30 Days in September

Dividends Received: $189.33

WEC ENERGY GROUP INC	7.18
AQUA AMERICA INC	3.28
ARCHER DANIELS MIDLD	5.02
SOUTHERN COMPANY	26.39
TARGET CORP	8.95
CHEVRON CORP	14.55
JOHNSON AND JOHNSON	19.79
HOME DEPOT INC	12.35
OLD REPUB INTL CORP	16.76
MAIN STR CAP CORP	10.33
REALTY INCM CRP	9.92
INTL PAPER CO	9.02
MCDONALDS CORP	15.07
QUALCOMM INC	27.89
401k Taxable	10.01

Highlights this month included:

-The big Southern Vogtle fight.  This is now over, and the nuclear plant is going to continue being built with double (triple) the cost.  The payoff will be huge once it is finished, but this will be an anchor around this utility's neck for awhile.  I bought in once they decided.

-International Paper keeps sinking - I think I'll be buying this more as it dips until I'm full (just under 5% of my portfolio).

-Wanted to by ABBV but it hasn't had a pullback the week I was looking - so nickel and dimed some other nice prospects already in my portfolio.

-Been very busy with life this month, but still kept an eye on stocks.

September Purchases:

Southern Company (SO)	10
ONEOK (OKE)	14
International Paper (IP)	4
Fastenal Company (FAST)	5

     I'm trying to determine how real estate is a comparable investment to dividend stocks.  I'd rather pour money into a REIT than get minimal gains after owning a house for almost two decades.  I understand location is key, and the 2007 bubble set many back, but seriously, I've gotten better gains on my dividend stocks in 18 months than almost 20 years with my house, not to mention all the repairs/improvements.  I'd almost rather let someone else deal with the problems and costs of a house and liquidate my house into dividend stocks, except that wouldn't be too diverse now would it?  And the work of owning rental properties vs. buy dividend stocks... sheesh real estate is too much of a headache.  I *may* buy a future vacation rental, then rent it out while travelling the world... or maybe just get a Winnebago.

     September is historically the worst month for stocks, so this one wasn't so bad.  But does this mean the selloff will happen in October for tax harvesting?  Or in November after the midterm elections?  Who can say.... Let's hope for the best!

Big Changes

A lot has happened in my personal life the past month - much of it is a blur, but without going into details I am moving large amounts of money around.  One example is the fact that my employer's 401k is kind of a two-edged sword.  The ETFs they let me invest in do garner interest, but the interest just DRIPs back into the ETF.  It was a little annoying for the brokerage account to not let me at least direct the dividends.  However, on the upside, I could purchase my company's stock in my 401k and receive the dividends as taxable income into my bank account, which I can then feed back into my taxable brokerage account.  I had quite a bit of cash on hand in my 401k in case of a flash crash, but decided to just drop it (about 15%) into the company stock.  A little much, but I don't put anymore money into my 401k, so it will more or less stay at that point without help from me.  This did add over $1k into my taxable and I should be getting those dividends ($250) on a quarterly basis very soon.  So my dividend meter increased by quite a lot at this point.  I haven't yet decided if I want to graph it as part of my taxable brokerage account holdings.  While it is deceptive to have that much income unattributed to my stock picks, it's share of my taxable portfolio isn't something I need to know when I buy stocks that aren't from my employer (hope that makes sense).

After dropping Compass (CMP) as one of my materials stocks for freezing their dividend, I decided to add International Paper (IP) as my second pick for that sector (after APD).  I also purchased my second energy stock Oneok (OKE).  Both were at good times to buy.  After I start a position with another health related stock, I will be at 28.

I like being able to buy 1 or 2 shares depending on if the stock is low for the day, and if I have any cash leftover from dividends received.

Dividends Received: 192.39

Date	Type	Descriptio		Amount ($)
08/22/18	Dividend	FASTENAL CO CASH DIV ON 15 SHS REC 07/25/18 P...		6.00
08/17/18	Dividend	***EATON CORPORATION PLC CASH DIV ON 10 SHS R...		6.60
08/15/18	Dividend	REALTY INCOME CORP CASH DIV ON 45 SHS REC 08/...		9.90
08/15/18	Dividend	PROCTER & GAMBLE CO CASH DIV ON 42 SHS REC 07...		30.12
08/15/18	Dividend	NATIONAL RETAIL PROPERTIES INCCASH DIV ON 71 ...		35.50
08/15/18	Dividend	MAIN STREET CAPITAL CORPORATION CASH DIV ON 5...		10.07
08/15/18	Dividend	HORMEL FOODS CORP CASH DIV ON 41 SHS REC 07/1...		7.69
08/15/18	Dividend	ABBOTT LABORATORIES CASH DIV ON 17 SHS REC 07...		4.76
08/13/18	Dividend	AIR PRODUCTS & CHEMICALS INC CASH DIV ON 13 S...		14.30
08/09/18	Dividend	MASTERCARD INCORPORATED CASH DIV ON 16 SHS RE...		4.00
08/01/18	Dividend	GENERAL MILLS INC CASH DIV ON 55 SHS REC 07/1...		26.95
08/01/18	Dividend	AT&T INC CASH DIV ON 73 SHS REC 07/10/18 PAY ...		36.50

