Recent Sale: BIDU

On April 29, 2016, I sold 3 shares of BIDU (Baidu) for a total gain of $1.72. This brings cash of $595.30 back into my account to invest in a strong dividend paying company.  Clearly working towards that "strong core portfolio," I decided to cut my BIDU position in half as good earnings caused the stock price to spike.

Another whopping gain on a sale - This time $1.72.  What makes me feel better about this is that, this is probably around the dividend I could have received in investing in a dividend paying company. However, if my position grew larger, I would (more likely) sleep much better in the dividend paying company.  At the end of the day my core portfolio, will let me sleep well at night as the portfolio grows over time.  I look forward to reinvesting the proceeds into a higher yielding dividend company. Continuing to work towards my goal!

You can see my updated portfolio here.

Thanks again for stopping by!

What foreign companies are you invested in?

Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net by suphakit73

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Johnson & Johnson: Dividend Increase

6.7% Dividend Increase

Johnson & Johnson announced that its quarterly dividend will increase from $0.75 per share to $0.80 per share.  The dividend on an annual basis is $3.20 per share compared to the previous $3.00 per share.  The next dividend is payable on June 7, 2016, for those that hold the stock at the close on May 24, 2016.

I currently own 12 shares of JNJ so it does not add much income for me but a 6.7% raise is big! And its also the 54th consecutive year with a raise so I can continue to expect raises in the future.  It is definitely a company that I would like to make a larger part of my portfolio in the future.

Thanks for stopping by!

Full Disclosure: Long JNJ

What percentage dividend growth do you look for in your investments?

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Stock Dividend: Under Armour (UA, UA.C) - UPDATE

UPDATE - 4/28/16

I wanted to quickly follow up on a previous post from April 12th related to Under Armour's Stock dividend on April 8th.  You can find my previous post here.  As I mentioned it was a stock dividend that had the same effect as a 2:1 stock split.  At the time, I was hoping to sell my newly acquired UA.C shares while it was trading at the same price as the UA shares.  Unfortunately, as I write this it is a little late as the UA shares are trading higher than the UA.C shares.

I wanted to write an update post as I was able to figure out what the cost basis would be for the newly distributed UA.C shares. It can be found through an IRS Filing.  It shows IRS Form 8937 which is used by an organization to report an action which affects the stock basis for holders of a security.  UA has posted this filing on there website. From the filing you can see that each share will have the following cost basis:

• UA - $43.95
• UA.C - $42.84

To see a detailed calculation of how these amounts were decided see Part II Line 16 of the filing.  I just wanted to share this as it is not something we see too often, but it was interesting to see discover how the costs basis is determined for a stock dividend.  I wanted to know my cost basis as I hope to trim my UA position and invest it in dividend stocks that have higher yields than the ones I am currently invested in.  Hope you learned something from this post too!

If you want to find additional information on this stock distribution please go to the Under Armour Class C Stock Information page.

Full Disclosure: Long UA

Have you ever looked at IRS Form 8937 before?  What other filings do you look at besides the 10-K and 10-Q?

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Recent Buys: MO, WFC, AMGN, STAG

I quickly put the proceeds from my previous sale to work.  I initiated positions in Wells Fargo and Amgen as part of my goal.  Wells Fargo is recognizable by anyone, while Amgen may not be as well known if you are not in the industry or interested in investing.  Each of these purchases leaves room for dividend growth and price appreciation.  After making this purchase I had some cash available so I decided to average down a little bit on Altria by purchasing a whopping 2 shares!!  With the little left after that I purchased 1 share of STAG.  I hope to build on this position as I receive dividends, but for now it was nice to add a company that pays a monthly dividend.  Just over a thousand dollars put to work today.  Might be some quiet days ahead for me as I have invested more this month than originally planned.

Purchase Summary

• 2 shares of Altria Group (MO) on 4/25/2016 @ $60.77/share totaling $121.54
• 10 shares of Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) on 4/25/2016 @$50.30/share totaling $503.00
• 3 shares of Amgen Inc (AMGN)  on 4/25/2016 @ $162.65/share totaling $487.95
• 1 share of Stag Industrial Inc (STAG) on 4/25/2016 @ $20.13/share totaling $20.13

This will add $33.07 of yearly dividend income! 

