June 2012 Dividends Forecast

I haven't been the most consistent about putting a post up on the topic of dividends.  However, since last month and this month have included ex-dividend dates on every position in the Rescue My IRA portfolio, it is hard to escape the fact that this is a very important component of the strategy in this account.

The table shows the seven current positions in the account that will go ex-dividend and the date that will happen, along with the total dividend expected based on the number of shares.  At the time of this posting, URS has not gone ex-div officially; however, it did close below my covered call strike price today and is no danger of being called away before the ex-date, so I will receive the dividend when it is paid.

For the purpose of calculating returns, I count the dividends in the month they go ex-dividend as long as the shares are not called away from me.  That's a transaction I don't mind, since it usually means that I can record a share gain earlier than expected.  Unfortunately, in the market these days, that isn't likely to happen over the next couple of months.

I do expect things to improve over the course of the next quarter - in August and September when the ex-dividend dates roll around again.

Until then, I'll have to be satisfied with the $424.00 I expect to collect from dividends this month - that is a total return of 0.33% on the account. I've already had a lot of covered call premiums too - but that post will wait until the end of the month.