August Purchases:
Aqua America - 1
International Paper - 15
Kimberly Clark - 1
Oneok - 26
Southern - 4
Air Products - 2

Southern's nuclear plants are in doubt, and I suppose we will know more after the end of September.  It's share price should continue to dwindle because of this uncertainty, but after the news, I may look to load up.  They are a utility, and always have decent cash flow, so I think abandoning the nuclear project, though expensive, wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for the company.  We will see if I am right.

Moving Day

Time for the July update, but first...  I'm moving to my new broker!  Nine days of frozen securities as they drop off the stock POD and move me to 30 free trades a month (and some cash)!  July was a great month for me capital gains-wise, and some pretty good increases (FAST had their second div increase this year!) as the Q2 results are all better than expected.

Meanwhile, my last opportunity to purchase before moving was a bust.  Mainly because I had nothing on sale.  The only two stocks of mine that are under water are General Mills (GIS) and AT&T (T), and I am overweight on those.  So I decided to hold my cash until after the move.  I was looking to round out my two energy buys with Occidental Petroleum (OXY) but that, also, is too expensive.  Hard times for DGIers everywhere :)

I've been reading Adam Smith's ponderous tome "The Wealth of Nations" on my audible app, and it has many interesting tidbits.  I only mention this, because once I finish it, I'll start researching my business startup so I can "ROBS" my 401k, which I mentioned last month.

Dividends Received: $59.31 (the low month)

Date	Type	Description (show categories)	Amount ($)
07/20/18	Dividend	XCEL ENERGY INC COMMON STOCK CASH DIV ON 43 SHS REC 06/15/18...	16.34
07/16/18	Dividend	MAIN STREET CAPITAL CORPORATION CASH DIV ON 53 SHS REC 06/29...	10.07
07/13/18	Dividend	REALTY INCOME CORP CASH DIV ON 45 SHS REC 07/02/18 PAY 07/13...	9.90
07/03/18	Dividend	KIMBERLY CLARK CORP CASH DIV ON 23 SHS REC 06/08/18 PAY 07/0...	23.00

July Purchases:

Date	Type	Description (show categories)
07/17/18	Bought	26 of T
07/03/18	Bought	40 of ORI
07/02/18	Bought	22 of T

GIS and CMP are currently a "Hold" for me, as they have frozen their dividends.  I did tax harvest GIS this month.

401k Escape Plan

This past week a co-worker, knowing I regretted investing in my 401k, turned my world upside down.  He told me about ROBS (Roll-Over for Business Startups).  Essentially, if I leave my current employer, I would be able to start or buy a business, roll over my 401k into my business's 401k plan, issue shares from my business, and then walla, fund my business without being taxed or penalized.  So - if I start a bed and breakfast or vacation rental business, I could buy/build a vacation home, deck it out with all the latest furnishings with extras (car for picking up vacationers?) fund it with my 401k, then rent it out (when I'm not staying there).  The IRS overlooks this manipulation of your 401k because you are starting a business so hopefully a) paying taxes b) employing people and c) they are paying taxes.  I still have a lot of research to do, but here's a brief overview: https://fitsmallbusiness.com/set-up-a-robs/ Suddenly my dream of retiring early is much closer.  I just need to pick a business and set up a business plan ready to go in the possibility I leave my current employer for one reason or another.

June was a bit of a humdrum month, but a few times this month I only had 2 stocks on sale.  On sale meaning that they have dropped 5% or more below the price I paid for them.  Staples are showing a bit of strength, and the domestic stocks are growing (for now) thanks to the tradewar.  I may tax harvest GIS into T, and then buy some ORI to help balance my growing portfolio.  I am getting closer to the 50k milestone and looking forward to free trades every month!

