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Who was the buyer of those ships? That's the stock I want to own.]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:22:29 -0400
Who was the buyer of those ships? That's the stock I want to own.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1503872/comments?source=feed#comment-20069712 20069712 2011: negative 2.12%
2012: positive 2.53%
2013 to date: positive 3.41%
In 2009 and 2010 I gained roughly + 26 points and + 13 points of alpha. Two comeback years from the earlier slaughter.
In recent years I've started selling calls against established positions and puts towards positions I want to hold. This strategy actually generates a lot of income, far more than what is possible with simply collecting the div. I have yet to get stuck on a put sale (obviously because of strongly rising markets) but have lost a couple of big gainers as a result of being called away (LTD and GPS as two that come to mind).
My alpha measurement tells me a great deal about my methods and stock selections that simple DRIP investing cannot provide. It keeps me on course. I wish I had used it earlier in my investing.]]> Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:20:14 -0400 2011: negative 2.12%
2012: positive 2.53%
2013 to date: positive 3.41%
In 2009 and 2010 I gained roughly + 26 points and + 13 points of alpha. Two comeback years from the earlier slaughter.
In recent years I've started selling calls against established positions and puts towards positions I want to hold. This strategy actually generates a lot of income, far more than what is possible with simply collecting the div. I have yet to get stuck on a put sale (obviously because of strongly rising markets) but have lost a couple of big gainers as a result of being called away (LTD and GPS as two that come to mind).
My alpha measurement tells me a great deal about my methods and stock selections that simple DRIP investing cannot provide. It keeps me on course. I wish I had used it earlier in my investing.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1503872/comments?source=feed#comment-20069192 20069192 From the bottom of 666 @ the first of March, 2009 to the intraday price today, the S&P has gained @145%. My portfolio has gained @318%. Why do I have these excess gains? Because I got "excess slaughtered" on the downturn. My biggest holding is AFL. Take a look at the price action of that puppy over the last six years. LTD is my second biggest, same moves.

My point is that tracking total return and comparing it to something, anything that represents a broad swath of stocks, gives one insight into performance. Insight that is not provided by simply seeking to increase div income month to month. Are my dividends increasing month-to-month. Yes. What does that tell me about the health of my portfolio? Not so much, IMO.]]> Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:03:25 -0400 From the bottom of 666 @ the first of March, 2009 to the intraday price today, the S&P has gained @145%. My portfolio has gained @318%. Why do I have these excess gains? Because I got "excess slaughtered" on the downturn. My biggest holding is AFL. Take a look at the price action of that puppy over the last six years. LTD is my second biggest, same moves.

My point is that tracking total return and comparing it to something, anything that represents a broad swath of stocks, gives one insight into performance. Insight that is not provided by simply seeking to increase div income month to month. Are my dividends increasing month-to-month. Yes. What does that tell me about the health of my portfolio? Not so much, IMO.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1503872/comments?source=feed#comment-20063312 20063312 This is a forum about investing. All kinds of suggestions are made on all different levels on just about any subject, and occasionally, suggestions are made about the adequacy of one's goals. Sorry, it happens. I hope that the comments I make inform more than they offend.
Re: one's goals in investing. Think of it in terms of the goals you had when you were in school. When you enrolled in a class, did you start out with your goal being to earn a 'C-' ?
A 'C' is average. I have to think that you, me and everyone else on the planet would at least envision being somewhat better than average, at least at the beginning of an endeavor. Relating it to successful investing, achieving total returns that match index averages, such as the S&P, is your 'C' in investing. That's why they call these indexes the 'averages'. I was suggesting that if one's goal is simply to achieve increasing income from dividend investing, and even returns that exceed the inflation index, you might be too modest. You might say that bettering the averages over the long term is difficult, even professionally managed funds under perform more often than succeed. I guess I would say to that: investing is not an easy course.
Inflation has run @ 3% over the long term.
S&P 'inflation' has run 9-11% over the same time period.