Again, I paid $0 in commissions fees! 

Full Disclosure: Long MO, WFC, AMGN, STAG, ALL HOLDINGS IN MY PORTFOLIO

Are you invested in any of these?  Would you ever consider taking positions as small as mine?

Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net by suphakit73

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Loyal 3 & Vanguard - Week 16: Recent Buy

April 18 - April 24

My auto investments for week 16 are listed below and include BUD, MSFT, SBUX, GOOGL, and NFLX.  I also made a one time purchase of $500 towards Twitter.  The yield this week was 0.44% compared to 1.11% the week prior.  This marks four consecutive weeks of falling dividend yield on weekly purchases.  This week it is mainly attributable to my Twitter purchase.  Taking that out the return would have been 1.07%, still slightly down from last week. However, the amount of yearly dividends added (3.74) was higher than last week ($2.38).  This also marks 16 consecutive weeks without paying commission income!

I added additional purchases this week for NFLX, SBUX, GOOGL, and MSFT as all fell from their earnings results.  I do not see a problem in the companies in the long run, and have therefore taken advantage to get in at a better price.  With such small amounts invested each month, I know it does not make much of a difference now. Hopefully, over time my return would be better overall from small purchases during all market conditions.

Total Invested - $850.00

Commissions Paid - $0.00
Current Streak - 16 weeks
Yearly Dividends Added - $3.74
Yield- 0.44%

Full Disclosure: Long BUD, MSFT, SBUX, GOOGL, NFLX, TWTR, ALL HOLDINGS IN MY PORTFOLIO

Do you invest additional money into companies if they have big drops from earnings? Why or why not?

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Earnings: Week 17

Another busy week coming up with 6 companies I am invested in releasing earnings.  The ones I am looking forward to most are AAPL and BIDU.  Apple is always interesting to see what happens. The stock is finally climbing back up and the earnings will surely move it one way or another.  The other is Baidu.  I plan to half my position so I am able to invest it into a dividend paying company sometime in the near future.  Again, I am very happy to see all of the names that have reported for me this month.  Just take a look ! Solid companies with great track records!

See the Calendar Below:

Full Disclosure: Long UL, PEP, NFLX, JNJ, AXP, YUM, BX, UA, MSFT, SBUX AAPL, MMM, FB, MO, AMZN, BIDU, ALL HOLDINGS IN MY PORTFOLIO

Are you invested in any of these companies?  Do you follow the earnings releases of the companies you are invested in?

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Recent Buy: Twitter

I recently initiated a position in Twitter... yes, twitter.  It is something I use daily for personal reasons and for by blog as well.  You can find a link here for my Twitter page. Of course this may come as a "shock" as it does not pay dividends.  But for me it was a company that I wanted to invest in for a very long time.  It is a company I have always loved. I saw its reach and usefulness throughout college and through the creation of this blog.  Social media is a great tool for many reasons.  Clearly this company comes with its problems, but with recent shakeups and the upcoming Olympics this summer - I expect improvement.  Although, its NFL deal most likely will not affect the bottom line, this is a big win for them.  This purchase is now reflected in my Portfolio.

Purchase Summary

• 28.5716 shares of Twitter (TWTR) on 4/19/2016 @ $17.50/share totaling $500.00

This will add $0 of yearly dividend income, but adds a company which I use in my daily life. Clearly, it is used by all companies for public relations and awareness reasons.  I do not plan to add to this position anytime soon unless we see the company begin to make a turnaround, but I am glad to have initiated a position at these levels.

I wrote a separate post for this as it is not a dividend stock, but part of the plan towards creating wealth for the future.  My weekly buys will be posted soon and will include this Twitter purchase so it will skew the dividend yield for the week significantly.

Thanks for stopping by!

Full Disclosure: Long TWTR, ALL HOLDINGS IN MY PORTFOLIO

Do you use Twitter? Why or why not?

Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net by suphakit73

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Credit Card Signup Bonus $200- Worth opening?

