I've been negligent.
As you may have read from my previous post, I have been pre-occupied by classes as I returned to school to complete my college degree. To that effect, my contributions to our portfolio decreased in order to pay for my tuition fees... at least the fees not covered by my employer's benefits package.
Luckily for our portfolio, I picked dividend paying stocks and 2013 has been good to investors and the economy in general. In spite of the self-inflicted wounds the US Government gave the economy, the markets has been fairly robust and stocks maintained their status as the investment vehicle to be in given the current market conditions.
So far, here are the dividend payouts paid to our portfolio since 08/01/2013:
08/14/2013 - ETP Distribution - $10.50 ($0.89375/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.2022 shares @ $51.93
08/15/2013 - AAPL Dividend - $6.69 ($3.05/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.0134 shares @ $499.25
08/28/2013 - XLNX Dividend - $2.31 ($0.25/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.0536 shares @ $43.10
09/20/2013 - WM Dividend - $4.48 ($0.365/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.1060 shares @ $42.26
10/10/2013 - MO Dividend - $9.28 ($0.48/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.2694 shares @ $34.45
10/14/2013 - MDLZ Dividend - $3.71 ($0.14/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.1209 shares @ $30.69
10/25/2013 - KRFT Dividend - $2.12 ($0.53/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.0388 shares @ $54.64
11/14/2013 - AAPL Dividend - $6.73 ($3.05/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.0129 shares @ $521.71
11/14/2013 - ETP Dividend - $10.81 ($0.91/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.2058 shares @ $52.53
11/27/2013 - XLNX Dividend - $2.32 ($0.25/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.0521 shares @ $44.53
12/20/2013 - WM Dividend - $4.52 ($0.36/share) - Reinvested to buy 0.1030 shares @ $43.88
Upcoming:
KRFT - Ex-Dividend 12/23/2013 Dividend date 01/17/2014 @ $0.525/share
MDLZ - Ex-Dividend 12/27/2013 Dividend date 01/14/2014 @ $0.14/share
MO - Ex-Dividend 12/23/2013 Dividend date 01/10/2014 @ $0.48/share
I've never been more thankful that I picked these dividend paying stocks which supplemented my decreasing contributions for 2103. I also like the price appreciation of our stock positions and it seems like we'll see more growth at least through the first half of 2014. I'll have to squeeze in some time to reassess each stock position especially the tech and retail sectors.
We currently carry a slightly huge cash position which was supposed to buy more shares of LULU but the news of CEO Christine Day's resignation, recall of products and the co-founder's unfortunate remarks made me hold off buying. LULU just recently hired their new CEO so I would need a few quarters' worth of reports to decide whether to stay or go.
Apple on the other hand recovered from their steep decline from their all-time high. It looks like AAPL stabilized at $560/share. Their 2013 product line release late in 2013 were enough to post in great numbers but AAPL would need to show more "new" products in 2014 in order to be the tech darlings once again. For now, the China Mobile deal and the new iPhones would be enough to keep shareholders happy.
All in all, I'm still bullish with the US economy. The real estate market is back to "normal" and the IPO market brings in new money and new millionaires that would hopefully infuse the economy with new jobs, businesses and market activity (new homes, cars and etc). So far, the US Government seem to be less crazy this time and seem to be more "cooperative" compared to around this time last year. It does help that 2014 is a mid-term election year so these "employees" are motivated to keep their jobs. Hopefully, the Obamacare issues and NSA leaks would be fixed soon so that the Government could focus on creating/stimulating job and economy growth in 2014. One could hope.
I'll be in college classes in 2014 but I promise to keep this blog alive and keep tabs on our portfolio. Who knows? Perhaps when I finish my studies, this portfolio would be profitable enough to help fund my new adventure. I'll be crossing my fingers.
