Breaking News!

Old Republic International (ORI) is giving away a bonus $1 dividend per share if you buy in by Jan. 10th.  This is a stock that I had just bought because I had $300 left over from my initial $20k position purchases because it was an aristocrat (barely) and was considered in the financial sector.  They offer 3.6% yield as of this writing, which amounts to $0.76 a year - so this bonus is more than the actual dividends received if you buy in now.  You can also consider that (excluding broker fees) that "Buy 21 shares, get 1 share free" since at $1 per share at the current share price of $21.  It hasn't motivated much buying since the announcement, which is ok with me, as my next amount for purchasing won't be available until the end of the month.  I guess a good reason to get a decent position on this stock.  They raised their dividend last in March of '17, so I think we can expect a nice increase in '18.

Merry Christmas!  Ok, I'll go update my other pages for real now.

Almost there!

Recent Buys:
15 more shares of AT&T
15 shares of ADM

Recent Dividend Increases:
Abbot Labs (ABT)
Mastercard (MA)
WEC Energy Group (WEC)
Realty Income (O)

Things are chugging along nicely.  The Dividend increases were a nice Christmas gift, along with almost all of December's dividends showing up in my account at the same time (allowed more purchases of ADM).  I am now overweight on AT&T and will have to stop a bit on adding more - besides, it is now above water!  As Hannibal Smith said, "I love it when a plan comes together."  ADM was a recent addition/replacement to my watchlist after eliminating Altria and putting Philip Morris on the hit list.  ADM (Archer-Daniels Midland) is an agricultural middleman that specializes in corn and soybean.  It tends to be volatile, being so close to the farm futures, and is on the decline.  It may decline again due to ethanol de-regulations, but it is a solid dividend payer, and an aristocrat (42 years of payouts).  It was also near its 52 week low, which is a bargain in this market.  I actually had two possibilities for my second purchase this month, O & ADM.  O took off at the last minute, and actually was above water, but ADM was the better buy at the time, and helped my get my staples ahead of the rest again.


Now sitting at about $985 a year, my last purchase for the year should vault me over the $1k mark.  What that purchase will be is hard to tell.  With the tax bill set to pass the House today (passed Senate last night), effects on the market will determine which is the best bargain.  My son, Little Dividend, has received Armanino Foods (AMNF) from his grandparents and The AES Group (AES) from me.  A little consumer staple and utility to add to his growing portfolio.  He now makes $22 a year with those additions.  His stocks tend to be a tad more speculative because his old man is taking care of him.

Have a Merry Christmas all, and a Happy New Year if I don't post until after that time.  I'll update my charts at market close Friday, so check back later.

November Wrap-Up & The Future of Tobacco

I meant to post on 11/30 after market close, but my Google Sheets weren't updating.  I looked into it on the 1st, and found out that Google Finance shut down their API, at least for anything that isn't the company name or the share price!  I'm still in the process of tracking down the correct IMPORTDATA sequence for any website that can provide me with this info.  I'm not the only one affected, so perhaps someone can figure it out before I do.

Anyhow, I decided through much soul searching to pull out of tobacco.  While I don't believe smoking itself is wrong, and I believe everyone has a right to legal choices, and I have nothing against Big Tobacco (heck, this country was built on tobacco!), I have a feeling that it won't end well.  Let me explain.

Tobacco is considered a "sin tax".  I think that it is wrongly labelled this.  Any activity such as smoking or drinking is fine in moderation.  However, I didn't buy alcohol stocks because that particular vice, when not done in moderation, can affect others around the consumer (drunk driving, physical/verbal abuse, etc.).  Smoking is mostly self-destructive in it's extreme form, and harmless in moderation (cigar, vaping, cig a day, etc.).  You ask about second-hand smoke?  Nobody is forcing you to breathe it - you CAN leave the area that has it.  You CAN open a window.  My problem is the evolution, and elimination of tobacco.

E-Cigs are harmless for the most part, and there is little evidence to prove otherwise.  I don't mind E-Cigs or vaping at my work, in a theater, at a restaurant.  Yet they are still banned at these places.  Why?  Sure, nicotine is still used in many cases, but the second-hand aspect is all but eliminated.  By not allowing E-Cigs & Vaping to flourish, this is leaving open a dangerous door to add OTHER chemicals to these machines which ARE more harmful.

Couple this with the fact that marijuana *is* becoming legal.  It is only a natural progression for Big Tobacco to buy the smaller firms that handle this industry to ensure they are "FDA approved" and not unsafe in the manner that you get what you pay for, and nothing else.  They have the ability to turn the mass production of tobacco-based products into MJ based products.  And MJ, in my opinion, has the same effects on driving as alcohol does, and the same effect as cigarette second-hand smoke, in that it isn't healthy to breathe.

I don't smoke.  I don't mind or care if people do.  I'm not here long-term, and I may not even see this prophecy of mine come to fruition.  So why do I care?  Because I plan to leave these stocks to my children to live off of the dividends as well.  While I try to raise them with the knowledge and opinions I have, they will still be growing up during a time where societal norms are much different than what I grew up with, and may very well form different opinions.  I remember seeing a cigarette pull vending machine at a Big Boy's restaurant, Andy Griffith lighting up now and again, and Big Tobacco relentlessly hounded by the media (yet still flourishing).  My kids will be growing up seeing E-Cigs being used by their grand step-father (I mention his relationship to me specifically) and MJ becoming the new societal norm.  I don't want one more "cheerleader" for such vices.  My children will not be rooting for Altria's new MJ-Nicotine vaping cocktail.  

My portfolio transition won't be a fast one.  I did sell my 19 shares of Altria AT A NET PROFIT (even after brokerage fees) and reinvested the funds into my second REIT pick, National Retail Properties (NNN).  This has the effect of giving me a BETTER YIELD, checking one more box on my diversified portfolio list, and unfortunately, reducing my staple ownership below discretionary (again).  Because I eliminated Altria (MO), I put ADM on my watchlist.  It actually is very tempting right now.  Secure dividend, this food company is at a 52 week low.  With the success of Hormel and General Mills coming back from the red, I will probably be buying this soon if it stays at these levels.

Now, there's still the small problem of Philip-Morris (PM) in my portfolio.  It is the only stock I own that is below 5% and is actually at -15% as of this writing.  I don't doubt it will bounce back (someday), but I can't sell it at its current level.  What I *can* do, is tax harvest it in late 2018 for the tax benefits and invest in something else with a better yield, like I did with Altria.  If, by some miracle it goes above water + trading fees, I'll cash it out and reinvest.

