Dave--Wonderful story about your great grandfather.
My thoughts on the Social Security fix would be to remove the cap on income subject to social security tax. That would take care of the shortfall in revenues.
Dividend Contenders: 13 Increases Expected By The End Of July [View article]
Thank you David Fish for this Dividend Contenders prospective dividend increases by the end of July. I note from the FAST graph on CAT that it is grossly undervalued. However, I hope the dividend increase is similar to last year's 13%. Dripping this stock should mitigate the future loss in principal, so far this year and it is only down 2.91% in my portfolio. If they hadn't moved the dividend forward from the first quarter to 2012, there would be some mitigation in that loss this year.
4 Poor Communication Services Dogs Beg 7% To 27% Gains In April [View article]
Fredrik Arnold:
I hold CTL as only .7% of portfolio. Like you say about these rural telecomms, it has been a dog. I got it when the converted my Qwest shares--at least it paid a dividend, while Qwest had not paid one in several years. I think the management is working at cross purposes to the shareholders, with their dividend cut and borrowing to buy back shares. I liked it when they were a dividend champion with regular dividend increases. I figure with the 3.25% loss so far this year in principal (including partial mitigation by dividend reinvestment) the current dividend is safe at 5.71% yield. I see it holding around 5% yield into the future. They are too large to buyout and seem to desire to compete with the big boys--VZ and T. Until they start raising the dividend again, they will remain a hold for me. It's hard to come by 5% yield these days. FTR on the other hand is 1.4% of portfolio and likely to hold between $4 and $5 per share. I like the growth of shares with the 9.17% yield and the 4.48% growth in principal this year, due mostly to dividend reinvestment.
4 Poor Communication Services Dogs Beg 7% To 27% Gains In April [View article]
Thank you Fredrik Arnold for this article on 4 poor communications service dogs. I hold FTR and am pleased with the 9.2% yield. They did cut their dividend a couple of years ago, but have paid the $.1 per quarter ever since. You have called it right on the upside, it is back to $4.34 now and has climbed the past two days. I accept the short term capital gains as gravy to the reinvested dividends, which were buying more shares when it was $4.
Are You Holding Overvalued Stocks And Wondering If It's Time To Sell? [View article]
Thank you Bob Johnson for this timely article on selling stocks. Like you, I have been accumulating high yield stocks with dividend income and recently bought LNCO at about the price you paid. I just hated to see the shorts come out and attack the price, including the article in Barrons. There is plenty of global stimulus money driving the markets up, especially in Japan. The pullback seems to have been postponed, but I think we'll get it in the fall. Dollar cost averaging is the only way I play a market like this--it reminds me of 1999.
10 Top Real Estate Dogs Run Down 14.3% To 24.4% Gains In April [View article]
Thank you Fredrik Arnold for this 10 Top Real Estate Dogs article. I hold AGNC and MTGE in this sector and have been quite pleased with the dividends over the past several years. However, there is the rumor of the winding down of QE by the Federal Reserve, although the timing has not been announced. This has recently driven down the prices of these stocks and the entire industry. I am currently holding and redeploying the dividends to other sectors:
Key Signals To Watch For A Major Stock Market Top [View article]
Thank you Eric Parnell for this reassuring study of market tops. I especially like your chart "Today: The Post Crisis Rally Continues". I also appreciate the warning that computers may hide the traditional tells of impending market crash, such as double tops. Since the market is irrational in my estimation, I am treating it like the 1990s and dripping dividends, but no new strategic purchases.
Dividend Champions Smackdown XXXVIII [View article]
Thanks David Fish for this Dividend Champions Smackdown. I am dripping PG and feel that it is in a good position to increase it's price as it has already increased it's dividend this year.
Thanks David Fish for this Smackdown series. Dominion Resources (D) has the added catalyst that it is moving toward a subsidiary Blue Racer MLP in the Utica Shale:
J. M. Smucker (SJM) is up 19.9% so far this year and appears to be heading for more. They haven't announced their dividend increase yet this year either.
Thanks Chowder for this detailed explanation of the existing market and pointers on trading. I, too have questioned why this market is not going down. However, I came up with a strategy of dollar cost averaging into the energy sector and have seen my yield on total portfolio rise continually this year. The price appreciation is something that I have always felt to be here today and gone tomorrow.
