Dividend Stock Investing

[ModE98]

Sold AI and picked up more COP, KMI and KO.  Now a more traditional port with less risk.  Feel better.  Bigger plans after Jul 1.   Condo sale closing.

[The Virginian]

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day but I am bored ! Wish the Markets were open ! I should have some dividends posting but it will be Weds or Tuesday before I know the share counts.

[OldCoyote]

I think I want to put some money into oil,  Your thought and suggestions.

My reason is, I think the oil pushers are finding ways to push the price of oil up through market manipulation!

I want to go along for the ride.

[The Virginian]

I think COP is the best Long Term investment but granted it is slightly more risky, but that is my major play on oil. I did buy a lot of MLPs when the prices were at rock bottom but most of my purchases were very limited dollar amounts to offset risks.

COP
SPH
CCLP
APLP
NGL
ETP
CVRR
ALDW


Others:

RDS
BP
CVX
XOM

You might also want to look at AMLP - MLP ETF

[The Virginian]

The DOW broke 18,000 again today before pulling back - How many times has this been now? 

Everyone keeps talking about how over valued the market is but is has been going side ways for two years now.

[Deleted]

@the Virginian

The DJIA has been struggling each time it has come within a few hundred points of the all time high; though in my mind this is not surprising.

There really is no impetus for a rebalancing of the markets at large and the counter parties (Stocks/Bonds); because well there is no real savings rate...

Gobs of folks keep plowing money into fixed income (bonds), because others are; which keeps the prices for bonds on the UP, but yields lowish.

Those that don't want bonds are plowing into stocks for either Dividend returns or for quick pops here and there.

On the Options Market front, things are getting so tight that finding a decent trade is becoming a real game of "Find Waldo", where a decent trade is like bigfoot folks claim it exists, but proof is elusive.

Interest Rates are the real missing piece here, until they are moved up enough to forced banks to actually pay something of substance on Savings; folks will continue to plow money into areas that are already stretched uber thin...

And the longer this persists, the nastier the recoil will be..

What is holding the Markets (and finance in general for everyone) hostage? The FED Reserve..

They need to quit d***ing around and just start raising rates; period.

[tyfighter3]

And just remember that dismal Jobs Report. The Feds have tied there hands for so long they don't know how to untie them. LOL 

[The Virginian]

GIS ( General Mills) Increases Dividend from .46 per share per quarter to .48 per share per quarter

An Increase of 4.39% !

[The Virginian]

We are back above 18,000 AGAIN - Not sure how long it will last but the trend continues for me - each time my portfolios reach new highs ! Fascinating to watch.  I continue to focus on Dividend Income though because that is what is really important for me.

[Value Buy]

Yes, just received a new dividend from Vanguard group in June.
Reinvested in more shares.

[Ombud]

Fortunately SCHA, SCHB, SCHD paid dividends (auto reinvest) last week of June

[The Virginian]

The "Duke" ( DUK) increases its Dividend by 3.6% !

from .825 per share per quarter to .855 per share per quarter or -

$3.42 per share annually !

GO Duke !

[Ombud]

Dividend ETF is the only thing up today

[tyfighter3]

V, JMO But the only reason why our stock market has been in a range between 15000 and where it is now for the last year is because the World has been putting their money here because they think it is the safest place to be. The Fed has lost it's power to prop anything up, so that leaves who?, The rest of the World. They are not propping us up because they want to, it's because We are the only place left to put their money at. Look at the EU ( toast), China ( toast) South America ( toast)and of course the Middle East ( toast).  Our Dividend Stocks are the only thing left, we have left. Then I look at 20 trillion in debt and I wonder how long do we even have them? Where and What is safe anymore for the next 10 to 20 years?