Credit cards can be dangerous!  However, they often seem to offer excellent rewards or cash back offers.  I recently received an offer to earn $200 cash back plus 2% on all dining purchases and 1% on all other eligible purchases.  In order to get the bonus all I would have to do is spend $500 within 90 days.

Obviously, I would not use this as a way to buy something like a new iPhone or Apple Watch. It can really be a dangerous road if you see this as a way to buy things you really want but do not NEED. Instead, I would use this card to pay for an expense related to education.  It is an expense I have every month no matter what and there is no credit card fee to pay this.  So wouldn't it be simple to open this card and essentially make $200 with no effort.  It seems like a simple decision for me.  I have excellent credit and I do not see this affecting my score much at all.  It is definitely something to keep in mind as repeating this too much could lead to a drop in your credit score especially if you end up closing credit cards. But in this case there is no annual fee so I would just leave it open and build the length of time cards have been open overall as well.  I use creditkarma.com to track my credit scores and any activity, which helps me understand factors going into the credit score.

Having said that, I went ahead and opened the credit card.  I will write an update post once I figure out more information about the card/earn my bonus.

Short and simple post, but can you give me your thoughts on this?  Have you opened credit cards for a cash back bonus?


I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Recent Sale: SPXL

4/20/16 - Today I sold 12 shares of SPXL (Direxion Large Cap Bull 3X Shares ETF) for a total gain of $78.60.  This brings cash of $1,077 back into my account to invest in a strong dividend paying company.  If you have read my About Me and Goals pages, you will see that one of my goals is to clean up my portfolio and build a "strong core portfolio."  I saw an opportunity here to take some profits as the market has recovered significantly.

This ETF has brought me some gains in the past as it essentially seeks to move 300% of the performance of the S&P 500 Index.  Clearly, it has had a great run recently, but I want to take this opportunity to reinvest this money into a dividend paying company.  This is not to say I will not invest in this ETF again because I believe that it is a great tool, but as for building a strong core portfolio this is an important milestone for me.  The market has recovered greatly, but I believe some company stock have not rallied with the others.  I see some opportunity in the financial sector and hope to deploy this money there.  Unfortunately, I currently have a 3 day hold on Robinhood.  Cannot wait to get Robinhood instant!

If you want to learn more about the Robinhood platform.  Please see this great article by Wallet Squirrel.

Thanks for reading!

Have you ever invested in one of these leveraged funds?  What companies are on your watch list?

Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net by suphakit73

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Netflix Q1 Results

Netflix released its Q1 earnings on 4/18/16.  

I currently only own about 3 shares of NFLX (invested amount of $300 through Loyal3). Netflix does not pay a dividend and I do not expect it to anytime soon.  Then why have I invested in Netflix?  I have invested in NFLX as it is one of the most recognizable brands of our time and I know my family and friends spend countless hours on it every day.  You probably have an account yourself.  

The company continues to put out new content that subscribers love. To put things into perspective, it released at least one show or film each week of the quarter since February 19th.  This includes hits such as Daredevil and House of Cards!  Moreover, seven seasons of Netflix Originals are planned to be released in Q2.  You can find additional information on upcoming releases here.

Being in my 20s (and addicted to these shows), I believe it is important to include some growth stocks and NFLX is one that I have a great connection with.  Soon my monthly subscription price will go from $7.99 to $9.99, but I really cannot see why I wouldn't pay an extra $2 a month.  There are also 22 million other subscribers that fall into this category! I like the subscription model as it will continue to bring in cash for them.  I do however believe the expectations for Netflix are very high especially considering that it has large competitors such as Amazon looking to become a larger player.  Moreover, content costs abroad will probably bring down profits as it looks to gain a bigger market share.

As I write this article NFLX was down $3.11 or 2.79% during trading hours on Monday 4/18/16.  After hours, it is currently down $8.50 or 7.84% after originally being down 10%. This is despite doubling the earnings expectation of 3 cents a share for Q1 2016 as the outlook did not impress "The Street."  With over 180 million subscribers and entering into 130 countries new countries in Q1, I am impressed by how quickly it can grow and how large it has become.  Revenues grew 18% year over year in the US and 57% year over year internationally. However, its P/E ratio currently stands at 386 (from google finance), so it is definitely something to be wary about.