Are you, as an investor, happy with a total return somewhere in between those two numbers?
Welcome to your 'C-'. ]]> Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:27:23 -0400 This is a forum about investing. All kinds of suggestions are made on all different levels on just about any subject, and occasionally, suggestions are made about the adequacy of one's goals. Sorry, it happens. I hope that the comments I make inform more than they offend.
Re: one's goals in investing. Think of it in terms of the goals you had when you were in school. When you enrolled in a class, did you start out with your goal being to earn a 'C-' ?
A 'C' is average. I have to think that you, me and everyone else on the planet would at least envision being somewhat better than average, at least at the beginning of an endeavor. Relating it to successful investing, achieving total returns that match index averages, such as the S&P, is your 'C' in investing. That's why they call these indexes the 'averages'. I was suggesting that if one's goal is simply to achieve increasing income from dividend investing, and even returns that exceed the inflation index, you might be too modest. You might say that bettering the averages over the long term is difficult, even professionally managed funds under perform more often than succeed. I guess I would say to that: investing is not an easy course.
Inflation has run @ 3% over the long term.
S&P 'inflation' has run 9-11% over the same time period.
Are you, as an investor, happy with a total return somewhere in between those two numbers?
Welcome to your 'C-'. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1503872/comments?source=feed#comment-20060142 20060142 I think over the long term you should demand of yourself 'good moves that are definitely effective and have, indeed, worked out really well'.
If you are looking at your portfolio, seeing that your total divs have increased from one month to the next, and calling it a success, perhaps you are being too modest in your goals. ]]> Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:07:47 -0400 I think over the long term you should demand of yourself 'good moves that are definitely effective and have, indeed, worked out really well'.
If you are looking at your portfolio, seeing that your total divs have increased from one month to the next, and calling it a success, perhaps you are being too modest in your goals. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1503872/comments?source=feed#comment-20059572 20059572 Do you want to be a successful investor? You need to achieve a return that = or > your benchmark. Is your benchmark the posted rate of inflation? Ok. that's too modest IMO as the S&P has exceeded that by 6-7 points over the long term, but at least it's a start. Measure your success through your total return, not your increasing div income. Those investors in the financial sector saw excellent growth in their div flow in the early 2000's. Those investors don't post much here anymore.]]> Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:49:48 -0400 Do you want to be a successful investor? You need to achieve a return that = or > your benchmark. Is your benchmark the posted rate of inflation? Ok. that's too modest IMO as the S&P has exceeded that by 6-7 points over the long term, but at least it's a start. Measure your success through your total return, not your increasing div income. Those investors in the financial sector saw excellent growth in their div flow in the early 2000's. Those investors don't post much here anymore.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1503872/comments?source=feed#comment-20035472 20035472 I see many references above to selected stocks as being 'safe'. A couple of these companies kill millions (world wide) of their best customers every year! Imagine if I phones caused the deaths of a half million Americans a year, what would the price of AAPL stock be? A couple of the other selections pay out a dangerous percentage of their income in divs. Does anyone think, given what has happened in the last ten years that it is impossible for T to be a five buck stock paying a four cent yearly div? Is that really outside of the range of possibility?
Thanks to the author for highlighting how DRIP investing sometimes doesn't work and concurrently reminding people 'fire and forget' investing can be a disastrous strategy. ]]> Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:02:58 -0400 I see many references above to selected stocks as being 'safe'. A couple of these companies kill millions (world wide) of their best customers every year! Imagine if I phones caused the deaths of a half million Americans a year, what would the price of AAPL stock be? A couple of the other selections pay out a dangerous percentage of their income in divs. Does anyone think, given what has happened in the last ten years that it is impossible for T to be a five buck stock paying a four cent yearly div? Is that really outside of the range of possibility?
