Friday, June 29, 2012

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

12 comments:

  1. CI,

    Awesome month!

    The dividends are huge. June was my biggest month ever. It's nice to have a big tally of dividends when the market is so volatile. It really reminds one of why dividend growth investing is such a strong long-term investment strategy.

    It seems you're enjoying South Korea so far. Best of luck in your time there.

    Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. Did you buy anything in June?

      Yea I like Korea a lot so far. I'm 95% sure I'll put in to stay an extra year. I have better housing, better pay, better workplace/coworkers and better eating arrangements. I don't have a car here, but I don't mind. I use the bus or subway. The subway still confuses me, but I just got here.

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    2. CI,

      Awesome to hear you're doing well without a car. I miss not having a car to be totally honest. Working in the auto industry makes it even harder as I'm a car nut at heart. Frugality continues to fight the good battle.

      I purchased some additional shares of EMR in June for just under $44 a share. Solid purchase for the long-term, in my opinion.

      I've often thought about retiring early to Asia. The Philippines and, to a lesser degree, Thailand continue to come to mind. Do you think you'll have a chance to travel to other Asian countries? If you do, let me know what you experience!

      Best wishes.

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    3. Awesome price on EMR!

      Yes I will do some traveling. I'm going to go to Thailand again, I've been there before. I also want to see Japan and maybe the Phillipines. We're really close to Japan maybe I'll make it over there during a holiday weekend. I'll worry about that later I'm still getting settled in. I'm still trying to figure out how much I'll set aside for trips.

      As for Thailand, you could have a good standard of living for maybe $1000/month. Cars are not as common most Thais ride motorbikes. A lot more economical. I wasn't paying attention to real estate, but I'd estimate you could buy a condo or a business for about 30 grand. No sales or income tax that I know of. Food is way cheap. I was buying bottles of coke at 7-11 for 35 cents. Tipping at restaurants is not 15% like the U.S., large tips are not expected. I took an hour and a half taxi ride from the airport, it was around $25. Things are just cheaper there, except beer and gas. My hotel was like $22/night.

      If I go to the Phillipines I'll tell you my experience.

      Gasoline is about $5.50/gallon in Korea. Ouch!

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  2. A very nice month for dividends! Keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing more about South Korea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well I went to a FC Seoul soccer game last weekend. Tickets were about $12 and beers were about $2! We sat up front by the chearleaders haha. I went to a Korean restaurant last night which was fun. The owner lived in Australia for a while and speaks good english. I really like the people I work with, this is going to be a good year.

      I was moved to small installation about 30 mins from Seoul. It would have been fun to stay in the city, but it's not far away. Right now I'm trying to learn basic Korean words so I can be respectful to the locals.

      I'm going to sign up for some day trips, but I have to see whats available.

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    2. Soccer, cheap beer, and cheerleaders... nice! :)

      It sounds like you're having some cool experiences over there. Learning a bit of Korean is probably a good idea. I'm terrible at learning languages (I've forgotten most of the French I learned long ago), but I suppose I might do better if I were immersed in a foreign-language environment.

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    3. Yea I know some German. I took 4 years of it in highschool + a semester in college. Korean is a different beast. The written language is symbols similar to Chinese, I'm not even going to attempt learning it. I think I'll be able to get around speaking english and common korean words.

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  3. What a great month! With that many holdings, it's like you are getting a dividend payout every other day!

    Keep up the great work. I'm also looking to add some more EMR. I missed out when it dipped below $44, so I'm holding out, hoping it will drop again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha yeah. At least one dividend seems to roll in every week. Unfortnuately it's not that exciting anymore. When I first started it was hard to wait 3 months in between payments.

      Keep your eyes peeled, EMR is trading at $44 right now.

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  4. I like to share RRSP. The Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is a tax-sheltered plan that is available to Canadian taxpayers. RRSP contributions are tax deductible up to certain limits. Plan holders can invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other eligible assets.


    Australian dividend dates

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    Replies
    1. I highly recommend tax sheltered accounts such as a ROTH IRA or a RRSP for our Canadian friends up north.

      Thanks for stopping by.

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