My averaging down of AT&T is making some great returns, my portfolio is quite healthy, and it is past the initial investment stages.  I am very close to buying on dips and adding stocks on my watchlist as the opportunity arises on a regular basis.  I am on track to hit $1k per year in dividends, and by April, should increase my contributions by 75%.  I am keeping an eye on the new cryptocurrency that MasterCard (MA) is backing, Glint.  The Senate just got through their messy tax bill vote, so things are looking up economically.  Time to check out David Fish's new list, and buy a Christmas tree! If you remember from my "About Me", I used to keep an artificial tree.  Well, 11 months is too long for any item to not be used, so I tossed it.  I'm trying out a fresh tree this year.

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a break while at work today, so thought I'd share a few things.

I averaged down AT&T yesterday at market open, which was good as the stock went up from there.  Bought 21 shares, and added a nice +$40 to my annual div income.  Now at about $920, I have 3 more paychecks before the end of the year, so I *shouldn't* have any problems hitting the $1k mark for annual income.  Not bad for 6 months of work! :)  I may just average AT&T down again , since I'm not overweight on it yet, and the yield is incredible.  I figure the Time Warner merger will either boost the stock price, or if it fails, I'll be guaranteed my dividend for a long time, I really have a hard time seeing a downside to this.  I wish they would just sell off CNN already and be done with that fake news! :P

AT&T may be my first DRIP stock.  Another round of purchases at the current price and every quarter I'll have enough AT&T dividend income to buy a full share of AT&T stock.  My philosophy is to take dividend earnings and purchase shares of stocks on sale, not throw money at stocks that are overpriced such as Abbot & Mastercard.  If AT&T ever bounces back, I may have to reconsider, but since it is currently underwater in my portfolio at (now) -6%, it is definitely a candidate.  As a middle-aged investor, I need to be a bit more aggressive and meticulous about where each dollar goes.

I learned a real good lesson a few weeks ago.  I was a bit worried about the consumer staples, O, and AT&T falling and maybe never returning to the levels I bought them at, but as I gradually saw everything coming back (especially Hormel), I learned that I need to have more confidence in my stock picks.  I mean, over half are YD picks, have a record of stability, and the ones that are semi-speculative I still did my research on and have at least 6+ years of dividend increases.  I should have a bit more confidence in my choices.  After all, I am quite diversified, so a stock or two under water shouldn't concern me too much.  I was hesitant about buying AT&T initially, but I did my homework, looked at the (small) amount I was investing, and realized the potential reward was worth the risk.  No investor should worry about one particular stock's effect on their portfolio.  If they do, then they need to diversify more, and make sure they aren't overweight in any one stock or sector, that's all.  I guess I had just been burned too many times before, it is good to be cautious, but not paranoid if you don't have data to back it up.

Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving.  I have a lot to be thankful for.

P&G and my watchlist top picks

Bought 10 shares of Procter & Gamble.  I know many Div investors are waiting for a better yield, but getting 3.18% on a Consumer Staple is a bargain in my opinion (last I checked inflation was 1.9% so, all good).

I also filled out my holdings spreadsheet with my top picks to fill out my 32 dividend stocks.  While I may not purchase them yet, they are in line.  Some of them need to shape up before I will buy them anyway or they will get replaced.  I'll take each one at a time to explain the method to my madness.

Tyson Foods (TSN) - Low yield, but a profitable company.  I may have missed the boat on this year's holiday prime purchase time, so it might not be until Spring/Summer before I grab this one.  I know I'm not going to buy a frozen turkey from Amazon, so I expect this company to excel in these times.  This will probably be my last "Consumer Discretionary" purchase.

Wal-Mart (WMT) - With the closing of many K-Marts (and Sears), I believe Wally World will only get stronger.  I may have missed the purchase boat on this one as well, but I might grab it next buy-in pre-shopping season or next pullback.  Having a stake in WMT & Target should cover the bases against Amazon, and you can never have too many Consumer Staples, anyway.


Alaska Air Group (ALK) - I was surprised to find this listed as an Industrial on Fish's list, but then you don't see many airlines with 5+ years of dividend increases.  This airline and Delta both have hit that mark recently.  It is a speculative purchase, but it fills out my 2 industrials, and airlines are always good for profits (at least) if you know when/how to buy them.  I don't care much for using domestic airlines in general, but I know them, and I know how they behave, so I feel this is a safe bet for someone who has made money on airlines over the years.  Probably the only sub-sector I can day-trade successfully.

Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (TDS) - Ugh, the TCom sector is practically garbage, worse than the retail sector since even retail has a few gems.  AT&T is basically the only shiny piece of glass in the rough of this sector, and that isn't saying much.  I am tempted to just have ONE TCom stock and find some other sector to fill out the "32 Div Stocks".  TDS isn't pretty enough to own, although they have increased divs for quite a long time.  Their Yield Payout too high, their P/E is too high, Beta is too high.  It will be a while for this stock, or even this sector.  I will probably buy this sector last.  Verizon I won't consider due to their debt.


Exxon Mobil (XOM) - What's to say that hasn't been said?  It's Exxon, basically Chevron's twin when compared to everything else in the Energy sector.  Oil may be in a decline, but with the Tesla Tax Break going away, I think Oil will do fine until I expire.  There's also that smug feeling of buying gas at the pump and knowing that what I pay will come back to my pocket.  Go Big Oil!

Owens & Minor (OMI) - Healthcare stocks have done very good for me, J&J and Abbott let me feel a little freer to be somewhat speculative in this sector.  However, I would like to see OMI's Yield Payout lower a little bit more before I buy.  The stock is inexpensive, so if my son, Little Dividend, snaps it up, I may look at something else.

 

National Retail Properties (NNN) - REITs after a certain point become reliable compared to each other in that sector.  I know YD doesn't like the way they operate fundamentally, but they are there and real estate never goes away.  NNN has raised its dividend for quite a few years, and until I can mentally get past the REIT yield payout number (O's is higher) I'll move in here.  There are about two other REITs I am keeping my eye on, so this one may change.



Qualcomm (QCOM) - Mastercard is considered a "Tech" company these days, so that works for me, as Tech is another lame sector for dividend investors.  QCOM and IBM were the only two worth considering for me, and since Mastercard took one spot, I can give the other to QCOM.  That is until they get bought out by Broadcom - I still need to keep an eye on this one in the coming months, and who knows, IBM might get its chance at bat.

Last but not least...

J.M. Smuckers (SJM) - The Consumer Staples have been beat up pretty bad since Amazon/Whole Foods.  If staples have been beat up, then Smuckers has been put into a coma.  The drop is so significant, it suddenly looks attractive.  Their Yield Payout is great, they still have a spot in the grocery aisle, and in my refrigerator.  However, if Clorox or Colgate decide to have an attractive yield, I may head in that direction!  I wanted KMB in this spot, but their fundamentals aren't looking so hot.



Well, there's my tentative watchlist.  I'm pretty committed to TSN, WMT, ALK, & XOM, but the others not so much.  After filling out the list, I can concentrate more on buying on dips in my stocks, getting to the "DRIP Level" (see my post on DRIPping), and getting my monthly payouts closer to each other.  Then I could buy more Abbot on a pullback, or CMP the next time their mine caves in.