Thanks to the author for highlighting how DRIP investing sometimes doesn't work and concurrently reminding people 'fire and forget' investing can be a disastrous strategy. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1504182/comments?source=feed#comment-20034742 20034742 Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:28:35 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/1491722/comments?source=feed#comment-19871912 19871912 Tue, 11 Jun 2013 23:14:00 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/1494572/comments?source=feed#comment-19853292 19853292 What happened to that debt?]]> Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:30:43 -0400 What happened to that debt?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1491152/comments?source=feed#comment-19849172 19849172 Should you do this? I guess it depends. if you have a $300,000 portfolio that is yielding, say, 3.6%, that would raise cash to the tune of $900 a quarter. This would be an amount you could justify investing with the accompanying commissions. Is your portfolio $10,000. It probably would not be worth it.
I admit that in either case you are playing around the edges with that specific strategy.]]> Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:00:44 -0400 Should you do this? I guess it depends. if you have a $300,000 portfolio that is yielding, say, 3.6%, that would raise cash to the tune of $900 a quarter. This would be an amount you could justify investing with the accompanying commissions. Is your portfolio $10,000. It probably would not be worth it.
I admit that in either case you are playing around the edges with that specific strategy.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1491152/comments?source=feed#comment-19805522 19805522 Should long-term investors sell their div stocks? No, of course not; but it may be a good time to suspend reinvestment, build some cash and look to buy some JNJ in the 70's rather than reinvest in the 80's, where it sits now. ]]> Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:40:56 -0400 Should long-term investors sell their div stocks? No, of course not; but it may be a good time to suspend reinvestment, build some cash and look to buy some JNJ in the 70's rather than reinvest in the 80's, where it sits now. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1491152/comments?source=feed#comment-19795632 19795632 F, X, AA, FCX, STLD, AMAT are names that come to mind.
Also, if you think one of your stars has had a particularly good run, perhaps it would be time to sell some out of the money calls against them.
The last two years have been a 'golden age' for div stocks and many have been pushed to what I consider high valuation. Investors, who ordinarily would not be in them have been driven there. We have an aging population that will be more and more attracted to government/high quality corporate income in the next few years. This does not bode well for the high quality names: EMR, JNJ, PG. My thoughts.
P.s I love AFL. I think in the next few years, as the European fiasco fades, they are going to really push that div up to about one third of earnings, north of two bucks a share. They did this before,basically doubling their div in a two year period. Thanks.]]> Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:48:52 -0400 F, X, AA, FCX, STLD, AMAT are names that come to mind.
Also, if you think one of your stars has had a particularly good run, perhaps it would be time to sell some out of the money calls against them.
The last two years have been a 'golden age' for div stocks and many have been pushed to what I consider high valuation. Investors, who ordinarily would not be in them have been driven there. We have an aging population that will be more and more attracted to government/high quality corporate income in the next few years. This does not bode well for the high quality names: EMR, JNJ, PG. My thoughts.
P.s I love AFL. I think in the next few years, as the European fiasco fades, they are going to really push that div up to about one third of earnings, north of two bucks a share. They did this before,basically doubling their div in a two year period. Thanks.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1388561/comments?source=feed#comment-19773642 19773642 Sun, 09 Jun 2013 15:42:46 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/1486421/comments?source=feed#comment-19770062 19770062 Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:07:12 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/1486421/comments?source=feed#comment-19754962 19754962 No matter what your investment style, longs will do well over the next many years.]]> Sat, 08 Jun 2013 20:28:10 -0400 No matter what your investment style, longs will do well over the next many years.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1486421/comments?source=feed#comment-19749012 19749012 to sum up what I've just said: you, Pendragon and every other DGIer are ALREADY SEEKING ALPHA, you are looking for positive alpha and using as your comparison index the Federal Government's posted rate of inflation.
