Friday, March 29, 2013

March Recap

I really, really, REALLY hope there is a correction soon.  I already have cash piling up plus I just did my tax return and will have a large deposit next month.  I'm basically down on my hands and knees begging at this point.  It's a tough market for value investors.

As always, I really don't care what my stocks are worth. I want income so I can retire!  Low entry prices juice yields and acts as jet fuel for long term investors.  I like paying low prices for my stocks and pretty much everything else I buy.  Other than market prices not cooperating with my plans, March was pretty darn good.  A very nice month for income coupled with solid dividend increases is always a welcome treat!

The trip to Thailand did not affect my finances.  It was part of my budget the past 9 months.  Planning ahead ftw!

DOW: 14,579 /// S&P 500: 1,569 /// 10-YR Bond: 1.85%

New Purchases:
1) 44 shares KMI at $36.63 - $65.12 annual income.
2) 29 shares BNS at $57.93 - $69.60
3) 2 shares EMB at $118.19 - $10
4) .628 shares SBSI - $.52 annual income (this was a dividend reinvestment)

Sales:
1) 70 shares UNS at $47.14 - ($121.80) annual income

Dividend Receiveds: $521.15
Conoco Phillips (COP) - $39.60
Intel (INTC) - $41.40
Southern Co (SO) - $14.21
iShares Emer Mkt Bnd (EMB) - $.86
Chevron (CVX) - $26.10
Emerson Electric (EMR) - $22.55
Lorillard (LO) - $46.20
Norfolk Southern (NSC) - $28.50
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - $36.60
Southside Bancshares (SBSI) - $13.36
Avista (AVA) - $47.87
Exchange Income Corp (EIFZF) - $17.49
McDonald's (MCD) - $43.12
Realty Income Series F (O-PF) - $6.76
UNS Energy (UNS) - $46.11
LTC Properties (LTC) - $26.06
Owens & Minor (OMI) - $21.36
Pepsi (PEP) - $43.00

Dividend Increases:
1) GIS: $.33 to $.38 per quarter.  $14.12 annual income
2) RTN: $.50 to $.55 per quarter. $11.40
3) APD: $.64 to $.71 per quarter. $4.48

New Deposits:
$1,000 to ROTH IRA

Lending Club:
No deposits this month.  I'm having trouble getting my money invested into new notes.  I don't know why, but my orders are expiring one after another.  I've been checking almost daily to get new money invested, nothing passes my screen anymore.  I'm starting to question the viability of LC.  It clearly cannot support a large investment based on my screen criteria.  Hmmm.....

18 comments:

  1. What a great month! Over $500 in dividends and despite the sale, you still increased your dividends going forward. I too would love a correction so I could make some more buys. I've been more active in the options market with the almost non-stop rise of the markets but I think that's going to be slowing down. Hopefully "sell in May and go away" shows up to give us a chance make some great value purchases.

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    1. Yeah I couldn't have predicted a rise this prolonged. Took me by surprise! Only a few months ago (around new years) I thought we were due for a nice decline. We'll see what happens, but buying something every month has worked well so far.

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  2. I know exactly what you feel like. I've too have been on the hunt, finding very little. I picked up some BNS a few days ago, but I don't think it's necessarily cheap. An opportunity will rear its head sooner or later. Congrats on the +$500 received in dividends!

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    1. I think BNS has some value left at the moment. Clearly we would have been better off buying it last summer. US investors do gain a favorable exchange rate for new buys right now. Unfortunately It also means the dividends that roll in are smaller too.

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  3. Whew! Look at that month! Sorry to hear about your difficulties finding Lending Club notes. I have been fortunate in that I haven't had any issues getting my money to work over the last couple of months. I have added a couple new criteria which I will be posting about soon.

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    Replies
    1. I am thinking about changing my screen, I think that's the problem. I've been extremely busy the past month, but I'll get around to it one of these days. I di manage to find a D note yesterday, we'll see if it actually gets issued.

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    2. Yeah, I would broaden your screen a bit. I'm not sure what backtesting you've done to develop your strategy, but you should be able to develop a high performing strategy that will give you more options.

      Good luck!

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  4. Great month! I too am hoping for a correction that just won't come. I plan to still make regular buys but put a little extra back in case of a pullback. I am tiptoeing into LC but I am in TX so I can only buy notes on the secondary market. The screener is terrible so I may pull out.

    Keep up the good work!

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    Replies
    1. I think I'm going to have to change my screen, but I do think more people are using LC now. Fresh notes seem to be funded faster and faster. The ones I want to invest in do not last long! A day or two tops.

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  5. I hear you. I also have a hard time to buy stocks at these prices. So all I could do in this market is sell puts on those stocks, so I have a very little cash in my account and a few puts out there. I will see how that will work out.

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    Replies
    1. That's not a bad idea. I would be afraid of a put getting called though. I'm just not sure I'd want to fork over 5-8K at once. That's a big commitment, but I guess it would depends on the stock price. I'm not all interested in margin or anything like that.

      I think I will continue to be patient and nibble a little bit here and there. We'll get a pullback at somepoint.

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  6. CI,

    Great month, man! Over $500 in dividends is fantastic and you got some pretty large raises from some solid companies in the form of dividend growth. That slow, steady growth is the name of the game and you're playing the game very well! Congrats.

    I hear you on wishing for a broader market pullback. I'm quite surprised we haven't seen some weakness as some investors take profit off the table. I'm hoping that comes soon so that some of us long-term investors can dip in with new capital and snatch up some high quality companies for cheaper prices/higher yield.

    Keep up the great work!

    Best wishes.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you.

      I'm horrible at predicting markets, no forecasts from me. 2012 started on a tear just like this year, and we ended with some nice opportunities...

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  7. Pullbacks are not an "If", but "when". It takes a lot of discipline to save that money for the right time when you love to buy income. But, Buffet has said that "Much success can be attributed to inactivity. Most investors cannot resist the temptation to constantly buy and sell". http://beginnersinvest.about.com/cs/warrenbuffett/a/aawarrenquotes.htm

    Keep up the good work, guys! My discipline is sticking to my rental real estate payoff plan where my guaranteed return (dividend) is a not too shabby 4.375%

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    Replies
    1. I think you're right. I've been at this long enough to know the markets ebb and flow. Pullbacks are impossible to predict or time perfectly, but I do try to put extra money to work when it happens.

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  8. Great month of dividends and some nice additions to your portfolio.

    I just invested my first note in LC so hoping it's a good adventure for me.

    Keep up the great work!

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    Replies
    1. LC is starting to pick back up again. I was able to invest the rest of my idle funds and recently made the April deposit. Maybe March was just a slow month? I don't know...

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  9. Over $500 in dividends is very nice, especially when they come from a diverse group of companies. The dividend increase we both got from GIS was great news.

    It doesn't matter to me whether we get a market correction anytime soon -- I'm in conservation mode right now for my upcoming move, so I won't have much new capital to invest for a while. However, I expect to be more active in the second half of the year, so a mid-year correction would be perfect. :)

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