May 2012 Dividend Forecast

I'm waiting for my April statement to be available on-line so I can post monthly results for the account.  Meanwhile, I've been taking a look at the month ahead, and since I remembered that February was a big month for dividend payments, thought I might put together a quarterly forecast, since many of the positions should be due for an ex-dividend date this month.  What I found is shown in the little graphic to the left.

Just as with February, it does appear that I can expect a good share of the earnings in May to derive from dividends - in fact, I can forecast over $500 in earnings, or a return of approximately 0.42%, nearly half my monthly goal, from dividends.

I noted that because I have a couple of positions that are either in-the-money or near-the-money, the likelihood of an early call is definitely there for some of the stocks.  If these calls are assigned, the returns reduce by more than $200 - not quite 50% of the expected payments.

On the other side of the coin, and early call means a stock gain. The contracts on these positions include calculated stock gains of between $260 and $540 per position.  If those contracts are exercised, I'll have a good May, indeed!