I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that it is entirely possible to have 'income that generally grows every month' and dismal long term results from your investment activities. Using an outside metric gives you a useful check on your work. I personally feel that a goal of simply exceeding the rate of inflation is too modest. After all, that index I keep mentioning has beaten inflation by SEVEN percentage points over the long term. Remarkable when you consider that many of the stocks in that list of 500 are complete dogs that have no hope of ever performing well. That's all ]]> Sat, 08 Jun 2013 13:27:59 -0400 to sum up what I've just said: you, Pendragon and every other DGIer are ALREADY SEEKING ALPHA, you are looking for positive alpha and using as your comparison index the Federal Government's posted rate of inflation.
I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that it is entirely possible to have 'income that generally grows every month' and dismal long term results from your investment activities. Using an outside metric gives you a useful check on your work. I personally feel that a goal of simply exceeding the rate of inflation is too modest. After all, that index I keep mentioning has beaten inflation by SEVEN percentage points over the long term. Remarkable when you consider that many of the stocks in that list of 500 are complete dogs that have no hope of ever performing well. That's all ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1486421/comments?source=feed#comment-19735872 19735872 I read Varen's comment.
Then I read Chariot's comment.
Then I read your comment and put it all together and realized what had been missed.

Don't be too impressed. It wasn't that hard. ]]> Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:31:28 -0400 I read Varen's comment.
Then I read Chariot's comment.
Then I read your comment and put it all together and realized what had been missed.

Don't be too impressed. It wasn't that hard. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1486421/comments?source=feed#comment-19734832 19734832 Fri, 07 Jun 2013 19:42:54 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/1486421/comments?source=feed#comment-19723622 19723622 You should track your total return and compare it to your target index to learn what your alpha is. If, over several years of a lifetime program, you are comparing your returns with the S&P and coming up with a negative alpha, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table. How much money? An underperformance of two percent over a life time of investing results in a shortfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The S&P represents average, mediocre, so-so performance. If you are doing less than that, maybe you should be looking at what you are doing.
That's why.]]> Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:12:43 -0400 You should track your total return and compare it to your target index to learn what your alpha is. If, over several years of a lifetime program, you are comparing your returns with the S&P and coming up with a negative alpha, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table. How much money? An underperformance of two percent over a life time of investing results in a shortfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The S&P represents average, mediocre, so-so performance. If you are doing less than that, maybe you should be looking at what you are doing.
That's why.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1486421/comments?source=feed#comment-19721152 19721152 It's certainly valid to measure the run these stocks have had and to consider the implications of higher interest rates. A yield of five percent on the 10 year T would be a serious blow to stocks that have been supported by those seeking that yield. Counterbalancing the threat is the prospect that we could well be entering a period of sustained economic expansion that will sharply increase both earnings and the ability of these companies to raise their divs.
Perhaps the solution would be for DGIers to at least consider investments into 2nd tier companies that have dropped off their screens due to lack of div raises or actual suspensions of same.
Examples might be BAC, some of the mid-west banks, such as Fifththird, investment companies like MS, An auto company like F, Steel: STLD, X. Energy: BP, APA, Commodities: FCX.
These are companies that yield seekers have largely passed over and yet businesses that should do well in the modest but long term expansion that I envision (with much higher earnings and divs paid by all.) My thoughts]]> Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:13:18 -0400 It's certainly valid to measure the run these stocks have had and to consider the implications of higher interest rates. A yield of five percent on the 10 year T would be a serious blow to stocks that have been supported by those seeking that yield. Counterbalancing the threat is the prospect that we could well be entering a period of sustained economic expansion that will sharply increase both earnings and the ability of these companies to raise their divs.
Perhaps the solution would be for DGIers to at least consider investments into 2nd tier companies that have dropped off their screens due to lack of div raises or actual suspensions of same.
Examples might be BAC, some of the mid-west banks, such as Fifththird, investment companies like MS, An auto company like F, Steel: STLD, X. Energy: BP, APA, Commodities: FCX.