My $50 monthly buy ironically was set to make a purchase today on earnings day (which it did at about $108).  With the price dropping significantly after-hours, I have entered another purchase order of $100 to go through on 4/19/16 to add at a lower basis.  I would like to continue auto investing, but while taking advantage of temporary pullbacks (at least I hope so).  This is where the one downfall of Loyal3 comes to light.  Since Loyal3 completes orders in batches, I will not get the stock at the opening price and there is always a possibility for a company stock to recover by the time the order goes through or falls further after my purchase. Netflix has a loyal customer base and a great reputation.  Thus, I believe the subscriber base will be willing to pay more as long as the content continues to excell!

Full Disclosure: Long NFLX, AMZN

Are you a Netflix subscriber? What is your favorite Netflix original and would you be willing to pay more for it if prices went up?

Click here to view my portfolio holdings.

You an follow my monthly dividend income here

Picture Credit: FreeImages.com

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Recent Buys: MO, TROW, CB, YUM

I was hoping to write articles about some new positions I have initiated since starting the blog, but I simply have not had time.  Thus, I have included a quick summery below.  Each is an extremely strong company with a great track record! Oh... and they pay dividends.  You may have already noticed them displayed on my Portfolio, but I never had a chance to write about them.  Hopefully, I will have some time during their earnings to explain why I chose these companies.  I know these companies are pretty popular among dividend investors!

Purchase Summary

• 8 shares of Altria Group (MO) on 3/9/2016 @ $62.53/share totaling $500.24
• 7 shares of T. Rowe Price Group (TROW) on 3/9/2016 @$72.17/share totaling $505.19
• 4 shares of Chubb Limited (CB)  on 3/9/2016 @ $116.96/share totaling $467.84
• 3.03 shares of Yum! Brands (YUM) on 3/31/2016 @ $82.65/share totaling $250

This will add $49.33 of yearly dividend income! 

I am so happy to be writing here and noticing a growing number of people visiting.  You are all helping me on my task to keeping myself responsible and building wealth! Thank you!

Full Disclosure: Long MO, TROW, CB, YUM, ALL HOLDINGS IN MY PORTFOLIO

Which of these companies are you invested in? What do you think is a respectable dividend yield to get from your portfolio?

Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net by suphakit73

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Earnings: Week 16

This week features 9..... NINE!!!! of my companies releasing earnings.  This includes PEP, JNJ, AXP, YUM, BX, MSFT, and SBUX currently pay dividends while NFLX and UA do not.  While it is unrealistic (most likely) to follow through with my previous UL post about writing for each earnings release, I will try to at least write for those companies which have unusual results or if they have a change in the dividend paid.  I am sure most would argue to invest and let it ride for years and years.  I am not doing this to make a trade on any good or bad news, but as part of my goal for the year I would like to understand what I am invested in better and I believe it will make me a better investor. If time permits you are in for a decent amount of information put out from me!  Enjoy the rest of your weekends! Should be an exciting week.

See the Calendar Below:

Full Disclosure: Long UL, PEP, NFLX, JNJ, AXP, YUM, BX, UA, MSFT, SBUX, ALL HOLDINGS IN MY PORTFOLIO

Are you invested in any of these companies?  Do you follow the earnings releases of the companies you are invested in?

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Unilever Q1 and Dividend Increase

Unilever released its Q1 earnings on 4/14/16.  As part of my process of learning more about the market, I plan to read up on quarterly earnings and dividend increases.  As most of my holdings are for the long term, I understand that the daily fluctuations are not that important.  However, I do see a benefit in reading the quarterly releases that companies report.

I currently only own about 3 shares of UL (invested amount of $150 through Loyal3).  Yet, its somewhat fun to quickly go through a earnings release.  Moreover, the announced a dividend increase.  Although it is a very small increase from .302 to .3201, it represents an increase of 5.99%.  As of today 4/16/2016 its dividend yield stands at 3.54%.

See link for Q1 highlights released by UL.  All of the below is from the UL Investor Relations site.