Happy Investing!

What's next for November?

October has certainly been the roller coaster during earnings season.  My total profits from stock valuation dropped about 1%, but still in the black.  The good news is my dividends haven't dropped a bit :)

I bought AT&T a few days too early.  Two days after I bought in to increase my position, they announced their cord cutting news, and coupled with their earnings my flat position is now in the red.  I still have confidence in T, and their more attractive looking yield, but I'm going to step back a bit because the weight of my staples has dropped below discretionary (again).  This is also because last Monday I bought into my smallest holding, the financials.



I bought 15 shares of Main Street Capital Corp. (MAIN).  It has been on my watchlist for some time, and is quite attractive.  Why I hadn't bought in sooner is because of it being at its 52 week high.  This hasn't changed for quite a while.  Great *monthly* yield, P/E, dividend record, etc etc.  They also have a semi-annual dividend which I will get in December, and my spreadsheet and broker don't know how to handle or record it.  My broker had it on the list for December, but then took it off and had not included the June one.  I added a little calculation in my spreadsheet with the current semi-annual valuation which I will need to keep tabs on if it changes in the future.  I know Jim Cramer was asked about MAIN in his lightning round, and he stated that he doesn't like financiers in a specific market.  The main reason people don't like MAIN (ba-dum ching) is because it is a BDC (Business Development Company) and it has a low yield compared to 5 other BDCs.  However, it has good coverage of its dividend, and BDCs either do great - or don't.  They tend to make risky lending decisions hoping they pan out.  MAIN seems to be conservative in this manner, or at the very least, has some reliable companies owing them for a long time.  I will probably add more into ORI before revisiting MAIN due to risk, but after the hurricanes possibly affecting ORI, MAIN is a good place to be right now.

It is no secret that the worst valuations in my portfolio are my consumer staples.  Thanks in part to Amazon playing halloween scare tactics on the food staples, HRL and GIS are deep in the dumps.  I am not even sure if averaging them down is worth it right now, because they possibly haven't hit the bottom.  While I have confidence in HRL, GIS is on relatively shaky ground, and is a prime candidate for being bought out.  The other black hole in my portfolio, other than AT&T, is Philip Morris.  I am confident they are going to pull through one way or another but I am so overweight on tobacco right now in staples and my portfolio in general thanks to averaging down Altria.  Averaging down Altria, incidentally, really paid off.  It is tempting to do the same with PM, but I would rather diversify right now.  Which is why I am looking at Proctor & Gamble with a suddenly 3%+ yield, Colgate-Palmolive, and Clorox.  The former because of the yield opportunity, the latter two because they don't primarily sell food.  Because of my $1k goal for 2017 and staple shortages, I am looking real good at PG over the other two.  My next purchase will be a week from now in November, and earnings will be in for many of my other holdings which could change all this.  Before the end of the year I would like to buy more AT&T, Old Republic, Realty Income, and maybe a utility or two.  Once January hits I'm going to be buying some more under 3% yield staples which will hopefully be bargains.

AT&T

Bought 15 shares of AT&T on Tuesday.

My deposit was delayed due to Columbus day.  It gave me the chance to observe the effect of  the Monday purchase vs. Tuesday purchase.  Since Monday was down as it should be, Tuesday morning was right before the market took off.  I am considering moving my deposit to Tuesdays for a morning purchase, although it is hard enough to wait through the weekend for the deposit to drop.  I know when I get to the $500+ point per month on dividends, thus having more cash on hand,  I will be able to make better choices on purchases (i.e. buying in when CMP's salt mines experienced an earthquake).

AT&T has been largely flat in my portfolio.  However with my previous purchase of the low yield Hormel, I wanted to offset that yield with a higher yielding one.  Since it is harder and harder to find high yielding stocks due to the market going up, I looked inward to my own portfolio.  I had considered MAIN or ORI before bank earnings are released, but since I don't know much about the financial sector's effects after earnings, I decided to err on the side of caution.  I will be observing this unique sector and it's earnings ramifications this month.

I am having more difficulty finding stocks that fit my criteria for purchase, but there are a few gems out there, although not in every sector.  I am happy to see Altria (MO) recover after I averaged them down, and now they are positive in my portfolio.  I hope Philip Morris (PM) is able to do the same.

I will update charts at close today.  On the plus side, my profits have reached $1k, which is a 4% gain.  This gives me a lot of room to make some mistakes and takes some remorse pressure off me.  I am aggressively pursuing the goal of $1k in annual dividends by the end of this year, ergo I probably won't be looking into low yield stocks for some time.

The Best September in Stock Market History?

Due to September being historically the worst month for stocks, I decided to pull in my feelers and tend to my own stocks.  Of course, the market being ever unpredictable, it was the best month *ever* for September stocks.  I guess it could have been predicted thanks to Trump and his corporate tax talk, but I decided to tend my own house anyway. 

I bought more MO earlier this month, and Monday, I averaged down Hormel.  The Hormel purchase didn't do much for my dividends, but the stock was fluctuating at the -10% loss level, which is a "Buy me, I'm on sale 10% off!" sign for me.  Hormel has GREAT fundamentals.  It is a very conservative company in many ways, including their dividends, and I have long been wondering why it didn't bounce up while I was waiting to buy it at such a great price.  Reasons I bought it:

1. On sale at 9-10% off from my last HRL purchase.
2. Hovering at its 52 week low (like many consumer staples in this market) .
3. 51 years of increasing dividends.  Why they are 0.68 a share I have no clue.
4. Beta of 0.6
5. P/E of 19.63
6. Increased yield since I last bought it (weak, Midlife!)
7. Almost no debt.
8. Payout ratio of 40%.  This is a big one for me.
9. $640 million cash on hand (plus new acquisitions)
10. Lots of free cash flow 

Since I bought it, it has gone up so it is under the 5% mark after averaging down.  MO has also recovered nicely.

Stocks that worry me:  My other two staples that are also underwater, General Mills (GIS) and Phillip Morris (PM) have some good reasons to be purchased, but one thing is holding me back.  Call me cautious, but payout ratios of 120% and 93% respectively, and GIS's debt (PM has some too) give me pause.  While I expect PM to recover at some point, I already have too much invested in tobacco.  Of my 3 bottom stocks, Old Republic Insurance (ORI) has better fundamentals than these staples.  If anything, I may increase my holdings in ORI for my next purchase in 9 days.  Otherwise, I will be looking outside at staples and possibly oil or tech for my next investment.  I don't know if oil is a good investment now that it bounced back quite a bit - my Chevron stock is already at the +10% above water mark!

Anyways my updated technical data should be up soon after writing this.  Here's to looking toward October and my goal of $1k in annual divs per year!

