International Paper Co (IP)

[GreedyAgorist]

These boards are mostly for penny stocks. But I like to see if there is any chatter here on the blue chips in my dividend capture rotation. Monday this week was like last week although not as harsh. Both good opportunities for bottom fishing. (As they say, "Never sell on Monday.") I collected the premium on a cash covered put on IP while it was down, with a strike of 44, I think. That was a quick score with the option expiring at the end of the week. I might have done that again this Monday (with a strike this time of 43 or 43.50), except I am getting conflicting info on when the ex-div date is. Finance.yahoo and every broker I check says not May 28, but May 24, this Friday, so an option expiring that day would leave you out of collecting a dividend if you get stuck with the stock finishing the week under the strike price, leaving you to start next week as a proud owner of shares.

So, this week, looks like just buying it outright (particularly on Never-Sell-On Monday) was the way to go. Or even if you got it early Tuesday, still under 44 within the first hour, you could then have already sold it outright if you were pleased enough with your short-term gain (hopefully at least 50 cents a share, since that is the equivalent of a quarterly divvy). Or you could have sold a covered call expiring as soon as Friday on the nice positive open today before things turned south, maybe with a strike price of 45, or 44.50, if you wanted to lock more of your potential return into your premium (and have more protection against a retrace).