Basic net income (loss) per common share is computed by dividing net income, after deducting dividends paid or accrued on preferred stock and allocating earnings to equity awards deemed to be participating securities pursuant to the two-class method, by the average number of shares of common stock outstanding, calculated excluding unvested stock awards. Participating securities include unvested equity awards that contain non-forfeitable rights to dividends prior to vesting.

Diluted net income (loss) per common share is computed by dividing the numerator used to compute basic net income (loss) per common share by the denominator used to compute basic net income (loss) per common share, further adjusted for the dilutive effect, if any, of equity awards and shares of preferred stock when and if convertible into shares of common stock. Shares of the Company’s 7.50% Series E Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock are contingently convertible into shares of common stock only upon the occurrence of a change in control and therefore are not considered dilutive securities absent such an occurrence. Any unvested equity awards that are deemed participating securities are included in the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per common share, if dilutive, under either the two-class method or the treasury stock method, depending upon which method produces the more dilutive result. Components of the computation of basic and diluted net income (loss) per common share were as follows for the indicated periods (dollars in thousands, except per share amounts):

	Quarter Ended
	March 31
	2019			2018
Basic net income (loss) per common share
Numerator for basic net income (loss) per common share:
Net (loss) income	$	(7,746	)	$	19,420
Preferred stock dividends		(4,842	)		(4,842	)
Earnings participation of unvested equity awards		(19	)		(32	)
	$	(12,607	)	$	14,546
Denominator for basic net income (loss) per common share:
Average number of shares of common stock outstanding		85,549			93,867
Average unvested stock awards outstanding		(655	)		(442	)
		84,894			93,425
	$	(0.15	)	$	0.16
Diluted net income (loss) per common share
Numerator for diluted net income (loss) per common share	$	(12,607	)	$	14,546
Denominator for diluted net income (loss) per common share:
Denominator for basic net income (loss) per common share		84,894			93,425
Net effect of dilutive equity awards		–			81
		84,894			93,506
	$	(0.15	)	$	0.16

Securities that could be potentially dilutive in the future that were not included in the computation of diluted net income (loss) per common share include 1.2 million anti-dilutive equity awards excludable under the treasury stock method for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. There were no potentially dilutive securities excluded from the computation of diluted net income (loss) per common share for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.