Monday, March 12, 2012

On The Radar

I am planning to make one more purchase in March.  Currently the stocks I am paying close attention to are NSC, MCD, and GIS.  I'm hoping to see a dip sometime soon for an opportunity to pickup one of these names at slightly lower prices.  Right now I am leaning towards Norfolk Southern.  I like the price it is currently at.  I've wanted McDonald's in my portfolio for a long time but have missed many opportunities to pick up shares.  I like it at 95 which may or may not happen.  I eat a lot of General Mills products and could see myself making a purchase; I almost did last month.  Right now I'm weighing my options, and taking time to see what unfolds.

One of the stocks or rather MLPs on my Watch List W.P. Carey (WPC) is planning a merger and to restructure as a REIT.  WPC is a rare non-pipeline company set up as a MLP.  Changing to a REIT means they will have to up the dividend/distrubition to 90%+ earnings (it's currently 66%), but will lose the amazing tax sheltering.  I'm not too happy about this; I will leave it in my Watch List for now but have no plans to buy.  It became kind of pricey the past few months anyways.

Last year I sheltered almost half my dividend income using a ROTH IRA and MLPs in my taxable account.  It's very relevant when tax season comes along.  I'll talk more about this soon.

4 comments:

  1. I like NSC, MCD, and GIS (I own all three). I recently added to my NSC and GIS positions, and MCD is already my second-largest position, so I don't have plans for any immediate additions to them. However, I think it's hard to go wrong with any of those choices.

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    1. NSC had a runup this week, I missed the chance. Currently interested in MCD, JNJ, and MLPs such as KMP and SXL.

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  2. Good list here. I like NSC, GIS and MCD at current prices as well. I recently added to MCD, and I have purchased NSC in two lots this year so I'll be looking in other directions next. GIS doesn't look bad here.

    I'm currently looking in the direction of VOD or EMR, both smaller positions for me.

    I think you're making a good choice leaning in the direction of NSC now. It's trading for a pretty favorable valuation, especially considering the lack of value out there in the market right now.

    Best wishes!

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    1. Yup you were completely right. NSC shot up last week, I missed the opportunity. I'm not worried there are other companies I want to own as well. EMR was around 48-49 a week or two ago, increasing my position crossed my mind. VOD is a nice telecom, but I'm not a fan of semi annual dividends. I'm going to stick with T for the telecom sector and frankly my AT&T position is large enough already. It would have to drop significantly to pique my interest, around $25 or so. I need to let the rest of my portfolio catch up.

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