June Recap

This month went by fast, I was extremely busy.  The stock market was a rollercoaster ride with bad news from Europe then recent encouraging news.  The DOW is currently at 12,880.  As a whole stocks look to be slightly overpriced, but still reasonable.  It seems investors have been chasing yield.  Telecoms, utilities, and REITs are pretty pricey right now.  LTC Properties, my only REIT, has been the best performer (in terms of total return) in my portfolio.  I couldn't have predicted that one.  It became my largest holding on accident. 

New Purchases:
1) 15 shares McDonald's (MCD) providing $42.00 annual income.  MCD was purchased at $86.40/share + commissions.
2) 27 shares Emerson Electric (EMR) providing $43.20 annual income.  EMR was purchased at $45.55/share + commissions.
3) .627 shares Southside Bancshares (SBSI) providing $.52 annual income.  This was a dividend reinvestment.

Sales:
None

Dividends Received: $371.57
ConocoPhillips (COP) - $39.60
Intel (INTC) - $27.72
Southside Bancshares (SBSI) - $12.90
Chevron (CVX) - $26.10
Emerson Electric (EMR) - $11.20
Norfolk Southern (NSC) - $17.86
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - $36.60
Avista (AVA) - $30.16
Exchange Income Corp (EIFZF) - $16.83
McDonald's (MCD) - $18.20
Realty Income preferred series F (O-PF) - $6.76
UNS Energy (UNS) - $45.58
LTC Properties (LTC) - $29.16
Owens & Minor (OMI) - $9.90
Pepsi (PEP) - $43.00

Dividend Increases:
1) GIS: $.305 to $.33 per quarter.  $7.04 annually

New Deposits:
$720 in June.  $300 added to ROTH IRA, $420 added to taxable account.  My expenses were very high this month, but my income was also higher to offset it.  I now live in South Korea.  My car expenses will be reduced.  I will spend more on phones and fun money. 

Options/Bonus:
None

General Mills Increases Dividend

Great news for General Mills (GIS) shareholders.  GIS raised its dividend 8.20% to $.33 per quarter.  This is the 9th consecutive year GIS has boosted it dividend.  The company (including predecessors)has a long history of rewarding shareholders, it has paid dividends for 113 years without reduction.  Holy crap that's a long time.  Wow! 

While being known for popular cereal brands, they also manufacture and market other recognizable foods such as Yoplait, Green Giant, Pillsbury, and Old El Paso.  I consume and enjoy many of their products.  Sometimes I worry that store brands might cut into their profits.  A few weeks ago I bought a box of off brand Cheerios to check out the competition.  It tasted like cardboard, no comparison.  I'd have to be in a dire financial situation to buy immitation Cheerios again.  I believe branded foods will continue to be a good investment.

New Purchase - EMR

I bought 27 shares Emerson Electric (EMR) at $45.55 + commissions.  This purchase will add $43.20 to my annual passive income and comes with a yield of 3.49%.  EMR will strengthen my holdings in the industrials sector and help stabilize my portfolio.  I expect EMR to increase dividends in the future, it has a streak of over 50 straight years.

I haven't had much time to monitor the market the past week, but I noticed today (I'm 13 hours ahead of EST) the stock market is way down.  I'm going to revise my APD limit order to expire today to make sure I get in before the ex-date.  If it doesn't trigger, I'll reevaluate.

So far I'm very impressed with South Korea.  The people here are very polite and courteous.  I actually work alongside ROK soldiers, they speak good English.  ROK is about the size of Indiana but has a population of 50 million.  I'm stationed in the middle of Seoul.  Metro Seoul is the second largest city in the world, more people live here than NYC.  I went to a 7-11 across the street from my hotel and found the usual products such as Marlboro, Coke, Pepsi, and Gatorade.  But no slurpies!

Placed 2 Limit Orders

I went ahead and put in limit orders for APD and EMR since I will be flying to South Korea tomorrow.  I don't know when I will have internet access so I figured I would place a few orders in case the stock market dips lower.  If APD reaches $77.45 or EMR goes to $45.55 the orders will trigger.  I think these stocks offer a lot of value right now, both are dividend champions with long streaks of rising dividends.  In my opinion many MLPs are trading at attractive prices at the moment, I thought about those as well.

The past two weeks of vacation were awesome.  Now it's time to go back to work.  This time half way around the world, I'm excited!

New Purchase - MCD

I bought 15 shares of McDonald's (MCD) today at $86.40 + commissions.  This comes out to a yield of 3.22% which is quite attractive.  Obviously the stock market has taken a major hit lately.  I don't know what will happen, but my gut feeling is that it will continue to decline.  There are a lot of negatives going on right now and many investors are getting out.  I do not see this getting as ugly as 2008 which was a consequence of stupid bank practices and the housing bubble.

I will continue adding to my positions, but I think I might wait a week or two for the the next purchase.  There are A LOT of dividend growth stocks trading at reasonable prices at the moment.  Take your pick, there is a good menu to choose from.  Telecoms and utilities are still propped up in price, I will avoid those for now.