More MO and my current DRIP strategy

Monday I increased my position in Altria (MO) from NINE to 19.  For a couple of reasons:

1)  I didn't like buying 9 at the time, but I'm glad I did.  I prefer to double digit my purchases since I am paying for trades.
2)  They raised their dividend recently, so it is a good investment due to a higher yield, at least for the short-term.
3)  They are one of the few underwater stocks in my portfolio, so an even better yield.
4)  My staples need to increase in value.  Badly.

On that last point, my staples are below my consumer discretionary - mainly because the latter are doing well and the former are not.  I only have 4 companies in consumer staples, and more than half are tobacco.  I need to diversify!  I also made a rule that if a stock hits below 10%, it is on sale, and I'll buy more of it, so that means Hormel is probably up next.  There are a lot of consumer staples at their 52 week low right now - Smuckers is another on my list - and are good buys in my opinion.  I really don't know why Hormel has been sitting so low for so long, but I think they have made some good investment purchases lately and are set to break out.  General Mills has been relatively flat, but also has potential.  After boosting my position in Hormel, I'll be shopping to up my staple diversification before returning to my other sectors. 

I notice that Altria and Philip Morris are two of the largest holdings in YD's portfolio.  I think that is partly because they are great stocks, and since he DRIPs, their great yields lead to more ownership.

Speaking of DRIPping... I am not a believer in DRIPping everything.  I don't believe you are getting the most for your money by reinvesting your dividend into a stock that may be overpriced or currently having a low yield.  I would rather take the dividends, be a more active investor, and put it into whatever stock du jour is the best offering (technicals, yields, even approaching ex-dividend dates).  This may be because I'm kind of on a time limit.  It is great for the lazy or busy investor, or for people who don't think there are better options on the market  (is that possible all the time?).  However, I will probably DRIP stocks that increase their yield since I bought them (the green ones on my list) ONLY if one dividend payout is enough to buy at least one share of stock.  That has not occurred yet.  This would be beneficial since the money is instantly working for me instead of sitting and waiting for my next purchase.  While it would be impossible to get an ex-dividend date right after receiving the dividend, I would be making the stock buy itself when it is on sale, which is kind of a novel concept when you think about it!

Of course, the hope is that ALL my stocks are red because I strengthened my positions enough so they are all showing a positive market value, but then I'll just reset my control limits, if that ever happens.  The only thing that bothers me about this strategy is that only the volatile or even failing (*COUGH* TECH *COUGH*) stocks will get my attention, and stocks like ABT and MA which have outpriced themselves at about 20% gains, will never increase in holdings.  But I guess them's the breaks.  I need to set myself up short-term - so bring on the oil and tobacco stocks! :)

August purchases & App I use

13 shares of Chevron (CVX) (Energy)
15 shares of Fastenal (FAST) (Industrial)

CVX and XOM are at all time lows.  They may even dip lower due to Hurricane Harvey, but their returns are fantastic.  My account jumped about $50 a year with the chevron purchase.  Fastenal is my first foray into Industrial.  It is a bit cyclical, but with the repairs in Texas, infrastructure development on the horizon, and of course the tax breaks which will help all our stocks, I feel this is a good buy.  Grainger is listed as Industrial, but they seem too much like retail to me.  FAST has some wholesale aspects as well as retail, but since they are manufacturing as well, it was more attractive.  I hope to get at least one more in each sector, XOM seems the most solid and likely one in the energy sector, although VLO is attractive as well.  For industrial, I'll just wait and see.

I want to share an App that I use that is very good for tracking real-time stocks on my tablet and phone.  It is called My Stocks Portfolio, and is worth paying the guy for it (to turn off ads).  Check it out and let me know if there's anything better out there.  It allows for watchlists, but I use my broker for that because it has more research data.  However, since my broker doesn't provide me with real-time data (15 minute delay), this works just fine.

September is historically a bad month for stocks, and with the Korean/Harvey news, this month may not surprise us.  It is possible that Trump has waited until this month to push tax reform based on the reason of history, so people will be more accepting of it, but only time will tell.  I am trying to make some financial decisions as well.  I am in a position to pay off my 401k loans to have about 16% more come to me in my paycheck, or I could just take this disposable capital and invest it in dividend stocks which makes it more readily available if I needed to pull it out.  I am of the mind that bringing home more money will help me make wiser, smaller decisions over time with investments, but it irks me that once I put that money into my 401k (which will happen eventually anyway as I pay off the loans) I can't touch it anymore.  Frozen assets :)  I will wait and see if the tax cuts happen and when they take effect.  Trump could use Harvey to make tax cuts retroactive to this year, but of course he will be criticized for politicizing the tragedy, so for PR reasons he may not.  It would take someone else to suggest it and take the heat for it to be pushed ahead.  But I digress.  I will be updating my graphs by the closing bell today.

Recent Buy: CMP - Sell: KO - And an explanation

Alright, I know what you are thinking... this guy isn't a dividend investor!  He's a day trader!

Ok, I guess I owe at least one of you an explanation (you know who you are).

When I first started out, I had listened to Richard Stooker's book Stock Market Investing for Beginners  on Audible.  I have Audible because of my total one hour commute - and from time to time I like to listen to some non-fiction.  Not often, mind you, but I was recently turned off by the second chapter of Ready Player One and returned it to see if I could learn more about the market.

His book is a great primer for explaining most basics of the market, but the narrator was pretty bad - I think he was a voice synth program reading the book - but I digress.  It prompted me to research and Young Dividend and Stooker were my early influences for my original $20k purchases.

I then was researching what I knew about dividend stocks, which was about half of what I should, while learning as I went.  Last month, I bought Get Rich with Dividends: A Proven System for Earning Double Digit Returns.  The title originally turned me off - it sounded like some title for a pyramid scheme.  However, the reviews were glowing, and since I can return books I don't like, I dove in.

It was easily the best book for filling in the spaces I needed.  In addition, it was written 2 years ago, so many references were relevant.  I had to smile and laugh when many of my stocks were mentioned as examples, and even the company I work for was mentioned.  The man has a sense of humor as well, which helps with some of the dry areas (like Puts and Holds - a chapter I didn't think was useful).  However, he covers everything from REITS (like my O), MLPS, Foreign Stocks, and he even takes a stab at taxes, all while reminding the reader he is NOT a tax expert.

I knew about the Aristocrats, but I was unaware of David Fish's list of Dividend Champions, Contenders, and Challengers.  Utilizing this list, I had seen that Unilever (UN) had fallen off the list due to a cut in dividends.  Thus I sold it - if I didn't earn enough to cover my fees, I would have hung onto it - I'm not into the business of losing money.