Key Highlights from Release

• Underlying sales growth of 4.7% with emerging markets up 8.3% (primarily from volume)
• Underlying volume growth 2.6% and pricing up 2.0%

Overall Performance

• Personal Care
• Deodorants continue to perform

• Foods
• Led by cooking products in emerging markets

• Home Care
• Driven by high margin segments and new Omo with improved cleaning technology

• Refreshments
• Ice cream driven by products such as Magnum and Ben & Jerry's
• Lipton and PG Tips continue to extend presence

See below for a 1 year graph of Unilever.  Its 1 year return stands at 8.7% without including dividends.  It is currently near its 52 week high, but I will continue to buy at my monthly intervals.  With the variety of products they own and their reach around the world, I hope to make this one of my larger holdings as time goes on.  It will take a long time since my investments are only $50 a month, but it certainly will be worth it.  If I ever see a large enough pullback I would be tempted to make a larger order.  The fact that I am thinking like this means I am moving in the right direction.  My former self would have went for a high flying stock and probably sold it on a pullback rather than buying more.  Let's see if I can put that plan into action though.

Google Finance

Dividend Calendar

Attached below are dates related to UL's next few dividend payments.

I look forward to earnings releases next week from PEP, BX, and SBUX.

Full Disclosure: Long UL, PEP, BX, SBUX

What are some strong dividend paying foreign stocks you are invested in such as UL?

Click here to view my portfolio holdings.

You an follow my monthly dividend income here

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Loyal 3 & Vanguard - Week 15: Recent Buys

April 11th-18th

My auto investments for week 15 are listed below and include AAPL, FUSEX, MSFT, NKE, DIS, FB, BRK.B.  The yield this week was 1.11% compared to 1.82% the week prior.  This marks three consecutive weeks of falling dividend yield on weekly purchases.  This is mainly attributable as less of my money is going towards VYM as there currently is not enough money in my account for these purchases.  I auto deposit a certain amount for this with the purpose of buying VYM.  Will need to wait for the next one to being contributing to it again.  I typically only buy VYM on down days as opposed to my other purchases which are set for a certain date each month. Most of the $2.39 of additional forward looking dividends is attributable to dividend reinvestment of my S&P Index fund.  It earned me $34.21 of dividend income this month!  This also marks 15 consecutive weeks without paying commission income!

Total Invested - $214.21

Commissions Paid - $0.00
Yearly Dividends Added - $2.38
Yield- 1.11%

Full Disclosure: Long AAPL, FUSEX, MSFT, NKE, DIS, FB, BRK.B, VYM, ALL HOLDINGS IN MY PORTFOLIO

Do you invest in S&P 500 Mutual Funds? Why or why not?

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Stock Dividend: Under Armour (UA, UA.C)

Under Armour Stock Dividend 

On April 8th, UA reorganized its ownership structure and gave a stock dividend 1:1 in which the shareholders receive once share of UA Class C shares (non voting) for each UA share held.  This explains the "50% drop" in the stock price (but not really).  It essentially has the same effect as a 2:1 stock split, but I do hate seeing two lines of UA now.  Almost a year later, investors are finally seeing their 'stock split' and maybe forgot it was supposed to.  It was in effect so that the CEO Kevin Plank could keep 15% of the company he founded, and allow the company to pay compensation with the non-voting shares.

It is exciting to write a little bit about my first stock dividend while contributing to this blog.  Hope others join this list soon as well!  Although it has no impact on the value of the company or my holdings, for me it just feels good to see the number of shares grow!

Hopefully, Steph Curry and the Warriors can help drive this stock a little after Jordan's epic collapse. Should really have no impact on the view of the company, but we know it will move it in the short term.

Oh did I mention that they have 5 players that were the respective "MVPs" in their sport.  Incredible story!

If you want to find additional information on this stock split please go to the Under Armour Release.

Full Disclosure: Long UA

Are you invested in UA?  Most likely not.  Regardless, if you understand, can you please explain to me the tax basis of my new UA.C shares?  I am not exactly sure how it works as it is a new class of stock and my broker is showing $0 as the cost basis.  Typically, if it was the same class of stock each shares basis would become 1/2 in the case of a 2:1 split. I noticed owners mentioned selling their UA.C and plan to buy UA.  May have to follow suit as I hate seeing two symbols for the same company.  Any thoughts?

