My August dividends are down from last year because of the BP decision to not pay a 3^rd quarter dividend as a result of the Gulf oil spill.  Normally I would have received an additional $420 in BP dividends in August.  I anticipate that BP will also not pay its regular dividend in November which will be another $420 hit.  During August, I have received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $255.46. 

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.

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.

During July, I received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $431.01:

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.

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.

That is a pretty small deposit but it is about half of one months dividends for these shares.  If I can do at least that twice a year I have effectively added an additional month’s dividends.

I sold these Calls so far out because I really don’t want them called away but if they are I want to make a decent profit on them.  I am pretty confident that they are safe at that strike price or that I can roll them out at the same strike price for an additional deposit if necessary.

I began accumulating PGF in another account with my first purchase of 200 shares in Jan10 and a second 200 shares in May10.  I acquired these share in May10.  I will look to purchase some additional shares if I can do so at a price below my current basis so as to reduce my average basis.

At the time I purchased these shares in May I wrote the following:

The reasons I added to my position on PGF is that the price just appeared to be too low to be stay there and the monthly dividend with it’s approximately 7.4% annualized yield on current price.  Couple the dividends with the opportunity to sell Covered Calls 2 or 3 times a year and I have what I believe to be a good, safe return.

I intend to sit on the new shares and just collect the dividends until the stock price recovers above $16 at which time I will look at selling Covered Calls at $17 or $18.

PGF first came to my attention reading Jim Cramer’s latest book, “Getting Back to Even”.  It is one of the few stocks he recommended in the book.  Jim continues to make references to this book on his show as a road map to help survive the current market conditions.  I recommend the book to anybody that is interested in owning individual stock.

During June, I received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $367.04:

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.

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.

I sold these Calls so far out because I really don’t want them called away but if they are I want to make a decent profit on them.  I am pretty confident that they are safe at that strike price or that I can roll them out at the same strike price for an additional deposit if necessary.

I began accumulating PGF in this account with my first purchase of 200 shares in Jan10 and a second 200 shares in May10.  The second purchase was at about one dollar lower price that the first which allowed me to reduce my average basis faster than the Call option premiums alone would have done.  I will look to purchase some additional shares if I can do so at a price below my current basis.

At the time I purchased the last 200 shares in May I wrote the following:

The reasons I added to my position on PGF is that the price just appeared to be too low to be stay there and the monthly dividend with it’s approximately 7.4% annualized yield on current price.  Couple the dividends with the opportunity to sell Covered Calls 2 or 3 times a year and I have what I believe to be a good, safe return.

I intend to sit on the new shares and just collect the dividends until the stock price recovers above $16 at which time I will look at selling Covered Calls at $17 or $18.

PGF first came to my attention reading Jim Cramer’s latest book, “Getting Back to Even”.  It is one of the few stocks he recommended in the book.  Jim continues to make references to this book on his show as a road map to help survive the current market conditions.