This is my most profitable dividend month yet, which is good, because the next month is pretty lean:

Dividends Received: $177.21

Date	Type	Description (show categories)	Amount ($)
06/01/18	Dividend	WEC ENERGY GROUP INC CASH DIV ON 13 SHS REC 05/14/18 PAY 06/...	7.18
06/01/18	Dividend	AQUA AMERICA INC CASH DIV ON 14 SHS REC 05/18/18 PAY 06/01/1...	2.87
06/06/18	Dividend	SOUTHERN CO CASH DIV ON 40 SHS REC 05/21/18 PAY 06/06/18	24.00
06/07/18	Dividend	ARCHER-DANIELS-MIDLAND CO CASH DIV ON 15 SHS REC 05/17/18 PA...	5.03
06/11/18	Dividend	TARGET CORP CASH DIV ON 14 SHS REC 05/16/18 PAY 06/10/18	8.68
06/11/18	Dividend	CHEVRON CORPORATION CASH DIV ON 13 SHS REC 05/18/18 PAY 06/1...	14.56
06/12/18	Dividend	JOHNSON & JOHNSON CASH DIV ON 15 SHS REC 05/29/18 PAY 06/12/...	13.50
06/14/18	Dividend	HOME DEPOT INC CASH DIV ON 12 SHS REC 05/31/18 PAY 06/14/18	12.36
06/15/18	Dividend	REALTY INCOME CORP CASH DIV ON 45 SHS REC 06/01/18 PAY 06/15...	9.88
06/15/18	Dividend	OLD REPUBLIC INTL CORP CASH DIV ON 46 SHS REC 06/05/18 PAY 0...	8.97
06/15/18	Dividend	MAIN STREET CAPITAL CORPORATION CASH DIV ON 35 SHS REC 05/21...	6.65
06/15/18	Dividend	COMPASS MINERALS INTL INC CASH DIV ON 11 SHS REC 06/01/18 PA...	7.92
06/18/18	Dividend	MCDONALDS CORP CASH DIV ON 13 SHS REC 06/04/18 PAY 06/18/18	13.13
06/20/18	Dividend	QUALCOMM INC CASH DIV ON 45 SHS REC 05/30/18 PAY 06/20/18	27.90
06/26/18	Dividend	MAIN STREET CAPITAL CORPORATION CASH DIV ON 53 SHS REC 06/19...	14.58

June Purchases:
KMB - 8
JNJ - 7

According to the Stock Trader’s Almanac, July ranks among the best months of the year for both the Dow and the S&P 500, although the results are notably worse for the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 — the two gauges that have generally been holding up the best of late.  Hope July keeps its rep!

May Portfolio Update

May was a pretty good month.  I had two stocks flirt with "Gold Status" only to dip back down, but they are on their way to making it permanent.  Home Depot (HD) and Chevron (CVX) are two excellent stocks well on their way to achieving gold status in my portfolio.

I received my largest dividend disbursement ever in a month, $153.06.  I am making, on average, $137 a month.  Compared to a year ago at $15 a month.  Of course, I had only invested $6k at that time, and mostly in low yielding stocks, as opposed to 44.5k today.  My next goal is to hit 50k, then move that to Merrill Edge for 30 free trades a month!

I tax harvested AT&T, and moved that over to MAIN for a higher yield.  I will always tax harvest for a higher yield, and since AT&T yield-on-cost already is high, MAIN is the only one higher.  It wasn't enough to take it out of the purple category (10% loss), but AT&T is now underweight and ripe for purchasing in late June.  I'll be keeping a close eye on the DOJ ruling to determine when to buy.  I may be harvesting GIS next month.  It makes more sense for me to take my harvest losses this year as I am working to get below the expected tax bracket I will be hovering above.  I give a lot to tax-deductible charities (10% of gross), but my portfolio can definitely help out with this as I re-position my holdings for the future while increasing my annual income.  Tax harvesting is really beneficial to dividend growth investors.

I completed my industrial sector purchases by buying Eaton Corporation (ETN).  They are an American-born company, that switched their HQ to Ireland, so it is considered an international stock.  As long as they continue to prove that they are a reliable dividend payer, I'll continue to hold them.  The negative about having international stocks is that they are usually late to report dividend tax information to my broker, who in turn delivers them late to me, so I need to re-file over a few dollars.  I guess I won't mind as much when it is a couple hundred dollars, but I am an early filer (don't want scammers to steal any returns I might have).

I removed my watchlist from my holdings spreadsheet, as I have enough opportunities in my own portfolio to keep me busy at the moment.  If I am overweight on all stock sales, or if I receive a windfall, I will consider increasing my holdings.  I am currently lacking in the energy department, but that sector is a little too volatile at the moment, so I don't mind sitting it out.