Today I finished the book, but last night on the drive home I learned about Payout Ratio.  It is what percent a company gives of its earnings to pay for dividends.  I checked all my stocks last night - all were fine (30-75% mark) except for O and KO (Income Realty Corp & Coke).  O was ok though, because it is a REIT and that is how they work.  But Coke... uh oh!  Here is a good list of the levels:  http://www.dividend.com/dividend-education/what-is-an-ideal-payout-ratio/ and Coke was at 148%!  Now, this may be all fine and good for Young Dividend, as he started a while ago and is more invested, but as a person starting out with just my picks for future investment, it was a warning sign.  Coke is definitely in a position to cut dividends.  After all, they were at 99% a few quarters ago, so the cost is creeping up.  People are drinking less soda, and there's fewer markets available to capitalize on in a short time, so maybe not a good idea for someone like me just starting out.  Now I'm sure Coke will figure something out, but in case they don't and cut dividends like Unilever, I figure I should take my money elsewhere.  I was $25 up so my trading costs were covered.  I checked the list of Contenders, and decided on a salt mining company, Compass Mining (CMP).  All their technicals were good - and I need another Basic Materials sector stock.  The only negative is that it is cyclical (salt for winter), but a pretty dependable cycle.

In the end, I am making more dividends ($650-660 annually) with better stocks.

And here I am today.  I am looking forward to two weeks from now, when I will be adding about $3k to my portfolio.  I hope to obtain about $1k worth of some more expensive stocks, or some combination to continue and diversify my portfolio to 30 stocks.  I have decided to add another page with links to Fish's list, and other items I will use on a typical stock decision day.

Recent Buy: TGT - Sell: UN, ZN

Zion Oil (ZN) wasn't going anywhere, and the profits I had made from it (150%) was enough for me to walk away from the table.  It had been sitting for some time and that money could be better used on a dividend stock.  I also sold Unilever (UN) with its lackluster yield with just enough to break even from commissions.  While I enjoy this company being overseas (I need a few more international stocks), it has fallen out of favor with the dividend community.  Maybe in a few years...

I had been hemming and hawing with my wife about Target stock (TGT) for the past few weeks, and as I was going through the list of dividend champions, contenders, and challengers, it showed up.  I was searching for higher yield stocks to crank up my yield average - which I should be doing since I am "under the gun" time wise - and it stood out.  Good beta, good dividend yield, aristocrat (how did that happen??), good P/E, lower today due to Macy's earnings... I couldn't find a fault with it except it was Target (I've never been a fan), it was retail (a sector I'm not a fan of), and it was cyclical.  I decided to just get it and get it over with - it is the best looking retail stock out there, with Home Depot (HD) the best looking for growth.  I'm 14 shares in before the holiday ramp, and will add more probably after the holidays when it goes back down.

I am prepared to be done with retail with two stocks in that sector.

I had mentioned before I wanted to buy both Home Depot & Lowe's.  After doing some research - it appears Home Depot has some growth possibilities, but Lowe's does not.

Now that I have a solid base, I will be aiming for higher yield stocks on the CCC lists for my next 10 stocks.  I am hoping to make a large purchase of 2-4 stocks by the end of the month to help bring my average yield higher.

I can't seem to find a tech stock I like.  I don't expect to buy from that sector anytime soon. 

I'm Assessing the situation

Update:  My MO ownership is 9 shares.  I prefer to buy double digits of any stock, but I had to jump on the price.  The price has remained relatively flat since, I may just buy again after my next bi-weekly deposit.  I have finally aligned the transfer between institutions so that the money arrives on Monday, the best day of the week to buy (got to make that dollar go farther).  At over 22k in, I have an annual income of about $640.  As time goes on, I should have more buying power reinvesting dividends, and hopefully the dividends will grow.

Benchmark:  Comparing to YD at his August 2014 portfolio:
 I have:  19 different dividend stocks
He had:  17 (I don't count his Roth which he has recently done away with - I have no use for a Roth either with my situation - see "About Me")
I have: $22135 invested
He had: $25952 invested.  I may be able to catch up to that this month, I have some "ships" coming in.
I have:  Average yield of 3.06%
He Had:  3.82%.  I will attempt to meet or beat that with purchases later this month.
I have:  Annual Divs of ~$631.48
He had:  Annual Divs of $1039.23 Whew!  pretty impressive, considering the minor disparity on yield.
Our sectors are quite a bit (unintended to be) similar at this point, consisting mostly of staples and utility stocks.  Granted, the prices have grown dramatically for similar stocks, which could explain the div/yield disparity, but I won't let that daunt me.  While I believe there isn't a bubble, the market is just "righting" itself after the previous administration's policies (with a little capitalistic optimism thrown in), the time will come when I will be able to get some good bargains, which brings me to my...

Goals:  I aspire to the following (current) goals, in order of short to long-term:
1)  Receive four digit dividends by the end of the year.  Hit the $1k mark!
2)  Obtain 30 different dividend stocks.  I will be cutting this close if I aim for the end of the year.  Assuming I obtain 3 more stocks this month, and 2 a month thereafter, I should *just* make it.  Of course, if there are any crazy sales on what I currently own (like MO staying flat), of course I will forego this goal, but typically, diversity trumps all else.  YD currently is at 40, but for now I just want to hit the 30 mark to be fully diversified and then be more aggressive on the next goal...
3)  Obtain (over) 100 shares of each stock.  This is what I would call an "abstract goal".  I would like to obtain a "round lot" of each stock.  This is definitely a long-term goal, depending on sales and weight in my portfolio.  This is not a hard and fast rule - but if I have to choose between a lightweight vs. a heavyweight in my portfolio, or nothing particularly attractive that week, I'll just start at the cheapest stock and take it to a round lot.  With that as a base, I can start growing out from there.  This may take many years.  I will add watchlist stocks as they become attractive, but I would like to see my "children" mature above the total amount of stock of "9" (like my current MO holdings).
And finally...
4)  Make $30k (to be adjusted for inflation) a year on dividends.  This is my minimum goal, and sufficient for retiring early in central/south America, and to hold me over if I live to see my other investments kick in.  If I stay in the states, I would like to see it hit 50k.  With changes in government in various countries, inflation, stock market performance, lifestyle, this will determine my jumping off point for retirement.

Happy investing!

Smoking is Better For You

Or so it might seem.  The FDA is threatening to reduce the amount of Nicotine in U.S. sold cigs, which will make the habit more acceptable, appealing, and will offer competition to the E-Cigs.  Bizarre, right?  However, many analysts are advising against purchasing MO (Altria)'s stock because the bottom floor hasn't hit yet.  It has dropped dramatically since this news came out.

I bought it anyway.

The yield is great, and since I expect to NEVER sell the stock, I guess I'm in it for the long term effects.  However, if the dividend amount drops, I will reconsider.  Now I have positions in Philip-Morris and Altria.  Before I didn't think twice about tobacco stocks, but there is some benefit to this habit - and now it looks like it might get a lot healthier.  That might have some impact on my medical stocks (just kidding!).

I know I stated I would buy CHD next, but one thing I am learning during earnings months like July/August, that opportunities tend to pop up more.  I missed the boat on Lowe's, as it bounced back after the Amazon news.  I hope in the future I'll have more capital on hand to grab these stocks when they are a bargain.  Once the rocky road of earnings is over, I'll settle in and buy some CHD.  No promises though!

