At the beginning of the year, I posted some 2013 investment goals.  To summarize:

• Increase      my total cash flow from dividends and option premiums by a compound 8%      from my base year of 2010 = to $33,006.94 in 2013
• Continue      my dividend yield at 2.15% on my basis
• Continue      my total cash flow to be 7.7% on my basis

Here are the YTD results for 2013:

I include future YTD months simply because I find it interesting to see what the results might be if I never earned another dollar.  It also lets me see what I need to do in each future month as of this moment to exceed last year’s results.  An explanation of some items in the results table seems appropriate.

Target:  The monthly average amount to reach my 8% goal.
Target +/-:  The dollar amount that I am ahead or behind my 8% goal.
Average YTD increase %:  The average increase over last year-to-date.
Yield on Mkt %: The yield on the market value of my stock holdings.
Target Increase on Base: The Goal and Actual %.
Div on Basis: The Goal and Actual Div yield %.
Total Yield on Basis: The Goal and Actual % of cash flow on my basis.

Analysis of results and a look at next month:

With four month in the books, it is beginning to look like I was a little conservative when setting my annual goals this year.  I blew away my “Target Increase on Base” percentage for April and have already reached the targets for May and June.  I also exceeded my target for “Total Yield on Basis” percentage.  The Dividend yield on basis is finally on track for the first time in many months.  I can only hope that the rest of the year turns out so well.

In total, April turned out much better than expected.  In fact, it is the best cash flow month since July 2008.  I had expected dividends to be about $100 below March 2012.  As it turned out dividends were up by a little more than $200 from last year.  Annualized dividends are up over last year for the first time this year.  Option premiums were more than double April 2012.  I believe part of the increase is due to selling weekly options.  Part of the increase is due to having more cash available to trade because of some large Call assignments in March.  The lesson here is to let some lower performing stocks go to use the cash more efficiently.

Looking ahead, it appears that dividend income for May will be about $120 less than what I received last year.  The weekly options continue to work well for me right now, which suggests that option income will be somewhat greater than the comparable month last year.  Historically, May tends to be a poor cash flow month for me.

I expect that I will meet most of my goals again by the end of the year, even perhaps for the dividend yield on Basis.  The good progress the past months will help mitigate any potentially poor future month.

At the beginning of the year, I posted some 2013 investment goals.  To summarize:

• Increase my total cash flow from dividends and option premiums by a compound 8% from my base year of 2010 = to $33,006.94 in 2013
• Continue my dividend yield at 2.15% on my basis
• Continue my total cash flow to be 7.7% on my basis

Here are the YTD results for 2013:

I include future YTD months simply because I find it interesting to see what the results might be if I never earned another dollar.  It also lets me see what I need to do in each future month as of this moment to exceed last year’s results.  An explanation of some items in the results table seems appropriate.

Target:  The monthly average amount to reach my 8% goal.
Target +/-:  The dollar amount that I am ahead or behind my 8% goal.
Average YTD increase %:  The average increase over last year-to-date.
Yield on Mkt %: The yield on the market value of my stock holdings.
Target Increase on Base: The Goal and Actual %.
Div on Basis: The Goal and Actual Div yield %.
Total Yield on Basis: The Goal and Actual % of cash flow on my basis.

Analysis of results and a look at next month:

With three month in the books, I may be starting to detect a trend for the year.  I blew away my “Target Increase on Base” percentage for March and have already reached the target for April.  I have also exceeded my target for “Total Yield on Basis” percentage.  The Dividend yield on basis is still a laggard but I am taking steps to improve dividend yield by focusing on additional higher paying dividend stocks.

In total, March turned out much better than expected.  I had expected dividends to be about $200 above March 2012.  As it turned out dividends were up by just under $9 from last year.  Even so, annualized dividends year to date are up by $13.19 from last year.  Losing NYX cost $180 in dividend income.  On the other hand, option premiums were up more than $1,045 over March 2012.

Looking ahead, it appears that dividend income for April will be about $100 less than what I received last year.  The weekly options continue to work well for me right now, which suggests that option income will be somewhat greater than the comparable month last year.

At the beginning of the year, I posted some 2013 investment goals.  To summarize:

• Increase my total cash flow from dividends and option premiums by a compound 8% from my base year of 2010 = to $33,006.94 in 2013
• Continue my dividend yield at 2.15% on my basis
• Continue my total cash flow to be 7.7% on my basis

Here are the YTD results for 2013:

I include future YTD months simply because I find it interesting to see what the results might be if I never earned another dollar.  It also lets me see what I need to do in each future month as of this moment to exceed last year’s results.  An explanation of some items in the results table seems appropriate.

Target:  The monthly average amount to reach my 8% goal.
Target +/-:  The dollar amount that I am ahead or behind my 8% goal.
Average YTD increase %:  The average increase over last year-to-date.
Yield on Mkt %: The yield on the market value of my stock holdings.
Target Increase on Base: The Goal and Actual %.
Div on Basis: The Goal and Actual Div yield %.
Total Yield on Basis: The Goal and Actual % of cash flow on my basis.

Analysis of results and a look at next month:

With two month in the books, it is still too early to detect a trend for the year.  However, the year is off to a good start.  I have exceeded two of the three goals for the year; Dividend yield on my basis is again the laggard.

In total, February turned out much better than expected.  I had expected dividends to be well below February 2012.  However, dividends were down by just under $2 from last year.  Even so, annualized dividends year to date are up by $15.35 from last year.  On the other hand, option premiums were up more than $600 over February 2012.

Looking ahead, it appears that dividend income for March will be about $200 greater than what I received last year.  It depends on whether or not some stocks are called away early to capture the dividend (notably NYX).  The weekly options are working well for me right now, which suggests that option income will be somewhat greater than the comparable month last year.

I expect that I will meet most of my goals again by the end of the year, except perhaps for the dividend yield on Basis.  The good progress the past months will help mitigate any potentially poor future month.