Dividends and Updates

Happy New Year!

 

So the US did not end up over the Fiscal Cliff (we came close though).  I was not surprised that a deal would be made but was surprised with the amount of time it took for them to do something.  Anyway, we're currently not in financial Armageddon and the Stock Market moved on.

 

So here are some updates:

 

The Social Security Tax holiday ended on January 1, 2013 which resulted in smaller take home pay.  I still have to see how much impact this new development will have in my (our) investing capabilities.  I highly doubt it would affect us much but as I always say, if a 2-5% tax increase would hurt you, you're doing it wrong.  Luckily, we kept expenses are low and we built a huge emergency fund so as much as it hurt, I think we'll be fine financially speaking. 

 

To offset the loss of a few hundred dollars, I'm happy to report that our portfolio got paid some dividends.

 

On 01/14/2013, Mondelez paid $1.53 in dividends.  It was reinvested and bought 0.0558 shares of MDLZ at $27.42/share.  On the same day, Kraft also paid dividends.  We got $1.96.  It was reinvested and bought 0.0423 shares of KRFT at $46.34/share.

 

Also, on 01/10/2013, Altria paid $4.71 in dividends.  It was reinvested and bought 0.1476 shares of MO at $31.91. 

 

Granted these dividends are small peanuts compared to the "lost" take home pay but over time, these reinvested dividends would compound and make us more money in the long term.  Besides, it's better than nothing.

 

By the way, I'm not concerned with Apple's over 200 point drop.  As long as Apple manages to use or save  the over $150 Billion dollars in cash in the bank, I am confident they will find a way to release more exciting products either by in-house development or through acquisitions.  But we'll have too see with their earnings call next week.  I have a feeling that even if Apple bottoms out at $400, it would just be a perfect buying opportunity to get more shares and we'll have to have on as it goes back up to around $600.  Besides, the stock is still cheap compared to it's competitors.

 

Meanwhile, I'll keep investing in other sectors that would hedge the current hatred with Tech Stocks.

 

More to follow!