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.