[The Virginian]

I agree 100% with you Tyfighter but like the rest of the world what else can we do? You could buy gold or silver ( I own a small amount of physical silver ) but the government can simply make it illegal to own ( as they did with gold in the past) so that is not any safer. That leaves really no viable options other than the stock market. Your best bet is to spread your investments out in as many places as possible, cash, stocks, real estate, precious metals ............ but no guarantees when they are the ones that make the rules. So, for now I will continue to invest in the markets and hope for the best. (and keep a stockpile of food on hand for your family - they are eating cats, dogs and pigeons in Venezuela  ......... I have a 2 year supply of food on hand now and continuing to add)

[The Virginian]

A timely article from Seeking Alpha :

seekingalpha.com/article/3988415-fundamentals-will-impact-portfolios-domestic-internationally

[The Virginian]

Omega Health Investors (OHI) Raises Dividend ( Again)

Omega Health Investors has raised it's quarterly Dividend from .58 to .60 per share - this is the second raise this year

Yearly the dividend is $2.40 per share.

OHI is a a good purchase in my humble opinion - with a current yield of 7.30% !

I only have a small position but I intend to add more shares by the end of the summer.

[The Virginian]

Sold Clorox ( CLX ) this morning @ 136.94 and took a profit of $ 63.72 per share ( Purchased in 2/13) . Currently trying to decide what to replace it with. 

[The Virginian]

Okay - The money from the Clorox sale was burning a hole in my pocket so decided to buy additional shares in Vector Group (VGR) - Vector Group is a Tobacco company but also has real estate holdings and acts like a BDC.

I  now have a Substantial position in this company. It's yield is high - 7.15% which scares some away and is a very complex stock because of it's various holdings. Some are scared because of it's high payout ratio but don't let that scare you - because of the companies financial structure you can't use that as a reliable metric. Another thing I like about the company is that they pay an annual "Bonus Dividend" each September in the form of a "Stock Split" of 100 to 105 shares or more simply a 5% share bonus. In other words if you own 100 shares you will receive 5 Bonus shares - this is in addition to it's already generous Dividend. It has been paying the "Stock Dividend" since 1999.


www.vectorgroupltd.com/investor-relations/faqs/

[ModE98]

Added a few more lots of KO today.  A "core" port position.
Looking at COP, FMC, PFE, and T but at a few points lower to push the "buy" button. 

[The Virginian]

I have made the decision in light of the recent run up in my portfolios that I am going to turn off the Drips to most of my holding for the foreseeable future and start accumulating some cash. This is especially important in my IRA account since I can no longer contribute outside cash to it.

I do have some exceptions: I will continue the drips for these stocks:

- AT&T
- PFE
- GE
- VGR
- DUK

All others I am turning off and taking the cash to deploy if there is a substantial downturn in the markets.

[The Virginian]

Why it pays to hold stocks for long term

Many of you realize the benefits for holding stocks long term and letting your shares drip and “compound” but is another advantage that results from long term stocks that many never realize or seem to appreciate.
When you first purchase a Dividend stock – you have “locked in” a Dividend yield. Since your original purchase price will always stay the same if the company increases its dividend (most companies do on an annual basis) this will in turn increase your yield on your original investment. This new increased yield is called “Yield on Cost” or YOC.
Let me give you an example from my own portfolio.

I purchased shares of AT&T in April 2011 @ 30.24 per share. At that time the stock was paying .43 per share in quarterly dividends or $1.72 per share on an annual basis.
The Dividend yield was: 1.72 / 30.24 = 5.68%

Today the stock is valued at $42.71 per share and is paying an annual dividend of $1.92 per share on an annual basis for a dividend yield of 4.5% - not bad but..
Because my purchase price was @ $30.24 per share my yield on cost is:
1.92 / $30.24 = 6.34%
This December I can reasonably expect the dividend to increase to $1.96 a share so my new YOC will be :
1.96 / 30.24 = 6.48%

Now I realize some of you are saying that I wish I had invested in 2011 so I could have taken advantage of this but the reality is – It doesn’t matter. Jump in now at the 4.5% Dividend – hold it for years and you too will see your Yield on Cost grow.

[The Virginian]

MAIN (Main Street) Raises Dividend !

MAIN has raised it's MONTHLY Dividend to .185 from .18 ! On a yearly per share basis this equates to $2.22 per share from the previous of $2.16 per share. This represents a 3% increase !

MAIN also has paid a Special Dividend lately about 2 times per year. I believe the last one was .27 per share.

[ModE98]

Picked up new shares in CL, VFC & VZ this week. 

