On Monday, 1/23/12, I sold 2 Mar12 $40.00 Covered Calls for a net income of $40.48.  My basis for these VZ shares is now $34.86, excluding dividends received.  This transaction represents a simple return of about .58% and an annualized return of about 3.90%. 

 VZ missed estimates by .01 when it reported yesterday.  They also reported a 38% increase in contract wireless customers and a continued contraction of the traditional wire line business.  VZ is down .31 as I write this.

S&P currently has a 12-month price target of $37 and a Hold recommendation for VZ.  MarketEdge continues to have a Long rating and currently has a price opinion of $38.78.  The 29 Yahoo analysts have a neutral rating (2.5 on a 5 point scale) and have increased their 1 year target average to $39.55.

I consider VZ to be a part of my core holdings and would like to own more of it but just don’t have the cash available to do so at this time.  VZ pays a good dividend at about 5.34% on its current price.  VZ currently pays a .50 dividend, up from .49 last July.  This higher dividend resulted in a yield on my basis of 5.70% when last paid in November 2011.

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 $8,622.06 in dividends in my various accounts for 2011.  My year to date average monthly dividends received is currently $783.82.  The year-to-date dividends currently represent about 27.83% of my average monthly investment cash flow and about 2.15% return on my current basis value.

My YTD dividends are up by $179.55 on a monthly average from last year.  That represents a 29.71% 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 October, I received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $468.00.

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.

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 $6,060.45 in dividends in my various accounts for 2011.  My year to date average monthly dividends received is currently $757.56.  The year-to-date dividends currently represent about 27.04% of my average monthly investment cash flow and about 2.10% return on my current basis value.

My YTD dividends are up by $153.28 on a monthly average from last year.  That represents a 25.37% 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 August, I received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $410.29. 

 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.

 The DCIX shares are ones I received as a split off from Diana Shipping (DSX).  I had thought about just selling them but there are so few and the trading cost would chew up so much relative to what I would receive that I decided to keep them, at least for now, and collect the little dividends that they throw off.

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.