Monday, June 30, 2014

June Recap

The last stock market correction was two years ago.  I find myself wanting to hone my skills as an income investor and that means not panicking when stock prices sour.  I need a test, some practice, just to make sure I'm at peace with my chosen strategy.  I don't check my accounts at all except to buy new shares or track dividend payments on personal spreadsheets.  Even then I intentionally avert my eyes from the part of the computer screen that displays portfolio value.   I calculate portfolio values once per month when I do monthly recaps though it's for my readers not for me.  In my head I remind myself the value of my stocks do not matter, only the income stream it produces.  I do whatever I can to keep myself in the correct state of mind and focus on what's truly important (replacing employment income with dividend income).  Mental tricks.  Hopefully I will have trained myself by the time the markets inevitably correct.  I need a test; I feel rusty.

LTC Properties became the second holding to pay over $1,000 dividend income.  Next up is Philip Morris perhaps as soon as January next year. The only other thought worth noting is that June was the second commission free month in a row.  That streak will end in July when I do a purchase in my ROTH IRA account.

DOW: 16,827 /// S&P 500: 1,960 /// 10-YR BOND: 2.52%

New Purchases:
1) 3 shares DE at $91.32: $7.20 annual income
2) 4 shares BAX at $73.68: $8.32
3) 3 shares DE at $90.21: $7.20
4) 4 shares BAX at $73.74: $8.32
5) 3 shares DE at $91.17: $7.20
6) 5 shares PG at $78.69: $12.88
7) FRIP: 2 shares GE: $1.76

Sales:
none

Dividends Received: $617.93
ConocoPhillips (COP) $53.82
Walmart (WMT) $15.36
Southside Bancshares (SBSI) $15.84
iShares Emer Mkt Bnd (EMB) $2.46
Southern Company (SO) $33.60
Chevron (CVX) $60.99
Emerson Electric (EMR) $23.65
Exxon Mobil (XOM) $11.73
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $42.00
Lorillard (LO) $51.67
Norfolk Southern (NSC) $30.78
Target (TGT) $27.95
Unilever (UL) $8.55
Avista (AVA) $49.85
McDonald's (MCD) $49.41
Realty Income (O) $15.69
Realty Income Series F (O-PF) $6.76
BP (BP) $5.85
LTC Properties (LTC) $28.58
Owens & Minor (OMI) $25.75
Pepsi (PEP) $57.64

Dividend Increases:
1) O: $.1824792 to $.1827917 per month: $.36 annual income*
2) TGT: $.43 to $.52 per quarter: $23.40
3) WPC: $.895 to $.90 per quarter: $.44*
*: second increase this year

New Deposits:
$1,700 to taxable account, $100 to lending club

Lending Club Interest:
$14.82

26 comments:

  1. CI,

    Great month all the way around. It has been a while since the last correction and at times I get complacent about the investments I own. I sometimes look at my portfolio balance and then subtract 35% from the value and write it on a large sheet of paper. I think about how the new lower balance would make me feel. Like you, if the income continues I view it no different than a rental house that has a tenant with a strong payment history. The month to month values don't matter so long as the income stream is sustainable.

    I look forward to your next month's results.

    MDP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a good way to approach it. I simply ignore portfolio value since I won't be selling assets to fund a retirement anyways. If the market went down 50% I'd actually be just about even. Pretty crazy now that I think about it! Anything less than a 50% drop I'm up.

      Delete
  2. Nice trick CI, and congratulations on the dividend milestones. Bring on the correction! Each new dollar we invest will bring in more passive income :)
    -Bryan

    ReplyDelete
  3. CI,

    I'm with you, bud. I'm ready to try my skills out now that I have a sizable portfolio.

    Nice month! Over $600 in passive dividend income and some nice purchases. Keep it up!

    Best regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It has certainly been a while... The best buys I ever had were during the extreme market turbulence during August 2011. It was really really difficult to put money to work back then, but it paid off in a really big way. Two of my three doubles (ABBV, RTN) were purchased that month. And the other buy (LTC) almost doubled if you want to include dividends too.

      In a way I have been playing defense ever sense. I don't forget how I felt during bad times although bad times are really just opportunities for those committed to their strategies.

      Delete
  4. Solid month. Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I hear you on wanting a correction to really test our conviction. It's easy to say that we'll not worry about the value and focus on the dividends instead, but when we had the last correction my portfolio was so small that it wasn't that noticeable. Now my portfolio value is much higher so the swings due to the markets will be much higher. I don't expect to panic but it's still hard to know until we go through it.

    Congrats on a great month with over $600 in dividends. I'm sure you'll be missing those no commission months soon! Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep that's why I want a test. The last time we had one my portfolio wasn't 6 figures!

      I do have some free trades for August and beyond, but not enough to burn through them every week unfortunately.

      Delete
  6. I'm not hoping for a huge correction but a small one (less than 20 %) would be great! or ideally just the ones on top of my watch list could come down :)

    It has been motivating to follow your journey. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad someone found some value here. I haven't been very motivated to blog or follow other blogs in recent months. I've actually though about shutting down this blog. Yet here I am wasting my time once again...

      Delete
  7. Pretty solid month as I own many of the same holdings. Lets hope for for increases next month

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice month CI! Looks like you've got a steady income stream coming in now. And you are doing what I need to do better and that is putting your money right back to work for you as soon as possible. Way to go...Keep it up!

    Wishing you continued success in your journey! AFFJ

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think its excellent to be wanting a correction and concerned about how you'll act during a correction. This bullmarket has really brought up a lot of new investors who never invested during 2008.
    IT SUCKED AND IT ROCKED EVERYTHING DOWN TO YOUR CORE.
    There are going to be a lot of fair weather investors who won't take a correction and will give up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 2008/2009 is the reason I am now an income investor focused on mostly dividend growth stocks! Things were so bad back then that I couldn't even log into my accounts. Sea of red!

      Many people switched strategies to something more comforting because of the great recession. I'm no exception. I look at those old mutual funds I used to own and feel I made the right decision doing it on my own.

      Delete
  10. CI,

    Great job in June! I am also ready to test myself with a correction so I can add shares of great companies undervalued or fairly valued at least. Nice to see LTC has paid you over $1K in dividends. That company has been steady for me as well so far.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm thinking LTC might provide us with a dividend increase next quarter or maybe Q1 2015. Increases are irregular, but dividends are going up over time. Love the conservative management of that particular REIT.

      Delete
  11. Great month of dividend income from a number of different companies. I'm also waiting for the next big market correction. I've only been investing for 2 years and while I feel I will make the right decisions until that moment happens I wont really know. Keep up the great work!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nice income and better buys! At some point I'd like buy some US stocks (being Canadian), but like you for your Canadian stocks, gotta be tax efficient first! :) Got to love those free trades, when I opened my brokerage account I had 10 of them so used them up on diversifying through many smaller positions in companies I liked. Wish I could get more!

    ReplyDelete
  13. We are all thinking about market correction.

    But since your aim is dividend yeld and not value investing, I think if prices drop of about 30% u should consider about sell and buy at lower price (before the dividend is payed), saving that loss of 30% and of course having your stocks in portfolio at cheaper price.

    Please give me your idea about this.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That's a lot of dividends! Keep up the great work! Cheers.

    - Henry

    ReplyDelete
  15. Please start writing again :(

    ReplyDelete
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