the strike BP is next week.  If just in the money I will probably be able to make more money by letting these go and selling Puts again.

I note that I also own 500 shares of BP in this same account with Calls on them for Jan14 at $40.  I also have a $45 Put outstanding at $45 for Jan14 in my taxable account.

S&P currently has a 12-month target of $56 and a hold recommendation.  MarketEdge has a price opinion of $42.35 and a Neutral recommendation.  The 10 Yahoo analysts have a 1-year mean price target of $51.25 and a recommendation of 2.3 where 1.0 is a Strong Buy and 5.0 is a Strong Sell.