These are companies that yield seekers have largely passed over and yet businesses that should do well in the modest but long term expansion that I envision (with much higher earnings and divs paid by all.) My thoughts]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1480601/comments?source=feed#comment-19680791 19680791 You're right about 'beating the index'. If you are not over the long term, you should not be doing this. Beating it by six points over that long term? Dream on. One year (2009) I beat it by 26 points!! This year? I'm even. Maybe a bit ahead with yesterdays action. Two years ago, I had a negative alpha of @ 2 points. If you can, over that long term, beat the index by a couple of points, it is well worth the effort. Translated into dollars over a lifetime, it amounts to several hundred thousand $.
Most of my option trades are 'fire and forget' trades; although,, I have to admit, I don't forget them and follow them every day, but that's a personal problem and not necessary to the strategy.
Do you want in INTC but think it's a bit pricey > 25? (I do). Sell the July 24 Put. Someone out there will pay you $64 per put. Or buy the stock @ 24.60 and sell the July 25 Call.
Sometimes you have cash and sell puts, sometimes you own the stock and sell calls, sometimes you are in the stock on ex-div and collect same, sometimes you purchase and sell a bit higher and make some cap gains.
RE: amateurs vs the "professionals". There are no professionals. Every time a mutual fund dumps, another one is the buyer, and, as you probably know, most of the pros underperform broad indexes. There's the amateurs and the salesmen.
If my investing strategy starts to underperform, I'll change it.]]> Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:55:46 -0400 You're right about 'beating the index'. If you are not over the long term, you should not be doing this. Beating it by six points over that long term? Dream on. One year (2009) I beat it by 26 points!! This year? I'm even. Maybe a bit ahead with yesterdays action. Two years ago, I had a negative alpha of @ 2 points. If you can, over that long term, beat the index by a couple of points, it is well worth the effort. Translated into dollars over a lifetime, it amounts to several hundred thousand $.
Most of my option trades are 'fire and forget' trades; although,, I have to admit, I don't forget them and follow them every day, but that's a personal problem and not necessary to the strategy.
Do you want in INTC but think it's a bit pricey > 25? (I do). Sell the July 24 Put. Someone out there will pay you $64 per put. Or buy the stock @ 24.60 and sell the July 25 Call.
Sometimes you have cash and sell puts, sometimes you own the stock and sell calls, sometimes you are in the stock on ex-div and collect same, sometimes you purchase and sell a bit higher and make some cap gains.
RE: amateurs vs the "professionals". There are no professionals. Every time a mutual fund dumps, another one is the buyer, and, as you probably know, most of the pros underperform broad indexes. There's the amateurs and the salesmen.
If my investing strategy starts to underperform, I'll change it.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1478181/comments?source=feed#comment-19620271 19620271 * an example of how to buy would be instead of just buying 100 shares, selling a single, deep-in-the-money put which 'puts' you into the stock before ex-div day, giving you the put premium and 5 divs in the first 12 months.
I have a problem with the emphasis on increasing divs as a measurement. I think it gives one a sort of myopia. You should know that before you started your program and before the melt down, the focus of DRIP investors was on financial stocks. I lucked out there a little bit. My only holding was JPM, a stock that is at least holding its own. I looked real hard at WaMu, a solid bank based in Seattle that dropped quick and hard from 40 to 28. They were steadily increasing their divs, EVERY QUARTER for a couple of years. A couple of months after I decided no, it was gone, purchased by JPM for just about nothing. When the melt-down started in earnest DRIP investors were citing BAC as a 'fortress' investment; @ 45 bucks a share, a 5% div that they had just raised. It was 3 bucks in a year with a .04 dividend.
I have never owned an index fund, or a mutual fund and have focused almost exclusively on stocks that at least pay a dividend, although many are not div champions.
My alpha for the last five years has been
2009 + 26
2010 + 12
2011 - 2
2012 + 2.5
2013 0

In 2007 and 2008, before I started calculating alpha, my portfolio lost 60% of its value. I have no desire to know my alpha from these time periods : ).]]> Tue, 04 Jun 2013 23:21:05 -0400 * an example of how to buy would be instead of just buying 100 shares, selling a single, deep-in-the-money put which 'puts' you into the stock before ex-div day, giving you the put premium and 5 divs in the first 12 months.