Unilever, Home Depot vs. Lowe's vs. AMAZON??

Unilever

The maker of Axe, Best Foods, and Dove.  Dutch owned (graph above is in Euros) and aggressively pursued by Kraft-Heinz.  All the makings of a dramatic stock story.  I bought in on Wednesday $636.01 worth, and it is up a dollar today due to strong earnings data this morning.  With the dollar weakening, this stock only looks better.  Now sitting at about $610 a year in divs.

I decided to add Lowe's to my watchlist.  I think Home Depot and Lowe's are a duopoly, and I wouldn't mind a piece of them.  As I've said before, the retail market makes me cringe, but home improvement is the most appealing.  While I think HD is king, and I am a shareholder, I like how Lowe's aggressively pops up stores across the street from HD, and goes for the more aesthetic look, while HD has no shame appealing to the masculinity of the population.  I think both would be a good investment.

Lo and behold, a few minutes after I add Lowe's to my watchlist, Amazon cuts a deal with Sears for appliances sold online, causing HD to tumble down 6+ dollars per share!  While this is great news for Sears (up 15% last check), who was basically ready to be put down like Old Yeller, I don't see how this is bad news for HD.  HD matches prices with Amazon last I checked.  Wouldn't you rather buy your hot water heater for the same price or lower from HD than from an online delivery?  Maybe not, but I still think large appliance purchases still command time from the consumer to go to the store and check it out.  I'll keep an eye on things, as usual, it will be interesting to see if HD bounces, and if Lowe's is still appealing when it is their turn to be considered.  Right now I expect to buy into CHD for my next purchase.

Watchlist & Expenses

UN & CHD
I've been watching these two.  They are both priced in the $50s, similar P/Es and betas, both are near the top of their 52 week highs (not a good thing for me), but they are both consumer staples.  Neither is a dividend aristocrat.  UN is more appealing due to the yield - and foreign presence - but a bit more speculative due to Kraft-Heinz attempting to buy them.  Apparently they were turned down, and there's some talk about a hostile bid takeover.  I have Kraft-Heinz in my watchlist, so I find this situation intriguing.  Right now, UN, then CHD are the two next in line for purchases to add to my collection, in that order.  While I was paid today, i suspect the transfer won't happen until Wednesday next week - historically the worst day to buy stocks.  If this is the case, I will adjust the withdrawal timing to happen on Monday, usually the best day to buy stocks as the markets reel from weekend news.  

When assessing one's bills, it helps to get them down.  While having a family tends to cause some volatility (for example, the past two weeks I've been buying school books), I usually have enough bonuses and SPP proceeds to account for it.  Some bills are annual, or semi-annual, but I'm going to break them down into monthly increments and see what I can do to reduce them.  I'll try to target one bill a blog.

Water: $15-94(?)
Typically $15-18 a month covers the water usage in my household.  May jumped up to $45 as I started increasing watering the backyard to save the grass in this hot summer - it has an aesthetic look being green instead of dirt in the yard - but probably not worth the cost.  I also have two small fruit trees I want survive (in the interest of self-sustenance).   June ended up $94!  This is with daily double watering in the PM and early AM.  I turned off the AM watering yesterday, I'll see what impact it has.  As the weather cools, I'll be able to dial it back - but it was quite a shock to see that - I once received a $12 water bill and bragged about it to my friends.  Perhaps if I invested in more fruits/vegetables, and learn how much to water during different parts of the year, it might be a good return, especially with shade...  I'll work on cutting this one by half next month.   New Goal: $46

This week's purchase

My first transfer came over from my paycheck today, about a week later.  I'm not sure if the July 4th holiday slowed this down or not.  I guess I'll find out in 2 weeks.

I've taken to assessing my income and where it is going.  While I do this often, I'd like to increase what I put into my brokerage account.  This same desire pushed me to work 110 hours the past 2 weeks.  This should help pay down some small debt which had crept up.

I had been researching SO and ABBV to add to my list.  Both are attractive, but SO would be my THIRD electric utility, and my 4th utility in general.  I had intended to buy ABBV, which would be my third in the healthcare sector, so on that score they were pretty even (and not very diverse for my portfolio).  Like I said they were both attractive enough for me to consider them over everything else in my watchlist.

My funds came in this morning, and with the jobs news positive, I was ready to buy at the bell before the run-up.  I took a look at both, and as I could purchase more shares of SO and add almost $28 to my annual divvy income, I pulled the trigger on that one.  Well, there was no run-up today.  In fact, the only stock of mine in the green was little ZN, about 200% up from when I bought it.  It still isn't much money, so I'll hang onto it to see if they strike oil.

SO thankfully remained flat for the day.  The other reason I liked SO was that it's yield, while a bit high at 4.89%, helped bring my portfolio average over 3%.  I want to maintain being over, but not too much over, that yield target.  I think the price drop of many of my shares also drove the yield up a bit as well.  I don't think we will get much more gain in the market for a while until we get some positive news on the healthcare repeal and the tax cuts.

SO - Southern Co. - Utilities: Electric - 12 shares
Cost Basis:  $575.6
Cost/Share:  $47.97
Closing Price:  $47.40
Market Value:  $568.8
Weight: 2.91%
Div/Share:  0.58
Yield: 4.89%
Annual Div Est: $27.84
YOC: 4.84%
Beta: 0.12
P/E: 17.62

Glatfelter - Gone!

Who said I get emotionally attached to a stock? :P

So, Wednesday, I set the sell price at $20 - it had closed Tuesday at 18.98 and was running up for the dividend payout date.  I did not expect it to sell at that price, and it didn't.  Meanwhile, I was researching all the financial data available and found out just how volatile this mid/small cap stock was!  I was also using this as opportunity to learn about financial indicators.  Now, it can all mean nothing if an Enron or a 9-11 situation happens, but I would say a few red flags on the numbers should be cause for attention.  GLT has SO many red flags.  So right before the bell, the stock was at 19.89, one dollar higher than previous close.  If I sold, I would be making $80 in a day.  The stock was up 24.88% from when I bought it (15 and change) ten years ago, so I would be making over 5 years of dividend yields after 10 years from a volatile stock, even after trade costs.  I pulled the trigger.

