The Markets has been quite volatile these past few weeks.
From weak earnings reports to worries of Sequestration (more on this later).
Anyone who's not invested for the long term would have taken more hits than a
MLB slugger.
Luckily for me, I'm here for the long term. I see the recent declines
as excellent opportunity to get in to new positions or build up on my current
portfolio. It also makes my dividend-paying stocks into accidental
high-yielders. Since I reinvest my dividends, lower stock prices mean I can get
more shares with my dividends.
Speaking of dividends, I have three stocks that paid me some dividends in
February.
Apple (AAPL)
- Ex-dividend date of 02/07/2013 with Dividend date of 02/13/2013.
- AAPL paid me $5.74 dividends and I got 0.0123 shares @ $466.67.
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX)
- Ex-dividend date of 02/04/2013 with Dividend date of 02/26/2013.
- XLNX paid me $2.01 dividends and I got shares 0.0548 @ $36.68.
Energy Transfer Partners (ETP)
- Ex-dividend date of 02/05/2013 with Dividend date of 02/13/2013.
- ETP paid me $10.12 dividends and I got 0.2161 shares @ $46.83.
Not bad for February.
Lately, I've been hearing a lot of things on the news about Apple, the US
Government and a possible slow down in the Market.
Let's start with Apple. Granted it has been a tough last few months for the
company (and it's shareholders) as it's stock price dropped from over $700/share
to just under $443/ share (as of 02/25/13). With increased competition from
Samsung in the phone and tablet markets and the perceived loss of the "Apple
Coolness", Apple may be feeling some pressure from shareholders, customers and
Wall Street to come out with some new "must have" device. On top that, investor
David Einhorn sued Apple a few weeks ago asking the company to start issuing
"preferred stocks" to it's shareholders or at least show a plan on either
returning cash to shareholders or other investments from Apple's $137 Billion in
cash reserves. CEO Tim Cook said last week that this lawsuit is "silly" and I
tend to agree. Here's why: One of the main reasons I invested in Apple is their
huge cash reserves. Even if no innovative products comes out from Apple in
the next 5 years, the cash reserves alone would be enough for them to operate
without borrowing money or going bankrupt. Stability = Confidence.
Furthermore, if some new company comes up with something new, Apple can use the
cash reserves to easily acquire the company and it's employees (talent) into the
fold and use that new product/talent to come out with the next new thing. Plus,
if I want to go crazy with predictions, maybe Apple is just saving up to buy
their own cable company or TV network. Imagine if Apple buys HBO and has sole
exclusive rights to great content like Game of Thrones. Suddenly, the rumored
Apple TV now has a must-buy feature. One can dream right?
Finally, suing to "force" a company to spend their money seems so short sighted. Apple is still a relatively successful company and it is only Wall Street who is doubting Apple's track record. Granted, I would appreciate a dividend raise and/or a stock split but I would rather have Apple's executives concentrate their energies and brain power towards new products. They may have lost the Steve Jobs bump but I'm still bullish that Apple can still innovate and lead another technology revolution.
Apparently, on Friday, the Government will have to their draconian budget cuts (Sequestration). From what I've heard, Defense spending and other government services would feel the huge cuts which some people say would affect our economy negatively. Quite frankly, I am not that worried. I bet a deal will be reached by Friday or Monday morning at the latest. Judging from our experience from the fiscal cliff debacle, Congress would either compromise with the White House or risk losing their respective seats during the midterm elections. They have to remember, the President is done with elections and practically has nothing to lose whether or not these negotiations succeed or fail. Worse case scenario, it would be a great time to buy stocks (at least the fundamentally stable companies like Apple).
Finally, suing to "force" a company to spend their money seems so short sighted. Apple is still a relatively successful company and it is only Wall Street who is doubting Apple's track record. Granted, I would appreciate a dividend raise and/or a stock split but I would rather have Apple's executives concentrate their energies and brain power towards new products. They may have lost the Steve Jobs bump but I'm still bullish that Apple can still innovate and lead another technology revolution.
Apparently, on Friday, the Government will have to their draconian budget cuts (Sequestration). From what I've heard, Defense spending and other government services would feel the huge cuts which some people say would affect our economy negatively. Quite frankly, I am not that worried. I bet a deal will be reached by Friday or Monday morning at the latest. Judging from our experience from the fiscal cliff debacle, Congress would either compromise with the White House or risk losing their respective seats during the midterm elections. They have to remember, the President is done with elections and practically has nothing to lose whether or not these negotiations succeed or fail. Worse case scenario, it would be a great time to buy stocks (at least the fundamentally stable companies like Apple).