Once the mREITs paid their dividends, the money burned a hole in my pocket and I purchased LNCO @ $42 within the week, only a few days before LNCO went ex-dividend yesterday. Over the weekend Barrons wrote a scathing article on LNCO once again and when it opened yesterday it was down 7% from it's Friday close. It is recovering slowly. When you are dealing with high yield stocks, such as these it is prudent to wait until the ex-dividend date to see what the market will provide. I drip my dividend growth stocks and only know when they purchased their shares after the fact. Stocks like PG don't grow at a rapid rate and it is safe, usually to buy them when you have the funds. Once you have a full position, move on to another sector.
7 Top Technology Dogs Trail 9.8% To 228% Gains In April [View article]
My brother has a friend that lives in Minnesota and visits him now that both are retired. I watch Dean and Miriam Johnson ever week on Hometime. It's a wonderful state!
7 Top Technology Dogs Trail 9.8% To 228% Gains In April [View article]
Thanks Fredrik Arnold for this update on communications dogs. I hold many of the telecommunications stocks and the rural telecomms are under a lot of pressure right now, as witnessed by CTL's recent dividend cut. The question I have is will WIN maintain it's dividend as the CEO says. I hold FTR and they have cut it twice.
Thanks Eric Parnell for this article on uncharted territory. I play chess with Fritz (a software program with built in audio heckling). I especially like it when he becomes HAL and asks "what is the purpose of that move, Dave?". Robots and algorithms are extremely fast on execution and easily manipulated. However, on the day after their flash crashes, people are forced to analyze the situation to see how to repair the damage. I believe we will continue to have a cyclical bull market embedded in a secular bear until 2022 (similar to the Japanese 22 year secular bear which ended in 2012). It is possible to accentuate the peaks and valleys through high speed trading, but long-term investment is not trading.
One Proposal To Fix Social Security [View instapost]
My thoughts on the Social Security fix would be to remove the cap on income subject to social security tax. That would take care of the shortfall in revenues.
Dividend Contenders: 13 Increases Expected By The End Of July [View article]
4 Poor Communication Services Dogs Beg 7% To 27% Gains In April [View article]
I hold CTL as only .7% of portfolio. Like you say about these rural telecomms, it has been a dog. I got it when the converted my Qwest shares--at least it paid a dividend, while Qwest had not paid one in several years. I think the management is working at cross purposes to the shareholders, with their dividend cut and borrowing to buy back shares. I liked it when they were a dividend champion with regular dividend increases. I figure with the 3.25% loss so far this year in principal (including partial mitigation by dividend reinvestment) the current dividend is safe at 5.71% yield. I see it holding around 5% yield into the future. They are too large to buyout and seem to desire to compete with the big boys--VZ and T. Until they start raising the dividend again, they will remain a hold for me. It's hard to come by 5% yield these days. FTR on the other hand is 1.4% of portfolio and likely to hold between $4 and $5 per share. I like the growth of shares with the 9.17% yield and the 4.48% growth in principal this year, due mostly to dividend reinvestment.
4 Poor Communication Services Dogs Beg 7% To 27% Gains In April [View article]
Are You Holding Overvalued Stocks And Wondering If It's Time To Sell? [View article]
10 Top Real Estate Dogs Run Down 14.3% To 24.4% Gains In April [View article]
http://seekingalpha.co...
Key Signals To Watch For A Major Stock Market Top [View article]
Dividend Champions Smackdown XXXVIII [View article]
http://seekingalpha.co...
9 Top Industrial Goods Dogs Fetch 3.6% To 19.5% Gains In April [View article]
http://seekingalpha.co...
Dividend Contenders Smackdown XXXVIII [View article]
http://tinyurl.com/cq8...
J. M. Smucker (SJM) is up 19.9% so far this year and appears to be heading for more. They haven't announced their dividend increase yet this year either.
Condition Of The Market - April 2013 [View instapost]
Is It Worth Holding Cash And Being Patient? [View article]
http://seekingalpha.co...
Once the mREITs paid their dividends, the money burned a hole in my pocket and I purchased LNCO @ $42 within the week, only a few days before LNCO went ex-dividend yesterday. Over the weekend Barrons wrote a scathing article on LNCO once again and when it opened yesterday it was down 7% from it's Friday close. It is recovering slowly. When you are dealing with high yield stocks, such as these it is prudent to wait until the ex-dividend date to see what the market will provide. I drip my dividend growth stocks and only know when they purchased their shares after the fact. Stocks like PG don't grow at a rapid rate and it is safe, usually to buy them when you have the funds. Once you have a full position, move on to another sector.
7 Top Technology Dogs Trail 9.8% To 228% Gains In April [View article]
7 Top Technology Dogs Trail 9.8% To 228% Gains In April [View article]
New S&P 500 Price Target: 2001 [View article]