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Income as of 11/27/21
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I didn't post last month as I was too busy! However, this week has been slow at work, so I thought I would post something.
In October we saw the fallout of "The Great Resignation". Peo
ple were walking out of their jobs due to an abundance of employers scrambling to fill the gaps caused by a rebounding economy, and the inability of foreigners to take those jobs. And this of course creates a snowball effect for the companies that lose employees and need to refill those jobs. I did not partake, although it has been tempting. I am too close to retirement to start over somewhere, even if they offer more money. While my work is relatively dangerous, and I am compensated for it, I know it, and I have made it very efficient over the years that the return on time investment is greater than if I worked elsewhere.
I did fill out the FAFSA. There were no fireworks or open arms. My daughter's college will review it and send out letters of offers at the end of December. I don't expect anything. My company does offer a scholarship for employee's kids, which I filled out the day it dropped, but two things on the questionnaire bothered me. First was a question on my income and savings, and would I share it. Really? Nobody who works at my company should have to answer a question like that. The qualification is my child is the daughter of an employee, where everyone is compensated at a certain level or higher. I clicked "No". I'm not even sure if that was a good idea, since if I did share, I certainly would not be the highest earner who did. Maybe I would be higher on the priority list if I did. I have seen this question before on forms that have nothing to do with being an employee's child. The next question really blew my mind, though, as I have *
NEVER* seen it before. "Please describe reasons you did not do well in school, i.e. parent with addiction, stress from work or family, etc." Wow. That is a consideration? We all have problems, but they are really going to consider people who submitted their transcript, got C's and D's, because their dad, WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE OF A LARGE TECH COMPANY, has blown all the college money on alcohol, and caused you to get bad grades??????? I answered: "Due to the pandemic, I was unable to participate in extracurricular activities." I then talked to a fellow employee whose daughter is studying to become a Marine Biologist. He also answers "No" on the income/savings question. She has not received 1 penny from the employee scholarship program. What I once saw as a sure thing now looks like it is slipping away...
International Paper (IP) and Realty Income (O) split off some of their divisions into other companies, and I received stock for those companies. I sold them immediately as they did not offer dividends, and counted it as a "bonus dividend" in my records. Realty Income then proceeded to raise their dividend, International Paper proceeded to say they would cut their dividend. I sold IP and kept O. I then took the proceeds from IP, and bought a higher yielding industrial company, Lyondell Basell (LYB). It is chemicals, not unlike Air Products (APD), which I own. However, I think they are different enough that it shouldn't be an "all eggs in one basket" situation. LYB has dropped since I bought it, so the yield is still good for future purchases.
The market dropped quite a bit yesterday, and my net worth felt it, due to the announcement of the Omicron Covid strain. Apparently deadlier, and easily caught by young people, showing up in South Africa. I don't know what this will do to my cruise plans in January, but travel and energy related stocks took quite a hit. The last two strains didn't do much to the market, or to the covid issue (IMO), so I expected the market not to bat an eye. But it did. Time will tell what happens next.
With a new session of dual-enrollment (my son will be starting next semester), and two kids participating, and other bills + inflation, I haven't bought much the past two months. Christmas coming will most likely postpone any big purchases until Jan/Feb.
Dividend Increases & Special Payouts Oct/Nov
Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) declares $0.26/share quarterly dividend, 6.1% increase from prior dividend of $0.24. - This was a bit of a shocker - glad I've been buying Hormel while it has been sitting at a 52 week low.Realty Income (NYSE:O) declares $0.246/share monthly dividend, 4.2% increase from prior dividend of $0.236. - This was refreshing to see after they spun off their office real estate division (which I sold). Thanks O!Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) declares $0.215/share monthly dividend, 2.4% increase from prior dividend of $0.210. In addition to the regular monthly dividends for Q1'22, the Board of Directors declared a supplemental cash dividend of $0.10 per share payable in December 2021. - Another surprise, since MAIN was about to miss their increase streak. Apparently someone is making money in this economy.AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) declares $1.41/share quarterly dividend, 8.5% increase from prior dividend of $1.30. - Very nice! Thanks ABBV!- October/November Purchases/Sales:
- QYLD - 5
- ONL - Sold 10 (O's spinoff)
- O - 5
- HRL - 0.9011 (this is on DRIP)
- LYB - 104
- VZ - 1.5036 (also on DRIP)
- IP - Sold 192
- SLVVM - Sold 17 (IP's spinoff)
- WTRG - 11 (HSA)
- SO - 8 (HSA)
- JNJ - 4 (HSA)
- XEL - 2 (HSA)
- WEC - 8 (HSA)
