Overview of dividend capture strategies

I have written several posts on dividend capture strategies. My favored, although far from perfect strategy: Dividend capture with covered calls Some approaches I don’t recommend: SPY dividend capture ideas that don’t work Dividend capture—three approaches to skip Additional background and tools, and an example: Dividend capture overview Covered calls–are you ready? Combo orders–maximizing profits on covered calls DIA dividend capture: creating the position DIA …

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Going short on VIX?

Unlike the S&P 500 or Dow Jones Index, there is no way to directly invest in the VIX index.  I’m sure some really smart people have tried to figure out how to go long or short on this computed volatility index, but there’s just no way to do it directly.  Instead, you have to invest in a security that attempts to track VIX.  None of …

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2023 Ex-Dividend & Paydate / Distribution information for ETFs

I have collected dividend, ex-dividend, paydate/ distribution information for 2023 on the following ETFs. Alerian  AMLP Invesco  Quarterly Group I:  EWEM  EWMC  EWRE  EWSC  OEW  RCD  RFG  RFV  RGI  RHS  RPG  RPV  RZG  RZV  RSP  RTM  RYE  RYF  RYH  RYT  RYU  XLG iShares iShares:  AGG  CMF  CSJ  HYG  IEF  IEI  IGOV  ISHG  LQD  PFF  SHV  SHY  TIP  TLH  TLT iShares:  AGZ  CFT  CIU  EMB  GBF  …

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Trading in IRA accounts, and avoiding “free riding”

As much as possible I try to trade in my IRA accounts—in order to defer taxes of course. It is a bit counter-intuitive to be doing more speculative activities in a retirement account, but this approach supports my goals:

  • Achieving good returns
  • With reasonable risks
  • While compounding growth

If your money is in Roth accounts, all the better, but most people interested in trading in their IRAs are restricted to traditional IRAs.

There are restrictions on what trades you can do in an IRA account.  For example, you can’t short a stock in an IRA account, but option restrictions have eased some over the years,  and market innovations like short ETFs (e.g., SH, SDS) have effectively bypassed some of the more onerous restrictions.   Brokers vary considerably in what they allow in IRA accounts, so pays to ask around.   Fidelity & Schwab allow many types of option spreads that some brokers might not. Covered calls and protective puts on long positions are broadly available within IRAs. Interactive Brokers and TD Ameritrade both waive the 2-day settlement requirement on trades in IRAs so if you plan to do frequent trades they would definitely be worth a look.

For a more general treatment on trading in IRAs see “Top 15 Questions About Trading in IRAs.”  The rest of this post will deal with free riding and how to avoid it.

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How to go long on the VIX index

Unlike the S&P 500 or Dow Jones Industrial Index, there’s no way to directly invest in the CBOE’s VIX® index.  Some really smart people have tried to figure out a way, but there’s just no way to do it directly with something like a VIX index fund.  Instead, you have to invest in a security that attempts to track VIX.  None of them do a great …

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