I spent the rest of the afternoon researching which two stocks to buy.  I wanted to make more per year with my two new combined stocks, so I created a formula in excel to determine that.  I then wanted stocks with no red flags in their financials currently, with an annual yield of around 3%.  I then looked at their 52 week high/low position (I prefer it to be on the low side).  I found one consumer/noncyclical and one energy stock.  Energy stocks are SO attractive in the Trump administration - I'd like to own more of it.  Here's a snapshot of my "scratchpad":
  
 

						Symb	Annual	Beta	P/E	Yield
						NEE	43.12	-0.17	17.34	2.76
						KMB	46.56	0.51	21.7	2.95
						PEP	42.12	0.26	25.04	2.78
Price	Shares	Div	Annual			D	60.8	0.08	21.81	3.88
62.19	12.0	0.52	24.96			PG	46.92	0.37	24.79	3.11
						MO	48.8	0.33	10.19	3.24
	Edit column B for amount of $					KHC	43.2	0.38	31.14	2.74
						SO	74.24	-0.13	18.36	4.7
						QCOM	63.84	1.49	18.44	4.11
			12 shares 24.96 annual			WEC	52	0.05	20.92	3.32
			14 shares 26.88 annual			GIS	53.76	0.64	20.58	3.53

   Today was a bloodbath - but a good day to buy!  Everything dropped in my portfolio and my watchlist, unlike Wednesday when everything went up.  The only two stocks that did not drop were Abbot Labs and my son's farmland stock.  I had calculated to buy 12 and 14 shares of WEC and GIS respectively.  Because of the price drops, I was able to snag 13 shares of WEC and 14 shares of GIS.  

 WEC!  I got another energy stock.  Despite the fact I recently watched the Enron documentary which was an energy broker, I feel like this is the time for energy to shine.  Free from regulations, out of the Paris accords, OPEC walking around confused, I think this is a good one to hang onto.  Current annual dividend $2.08/share.

General Mills - not much to say here.  $1.92/share annually.  I'm going to create another page with a bar chart of my annual earnings.  I'll probably update my Current Holdings page tomorrow.

One thing I did learn, I *could* have waited until the opening to sell my GLT shares - and still be eligible for the dividends.  The price was fine for the first 15-30 minutes then declined about 20 cents/share by the end of the day.  Live and learn - I'm out $10.  I'll always have a soft spot for GLT - it was the stock that made me aware of the possibilities of dividends.

Diversify

 Wednesday, June 28th

I have decided to continue diversifying before increasing holdings.  After much research, I found that many recommend what seekingalpha.com recommends:

"Maximum Stock Position (3-5% of total portfolio) - We believe that a diversified dividend portfolio should include at least 20-30 high-quality dividend stocks, with no stock accounting for more than 5% of the total portfolio."

Half of my portfolio today has a weight 5-10%, so I need to purchase more just to balance that out.  Plus, YD has 39 different stocks at last count, and I'm at 15.  Therefore, I need to definitely diversify more to get to at least 30.  I'm not too concerned at this point, as he was only at 10 at July of '14, so I figure I'm a bit ahead of the game.  YD also has three of his 39 stocks weighted at 5.58%/6.74% /13.97% - JNJ, PM, & Altria respectively. 

I am considering selling some or all of my GLT stock to help diversify.  GLT's P/E is currently over 50, with a beta of 1.9, so it is volatile at the moment.  Advisors have it at a moderate buy/long hold.  GLT is currently earning me $40 a year with 80 shares in.  I've had a 20% gain in it over the 10 years I've held it - selling it would net me 5 years of dividends at once to reinvest into two other stocks.  I'll see what happens on the ex-dividend date (tomorrow), after I qualify for my quarterly $10.

Seekingalpha's next rule for Asset Allocation:

"Maximum Industry Position (15-20% of total portfolio) - Ideally, a long-term Dividend Portfolio should include stocks from a variety of industries. However, under no circumstances should one specific industry or sector account for over 20% of the total portfolio."

I think I am on track for this, currently.  I notice YD doesn't follow this too closely, holding 44% in staples (he's a fan of the non-cyclical consumer market - for good reasons).  I think if I'm going to have a sector at or above 20%, it should be that.  I still own no tech stocks, other than health tech, which is probably a good thing right now.

And their third rule:

"Maximum Portfolio Beta (less than 1.0) - We believe that low beta dividend stocks offer investors the best long-term risk-adjusted yields. As such, we suggest a weighted-average beta of less than 1.0 for a long-term Dividend Portfolio. Generally speaking, low beta stocks tend to dampen overall portfolio volatility. It's ok to have some higher beta names in the portfolio, but make sure your average is less than 1.0."

My dividend stock beta average is 0.67 (non-weighted), the highest being GLT at 1.9 :( it is easily looking to be the most volatile of my stocks, and of course puts it high on the chopping block.  Selling it and turning it into 2 other less volatile dividend stocks will be difficult not to do.  I  may run the numbers and see if I can do it while still maintaining the $40 a year return tomorrow.

Everything else in my portfolio looks good.  It is interesting to see other's opinions and ideas of what you should/should not do, but diversifying definitely seems like the way to go, followed by even weighting.  You want to have each of your nest eggs in a different basket, in the hopes that losing one egg will be offset by the production of more eggs in a different basket.  The beta/PE analysis decisions I am still researching.  So far the only benefit I see to that is that everyone else is doing it, so you want to bet on the institutional investments, but pulling out before they do seems chancy.

Added page Current Holdings

I've been messing with google docs, using formulae I found at Dividend Meter, and I decided to add the first two charts I made with them.  A holdings spreadsheet, and a bar graph showing how much I have in what stocks.  I have also made the dividend meter, and currently set the goal to 50k a year.  While that is higher than my original 40k, it is more realistic in case I have to spend my retirement in the U.S. instead of Central/South America (which needs about 30k/year).  I may change that later.


The guy who came up with the Dividend Meter (I'll call him DM), is a fairly aggressive dividend trader in relation to Young Dividend (YD).  I was perusing DM's site, and he has "Buy/Sell" flags for when a dividend increases/decreases for a given company.  I did end up adding the color change to my spreadsheet for increases/decreases, but I wasn't too keen on the buy/sell perspective.  Then I saw my Home Depot (HD) stock tumble the most from what I own - about 5% - which I somewhat expected since it is retail (see my previous post on retail stocks).  I had also discussed with my wife while traveling this weekend on being able to psychologically handle the possibility of 1/2 or all of my stocks losing their value - so it was fortuitous for me when I came back from my trip to see this encouragement on YD's blog:

"I'm probably sounding like a broken record by now... The purpose of my investments is to become an income source for my personal use in the future. I do not buy low to sell high. In fact I do not very much mind buying high as long as what I buy can provide me with income. Every share I buy I treat it like an ATM machine. As long as the company I buy can keep spitting cash out to me every quarter life is good. If the ATM machine starts to break because of deteriorating fundamentals, I will sell it since I want the ATM machine to keep spitting out cash.

My investing philosophy is much different than the popular media's view on stocks. I invest for income. Every share I purchase will pay me every quarter. Every quarter, that company will (literally) send a check to my mailbox which I can cash in to pay for my groceries, transportation, entertainment, and housing. I do not plan to ever sell shares in businesses that I own unless I believe there is something direly wrong with the company's fundamentals. In essence, I hold stock like I hold rental properties. Stocks provide me income every month of the year. I could care less what the market values the business as long as the business pays me every quarter.

