I sold 2 VLCK Nov08 7.50 Covered Calls on 10/22/08 for a net deposit of $90.50 in my taxable account.  My basis for these VLCK shares is now 22.50.

Of course, VLCK does not pay a dividend so I am not even paid for waiting for its price to recover (if it ever does).  So I just chip away at my basis by selling Covered Calls.  I would normally have sold a higher strike price a little further out but, as I’ve said earlier, I needed to raise additional cash in my taxable account to help satisfy a margin call.  As it is, VCLK has already moved above and then fell below the 7.50 strike price just last Friday.  I will need to go out to Jun09 if I want to roll VCLK out and up to a 10 strike price.  We’ll see what happens when trading resumes tomorrow and how, if at all, the election changes things.

On Monday, 9/22/08, I sold the following Covered Calls for a net deposit of $1049.50 in my taxable and various IRA accounts.

10 AUY Oct08 12 - My basis varies from 6.24 to 11.50 for these shares.

4 DF Oct08 25 - My basis is 33.48 for 200 and 34.28 for the other 200 shares.  I don’t expect these will exceed the strike price but will roll out if they do.

2 GOL Jan09 10 - My basis is 24.12 for these shares.  I sold to far out so that I could get a little more premium without the strike being too close in because I don’t want this called away just yet.

2 TIE Oct08 15 - My basis is 29.21 for these shares.  I doubt that TIE will get to 15 but I will roll these out if it does.

2 VCLK Oct08 12.50 - My basis is 22.95 for these shares.  I will roll these out if VCLK exceeds the strike price.

4 YHOO Oct08 21.00 - My basis is 22.73 for 200 and 24.16 for the other 200 shares.  I will roll these out if, by some chance, YHOO is exceeding the strike price as we near expiration.

2 CCJ Oct08 30.00 - My basis is 35.25 for these shares.  I will roll these out if CCJ exceeds the strike price as we near expiration.

2 AA Oct08 32.50 - My basis is 28.64 for these shares.  I will probably roll them out if AA exceeds the strike price as we near expiration.  AA pays a dividend and is a raw material producer so I have a tendancy to want to hold on to it.

And that is all for Monday’s trades.

On 8/25/08, I sold 2 VLCK Sep08 15 Covered Calls for a net deposit of $20.50 in my taxable account.  My basis is now 23.09.

VCLK does not pay a dividend so does not meet my general investing philosophy.  It also does not provide very good option premiums at this time.  Unless something changes, I will continue to chip away at my basis until I can get VCLK sold at a profit or at least a break even.