A Well Overdue Dividend and Stock-Split Update

On June 9, 2014, Apple (AAPL) did a 7:1 stock split. This made the stock a little more affordable to buy at $100/share ($99.76 as of 9:42am PST 10/03/14) compared to $592.74 on 05/15/2014.  Since the split, Apple announced and released their new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phone models to compete in the "phablet" market. On pre-order weekend, Apple said that they took 4 million units for pre-order. This is a high number considering their Apple Store website failed to open and take orders on time. This failure added to the stress the carrier websites experience as they also struggled to take in pre-orders. On launch weekend, Apple said they sold 10 million phones and that is not even including China (Which they are about to sell on  Oct 17).

I expect Apple to sell maybe another 5-10 million phones if Fortune.com's article is accurate. Nevertheless, these new iPhone models are hits and we'll find out in Apple's next earnings call just how much of a hit these new phones are.

Apple also announced new products and services.  The Apple Watch which will come out early 2015 is meant to be a fashionable companion to the iPhone. Since no one outside of the few media outlets have seen the watch in real life, I would have to reserve judgment on whether it would be a success. Personally, I'll have to wait for version 2 or at least a price cut. A watch that starts at $349 is a huge gamble and I expect an increase on watch thefts so I hope Apple also includes a "kill switch" on these new watches. 

The Apple Pay service is the true product I am excited for. Apple is now positioned to make money on every Visa/Mastercard transaction (both brick & mortar and online) each Apple Pay user makes. This is huge. With over half a billion accounts on file and partnerships with Visa/Mastercard, Whole Foods, McDonald's to name a few, Apple is about to make NFC transactions mainstream.  Sure, Google Wallet may have done it first but Apple's "It Just Works" philosophy is going to ease in the non-techie consumer. I will keep an eye on Apple Pay.

As usual, I received dividend payouts from April 2014 thru today:  

Upcoming Dividend Payouts:

I am so sorry for being absent these past few months. School and vacations took up majority of my time and I don't see it getting easier in the near future. Nevertheless, I'll try my best to update this blog and keep track of my portfolio. I have a few ideas that I'm researching on and hopefully on my next post, I can share these new positions I'm looking into. 

Portfolio Up around 16% Due to Apple, Lululemon, Xilinx and a Really Awesome Market Rally

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.

Apple's Q2 Earnings

Info from CNBC.

Apple (AAPL) has been pummeled lately being down 47% from it's all-time high.  Stock price even went below for the first time since 2011.  With the lack of new product updates, production delays and rumored iOS software redesign, AAPL seemed to have lost it's mojo.  Analysts estimate that AAPL would still beat earnings but it's profit margins would be down year over year.

CEO Tim Cook said that the stock price decline has been very frustrating and that Apple does not control that; it controls product innovation.  That being said, new product releases are now expected towards the end of 2013.

It was not all bad news for the Cupertino company.  Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones in the quarter, compared with 35.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The tech company sold 19.5 million iPads versus 11.9 million a year earlier.  For most companies, those numbers would be awesome.

A little bit more good news for investors, AAPL's shares surged in after-hours trading (currently at $411.39) due to Apple's earnings numbers,  Apple's announcement of a dividend hike of 15% and increase of stock repurchase from $10 billion to $60 billion.  These moves should be enough to keep the stock price afloat while we patiently wait for the new hotness.

Long term, I'm still bullish with Apple and with numbers like these, how can I hate them Apples?