In addition to providing income every month, I want my investments to increase their dividend checks every year by themselves. Companies grow either organically or through M&A. Inflation happens, causing company earnings to grow as well. The whole purpose of the CEO is to ensure that the company makes money and grows. His job is to do everything in his power to make that happen. In essence, the CEO is working for us, the shareholders. If management is not doing a good job, then the shareholders will vote to elect new members in. In the end, I want to benefit from the growth in the enterprise and that benefit is through dividend checks.

Since income is so important to me, I want to make sure that the businesses that I own are capable of paying me dividends every quarter without issue. I also want to make sure the business can increase that dividend every year no problem. As a result, I tend to rely on businesses with non-cyclical personalities. During economic recessions, the last thing I want to see is for a company to cancel its dividend due to "hard times". Most of the companies I own are in the consumer staples business. These companies sell products like food, drinks, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. They are boring companies but they provide very consistent growth and a very stable cashflow even during economic recessions."  

<  THIS.  

And so, I wait for my next cash infusion (probably in 9 days, as I have just set up external transfers on my account) to hopefully buy more Home Depot stock at a discount.  I have been debating at this level whether to diversify more, or increase holdings.  I think I will alternate every 2 weeks (as money comes in) between the two - if my watchlist has a better deal, I'll jump on it, if my current holdings have a better deal, I'll buy that.  Since I don't have free trades like YD (yet), and because I am starting slow (and low) on a percentage of my paycheck, I'll slowly test the waters before I jump in.  In the end, I want to buy low, not because I will sell high, but because I want to get as much stock as possible to pay out dividends.  I don't expect to post all of my assets as YD does, just this particular retirement goal.  I have my fingers in at least three other areas - 401k, property, and emergency funds (I have several of these, being a paranoid person, but the largest is enough to live off of the first three years in Central America - and it gets bigger every year).

Finally, I've been looking at tech stocks with a skeptical eye - especially Qualcomm.  It might just make it to my watchlist today... 

Purchases for June 15th

 The Big Initial Investment

Stocks pulled back early today, so I was able to get some bounces.  I found 7 stocks to invest $2k each into, and at $7 a trade, I should have been down $49 all things equal, but I ended up down only $26.  My nice 6.8% profit growth is now around 1.8% with the new flatliners coming in.

The basic formula for my initial choices was to DIVERSIFY first priority, then P/E for risk, then dividend payout.  That should create a good foundation, along with sticking to dividend aristocrats.

Here were my picks and why I picked them. 

O (Realty Income Corp) - A risk with the current interest rate announcements, but I think they are stable enough vs. other similar stocks.  I am also taking into account the hiring blitz in this climate, and the jobs outlook.  My wife sells knick-knacks on the side, and has the most successful month in a long time.  We attribute that to jobs and economic confidence - and with that comes business & personal property purchases.  This one had the nicest bounceback today.  It also has a monthly dividend of 0.211, and the price is right for a large amount of shares.  And as of a few hours ago, they announce the dividend increase to 0.2115!  The shorties predict this stock to take a dive in the next week or two, we will see.
 


APD (Air Products & Chems) - I am very familiar with this company from personal experience, and believe they have a firm foothold in their field.  My only pause is their global presence, which may be impacted by the Paris Treaty, but then again, their Middle East and Asian presence may more than make up for it.  They have many contracts with large corporations, and their name implies quality which usually means they don't have to be the lowest bidder for a contract.








HD (Home Depot) - I tend to avoid retail stocks.  With the advent of Amazon and other online sellers, I think many brick & mortar based retailers are not a good investment.  I know Young Dividend disagrees, with TJX and ROST on his list.  I went with HD for a few reasons:  How many times did you need a tool or part, and had to get it fixed same day?  Your Amazon Prime and similar shipping options won't help you with getting that drywall in an hour.  Heck, yer not even sure it is the right color online!  So you run out to Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace, etc.  I don't see that changing anytime soon.  Plus HD has not opened a store in 3 years, which means they know their markets, and their online sales have increased dramatically.  ALSO, they are a good trickle down for the upcoming infrastructure improvements.  When the government is footing the bill, who cares what that dremel costs, Amirite?


JNJ (Johnson & Johnson) - Abbot Labs is up 10% since I bought them 2 weeks ago.  I think the Health related stocks are a good gamble with the dissolution of Obamacare.  Young Dividend loves JNJ, and they have their hands in so many different pots I can see they will adjust to any changes in the market.  How can this one go wrong?



MA (Mastercard) - Finance stocks can slip and slide a little, but I wanted a piece of either MA or Visa, as I think they can weather most storms.  The proliferation of the chip cards, and their constant RnD into protecting against fraud, I think they are ready to make sure the world is in debt to them.  I don't like the idea of owning both, but I may look into Visa as time goes by.





MCD (McDonald's) - If I could invest in Subway, Chik-Fil-A or In-N-Out, I would.  However, they are not publicly traded.  That leaves the big M.  My hometown is currently building the "Automated McD" as I type this.  They razed the old building, and putting up the frame of a new building which will not have counter workers.  I also believe they will be automating the kitchen as much as possible.  While not good for the minimum wage crowd (it is their own fault for voting for an increase in my state), it should be good for Ronald M. overall.  Profits will go up.

PM (Philip Morris) - I believe the spectre of the smoker has died down a bit, and in a free society it is ultimately the choice of the individual.  With stressful political situations around the world giving people nicotine fits, I think PM will do well in the next decade.  I don't smoke, but I believe in your right to.  I do a lot of global travel, and there are still parts of the world where you cannot eat without smoke, nor can you stay in a smoke free hotel room.  PM's global presence makes it very attractive. 



I had some $$ left over after this, so I checked the dividend aristocrats for the cheapest stock.  Found ORI Old Republic International, an insurance underwriter.  0.19 a quarter with a trend of increasing for $20 a share - not bad to risk.  Growth is slow but steady, and a portion of the market that flourishes in a healthy economy and one I didn't have a hat in the ring for yet.




What?  No tech stocks?  Just doesn't feel right.  I think many non-trader RCGs have been entering the technical work force, participating in SPPs, and sitting on them thinking their company is the greatest.  Historically, the tech sector is affected by the younger generation of investors, and thus a tad too volatile (*COUGH* SNAPCHAT).  I will have to research this one a lot more to find something I like.  There are no tech stocks that stand out in the aristocrat list.

I'm not sure when my next cash influx will be, but hopefully it will be soon.  May is typically an expensive month for me, and there's still some cleanup halfway into June from it, but I should recover in two weeks to (hopefully) make another investment.  My decision now is to further diversify, or, take advantage of any dividend stocks that are dropping to strengthen my position.  The good news is that I'm now making an extra $45 a month (on average) from dividends.  I'll need to show the dividend patterns like Young Dividend does at some point.