Dividends Received:
AT&T (T)                     34.50
General Mills (GIS)     24.50
Mastercard (MA)           4.00
Air Products (APD)     14.30
Abbot Labs (ABT)         4.76
Hormel (HRL)                7.69
Main Street (MAIN)       6.65
National Retail (NNN)  20.43
Procter & Gamble (PG) 20.80
Realty Income (O)           9.88
Fastenal (FAST)              5.55

May Purchases:
NNN          28
ETN            10
PG               13
MAIN         18
GIS              19

June should be slow and steady, with a possible influx of cash at the end of July, and definitely in August.

April Portfolio Update

My portfolio cuts both ways, but both sides are still making money!

My portfolio has decided to either be profitable or not.  With half in the red, and half in the black, my stocks are chaotic and confused lately.  Good earnings reports and stocks go down, or up.  They can't make up their minds.  Many commentators say it is due to high expectations, but I think the longs just don't have any more money, and the shorts have too much and are creating this flux.  I think this is obvious from the DJIA not sure where it wants to go.  Anyways, I will just keep buying the deals and increasing my income.  Like a good profiteer in a war, I will make money from both sides.

My net worth for my 401k has increased thanks to paying off my 401k home loan, but no thanks to the market.  I opened a Brokeragelink account, and was disappointed to find I could only buy ETFs with my 401k money.  Oh well, I dropped 100 shares into each sector with cash on hand, and we will see how that pans out.

Dividends Received:

XEL	$16.34
MAIN	$6.65
O	$9.88
PM	$17.12
KMB	$5.00

April Purchases:

QCOM	16
SO	15
PG	12

The irony is that I told a friend 2-3 weeks ago that hardly anything in my portfolio was on sale.  A week later and half my portfolio was on sale.  Well, unless something jumps out as a great deal, I won't be adding any new stocks anytime soon. 

May will also be the anniversary of when I started my portfolio.  I may be doing some tax harvesting to increase annual dividend income and reduce taxes (trying to keep out of a tax bracket I will most likely hit this year).  Also, when I hit 50k, I may be moving to a different broker that offers free trades at that level.  This will be advantageous to buy smaller lots, catch ex-dividend dates, and put my dividends to work immediately when I get them.  Stay tuned.

The Big Drop Didn't Happen

When I was young and owned a Tandy 1000 EX and a 1200 baud modem, I would dial up into a BBS and play a popular game called "TradeWars".  Recent news brings up these old, fond memories.

My son and I were stockpiling cash for a possible tradewar, but it seems like it is fizzling out.  Regardless, I decided to highlight in light purple the stocks in my portfolio that are free and clear of China.  Cramer recently listed the sectors and some stocks that he considered safe in a tradewar:

1) Telcos (VZ)
2) Mall based retailers & apparel (I consider this a bit weak -MLD)
3) Cloud Kings
4) Cell Towers (AMT)
5) Health Insurers & Hospitals (ANTM, HUM, CNC, UNH, THC, HCA)
6) Domestic Oils (MRO, HES, PXD, APC)
7) Oil Refiners (MPC, VLO, HFC)
8) REITs
9) Utilities
10) Restaurants (EAT, WEN, SONC)
11) Brokerage Stocks
12) Cybersecurity (FEYE)
13) US Biz Helpers (ADP, CTAS)
14) Homebuilders
15) Military (RTN, HRS, NOC, LMT)

My son was set to buy up some Chili's stock with EAT, but after the tradewar fizzled, he opted for Verizon (VZ).  He has no irons in the Telecom fire, so he decided to snag it. 

I, on the other hand, decided to shore up some Procter & Gamble (PG) after their recent dividend increase.  They are one of the few stocks I don't have a 5% stake in and looks healthy from the fundamentals, and I need to average down my price on it.  Another stock I bought more shares of was Southern (SO), which also looks good going into earnings season.  They will be reporting out their dividend increase next week, so here's hoping.  The next purchase on my list will be NNN (provided the interest rates rise) with a possibility of PDCO for a new position.

In the meantime, I paid off my 401k home loan this month, which cranks up my net worth (not reported here), and allows me to increase my biweekly donations to my dividend retirement.  I have some cash still on hand, but I really don't wish to buy any stocks that can't report out good in this current economic environment.  In fact, if any of my stocks report out poorly, I may need to give them a second look.  The exception is GIS which already acquired massive debt, so I don't expect too many good surprises from them.  Everyone else better take off!