Saturday, March 31, 2012

March Recap

Unfortunately I didn't win the Mega Millions jackpot worth over $600 million yesterday.  Luckily my backup plan is working well.  In March I purchased two positions; my portfolio now consists of 24 dividend growth stocks + one fixed income position.  The stock market continues to fly high which makes finding bargain stocks difficult.  I've been slowly investing my cash as I expect to receive a yearly bonus the end of April or early May.

New Purchases:
1) 49 shares Realty Income Preferred Series F (O-PF) providing $81.12 annual income.  O-PF was purchased at $25.46/share + commission.
2) 13 shares McDonald's (MCD) providing $36.40 annual income.  MCD was purchased at $95.92/share + commission.
3) .497 shares Southside Bancshares (SBSI) providing $.36 annual income.  This was a dividend reinvestment.

Sales:
None

Dividends Received: $283.25
Intel (INTC) - $27.72
ConocoPhillips (COP) - $23.76
Emerson Electric (EMR) - $11.20
Chevron (CVX) - $23.49
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - $22.80
Exchange Income Corp (EIFZF) - $17.38
Southside Bancshares (SBSI) - $10.80
Avista (AVA) - $30.16
Unisource Energy (UNS) - $45.58
Pepsi (PEP) - $41.20
LTC Properties (LTC) - $29.16

Dividend Increases:
1) RTN: $.43 to $.50 per quarter.  $15.96 annually
2) SBSI: $.18 to $.20 per quarter.  $4.84 annually

New Capital:
$860 in March. $300 added to ROTH IRA, $560 added to taxable account.  Once again I'm under budget, this blog is helping me keep on track with my spending.  I had a lot of unusual expenses including $12 for a pan, $33 for a shirt, $5 for sewing, $10 to fix a flat tire, and the rest of misc expenses going to taxes.  I had to dip into my emergency fund to pay taxes, I will replenish the money in the coming months.  It should be squared away by May.

Options/Bonus:
None, however I am thinking of selling a covered call on INTC.  INTC is now yielding less than 3%.  Pretty crazy o.O

I expect to make 1 or 2 purchases in April, we'll see.

5 comments:

  1. Wow. Awesome month man! Almost $300 in dividends. That's a monster month. March was pretty big for me, as a lot of companies pay out this month.

    I look forward to what you are interested in purchasing. You do have my interest piqued in SBSI. It's interesting that RTN and SBSI both increased dividends this past month, as they are both on my watch list. The only thing that concerns me about RTN is the fact that they are near the 52-week high. On an absolute basis, however, I still think it's relatively cheap to the market as whole as well as to its intrinsic value.

    Keep up the solid work man. You're making it difficult for me to catch up to you! :)

    Best wishes!

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    1. Thanks DM,

      Remember that we're not in a contest. The only contest I'm in is with myself. You are able to save more in a month than I even make. You will catch up it's only a matter of time. You will retire earlier than me, for that I am envious.

      I've only owned SBSI since January, but so far I like it. I see it being a smallish position. I'm not convinced SBSI will grow its dividend this much every year. I would hate for you to expect super high CAGR and then for it not to happen. It's a small cap under the radar stock, something I wanted in my portfolio.

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  2. Very nice month. I also had a good month for dividends, which I'll be reporting on my blog this week. I agree that none of us are in a contest against each other. I prefer to think of us being on the same team, providing mutual support in the form of inspiration and investment discussion, and pursuing similar goals. Each of us may work toward our goals in slightly different ways based on our unique circumstances, and some may achieve their goals sooner than others, but the key is that we're all making progress.

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  3. Yep, it's awesome sharing ideas and viewpoints with you guys. Honestly I wasn't sure I'd like blogging at first, but I'm glad I started. It helps me stay true to my budget and the new ideas/tips are handy as well.

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    Replies
    1. It is awesome sharing ideas and learning from each other!

      I feel like we have a little DG investing club going! :)

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