[The Virginian]

Hey Mod - How's the new Housing going ? Are you having to fight off all the lady friends ?

Seriously , I hope you are enjoying yourself.

[ModE98]

Mr. V ............. Great place, good service, care and meals.  I am doing fine.  Thank you!  Hope you are doing well.
Sure looks like a nice day in the market IF it keeps going after this first hour....

[The Virginian]

Aug 5, 2016 9:38:46 GMT -5 ModE98 said:

Mr. V ............. Great place, good service, care and meals.  I am doing fine.  Thank you!  Hope you are doing well.
Sure looks like a nice day in the market IF it keeps going after this first hour....

It's ( the market)  doing so good I believe many of us are expecting a correction soon but it sure beats the Chinese market !  I'll be closing on my rental property next week so hoping to have those proceeds waiting for any corrections before I jump in. I do expect to put some to work right away though on a few picks I just don't want to wait on.

[The Virginian]

I have stated I like VGR because it not only pays a nice 7% or so dividend but also pays a "Stock Dividend" each September of 5% meaning it increases your share count by 5% each year and has positive tax consequences.

I have now found another stock that does the same : It's a bank stock SBSI - Southside Bankshares Inc. . It's dividend is currently at 3% but each April or May it pays a Stock Dividend of 5%. It also recently payed a "special dividend" in addition to the regular quarterly dividend. It is worth your time to  take a look. I have put this one on my perspective buy list.

www.southside.com/about/investor-relations/

[The Virginian]

Anyone know about this that could explain it further ?

"If your broker isn't sharing their lending securities fees with you, give them a call. That one conversation could be worth thousands a month with your large position."

[Deleted]

The Virginian

Without context (the article the quote is from), can't be sure.

But it sounds like the quote refers to the % of Margin Interest one is charged & exactly how it is calculated.

Margin Interest is one of those things which has always been a bit shady, generally you can find the % rates and the $ brackets for those rates; but the when they kick in (once on Margin), how they are calculated not so.

I have personally been on the brunt end of this. 4 years ago I got assigned on some CAT CALLS (no stock), so I ended up in a short position (Marked as Margin) worth -$50k; however I had $100k cash. Now I closed the short as soon as it happened (before EOB on the day it occurred); even though I didn't hold the Short for more than 20 mins., I got charged $300 in Margin Interest; though I didn't even know about it Interest charge until I got my monthly statement on the 16th of the following month (which was also the day they took the $300 from my cash balance.

Now I had a similar issue yesterday (assigned some CALLS, ended up in a SHORT), and I called the brokerage and inquired about whether I was going to get charged Margin Interest; I was told "Since the Short was not held overnight, no".

I pressed the issue, explaining what had happened prior, the person looked back at my account and told me "That shouldn't have happened, but unfortunately it is to far back to do anything about at this point".

I told the person I was speaking with that I was concerned because I had been told prior that "If you end up Short you are  on Margin, no matter how long the position exists, and that Interest is charged for any day or portion of day that such a position exists".

The person yesterday told me in response that " If you see a Margin Interest Debit on your next statement, it would be erroneous as you did not carry this overnight, you closed it as soon as it happened. Therefore call me back directly and I will at that point credit the charge back to you"

So at this point: I probably will be charged some stupid amount of Margin Interest & supposedly I shouldn't be (if the Debit occurs) & Supposedly the person I talked to yesterday will reverse it, if it happens...

Yeah right, I will believe any and all of that when and if either {A} I don't get charged Margin Interest, or  {B} When I call the person back after I get charged the Margin Interest they credit my account for the debit at that point.

I know a few things at this point after years of active trading: {A} The brokerage I use doesn't give 2 sh**s about me, {B} They are always looking for the next way to f*** with me, {C} I am going to see weird things on my monthly statements, to which I am going to have to call and argue with them over, AND {D} Things are only getting worse as the years go by..

And to answer the question "Why then don't you switch brokerages?"; I would as I have another Brokerage I do have an Account with, if I could get full Options privileges with that brokerage. Unfortunately, that Brokerage has told me that they won't extend full options privileges unless I had $1m; which I do not have.