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Loyal 3 & Vanguard - Week 14: Recent Buys

April 4- April 10

My auto investments for week 14 are listed below and include VYM, AXP, FUSEX, WMT, GOOGL, AMZN.  The yield this week was 1.82% compared to 2.03% the week prior. 

Total Invested - $397.12

Commissions Paid - $0.00
Yearly Dividends Added - $7.24
Yield- 1.82%

Full Disclosure: Long VYM, AXP, FUSEX, WMT, GOOGL, AMZN

Do you invest in ETFs such as VYM? Why or why not?

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Portfolio Value : March 2016

A new post I would like to write monthly is following my portfolio value.  I wish I had data dating back to when I first started investing in 2014, but this will do as I have become much more selective in my stock selections.

My portfolio value grew from $29,025 to $31,418 from February to March.  Accounting for my March investments equaling $1,345, my portfolio appreciated by $1,048 thanks to a great March for the market.  I remember when I started in June 2014 - So happy to have gotten this far and so excited to see where my portfolio heads in the future.

Cheers,

The Dividend Mogul

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

March Dividend Income

With a quarter down in 2016, I have collected $103.24 in dividend income!  This month was especially special because I received dividends from 7 different sources.  Compared to 2015 my dividends in March increased by 112% and the quarterly increase is a whopping 221.72%!  Obviously, I do not expect them to grow at the same rate in 2017, but it sure is fun to make the comparisons!


See More Charts below thanks to my friend at Two Investing.  If you have not visited his site yet, I strongly recommend you do so. I found his Dividend Spreadsheet extremely useful.  The Screenshots below are from his workbook, which give a good overview of the direction I am headed in.


Continuing to fight towards my goal of $750 in dividends this year!

Full Disclosure: Long MSFT, PEP, VYM, VYMI, JNJ, TROW

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

March Buys

Using Vanguard, Fidelity, and Loyal 3, I automatically invested $1344.99 this month compared to $1,358.47 in February.  The yield for the month is 1.77% due mostly because of fewer shares of VYM purchased and an order of $100 in FUSEX that did not seem to go through (first time I have had a problem with that).  These purchases have added $23.84 to my yearly dividend income! My current projected dividend income in the next year has also grown up to $648.50.  Any chance I make it to $1,000?!

Oh - Did I mention that I paid $0 in commission fees in the first quarter of 2016!

Do you own any of these companies?  

Thanks for stopping by!  So happy for the 1,344 page views in my first month, but really hoping I can get some discussions started - would love to learn from you all.

Full Disclosure: Long VYM, VYMI, AXP, BUD, AAPL, FUSEX, MSFT, NKE, PEP, SBUX, UL, YUM, DIS, FB, BABA, GOOGL, AMZN, BRK.B, NFLX

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.

Loyal 3 & Vanguard - Week 13: Recent Buys

March 28 - April 3

My auto investments for week 13 are listed below and include VYM, YUM, BABA.  I have also included VYMI as my dividend reinvestment added to my holding, but it is an immaterial amount and adds nothing to the yearly dividend.  The yield this week was 2.03% compared to 2.6% the week prior. Quiet week of buying, but nice to see the market recover and see gains in my portfolio.  Regardless, a slow recovery would have been nice to allow me to keep averaging into my holdings.  Month of March really just flew by! Look forward to calculating my monthly dividends received!

Total Invested - $368.69

Commissions Paid - $0.00
Yearly Dividends Added - $7.48
Yield- 2.03%

Full Disclosure: Long VYM, VYMI, YUM, BABA

Will you be a buyer of YUM! Brands?

I'm not an investment professional or a licensed financial advisor. This blog represents my personal views and decisions, which may not be appropriate for other investors. Please use common sense or consult with an investment professional before investing your money. I am not responsible for the outcomes of your decisions, nor am I responsible for the comments posted by readers or the contents of any linked websites. This blog should viewed for educational or entertainment purposes only.