I have a problem with the emphasis on increasing divs as a measurement. I think it gives one a sort of myopia. You should know that before you started your program and before the melt down, the focus of DRIP investors was on financial stocks. I lucked out there a little bit. My only holding was JPM, a stock that is at least holding its own. I looked real hard at WaMu, a solid bank based in Seattle that dropped quick and hard from 40 to 28. They were steadily increasing their divs, EVERY QUARTER for a couple of years. A couple of months after I decided no, it was gone, purchased by JPM for just about nothing. When the melt-down started in earnest DRIP investors were citing BAC as a 'fortress' investment; @ 45 bucks a share, a 5% div that they had just raised. It was 3 bucks in a year with a .04 dividend.
I have never owned an index fund, or a mutual fund and have focused almost exclusively on stocks that at least pay a dividend, although many are not div champions.
My alpha for the last five years has been
2009 + 26
2010 + 12
2011 - 2
2012 + 2.5
2013 0

In 2007 and 2008, before I started calculating alpha, my portfolio lost 60% of its value. I have no desire to know my alpha from these time periods : ).]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1480601/comments?source=feed#comment-19611291 19611291 Tue, 04 Jun 2013 17:06:23 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/1480601/comments?source=feed#comment-19610531 19610531 I hate to use a gambling analogy because of the implications but think of the relationship that a casino has with the amateur gambler. The weekend gamblers go looking for the big win. They want to roll the dice, spin the wheel or pull the handle and walk away with a big percentage gain. Most of the time they don't get it. The casino is looking for steady, reliable income that flows in because the odds are in their favor. Most of the time they get it. That's the relationship that a call/put sell-to-open has with the buy-to-open. The seller is the casino and the buyer is that weekend gambler. Which would you rather be?]]> Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:47:32 -0400 I hate to use a gambling analogy because of the implications but think of the relationship that a casino has with the amateur gambler. The weekend gamblers go looking for the big win. They want to roll the dice, spin the wheel or pull the handle and walk away with a big percentage gain. Most of the time they don't get it. The casino is looking for steady, reliable income that flows in because the odds are in their favor. Most of the time they get it. That's the relationship that a call/put sell-to-open has with the buy-to-open. The seller is the casino and the buyer is that weekend gambler. Which would you rather be?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1478181/comments?source=feed#comment-19599441 19599441 1. yes, I read the article
2. I'll learn what your relative performance is. Learning the 'process of dividend investing' doesn't provide that information.
3. No
4. I don't care how many "readers you've gained". Your article has been out here a couple of days now and four people thought it interesting enough to respond. (maybe the other 12,996 "followers" are away on vacation or something). By the way, Bernie, at his height was a hell of a lot more popular than you, look at where he is now. 'Popularity' may be overrated.
I'm just curious, what's your alpha? I'm not asking to challenge or embarrass. I really want to know. I'm 62, I've been a dividend investor since 1974. My first purchases were in companies that directly sponsored DRIP plans. As I recall some of the names: Southern Pacific, Safeway, Del Monte, Sierra Pacific Utility, some of them no longer even exist or are subsidiaries.
It's entirely possible to be a dividend investor and underperform a broad index over the long term. This should be a concern to you. The S&P 500, over the long haul of 50 years, has beaten inflation by roughly seven percentage points. You may ask, what if I had constructed a portfolio that beat inflation by, say, five percentage points, what is the real difference? The answer is probably several hundred thousand dollars; a significant number.
By the way, YTD my alpha is + .20%. I'm basically even with the market. Over the last few months, I've shifted from fully invested to about thirty percent cash. This has been a mistake.
My best holding is AFL. I purchased a single share in 1989, mailed off @ 500 bucks to the company the first couple of years and reinvested the divs. I now have @ 770 shares worth around $43,000.
So, what is your alpha, and comparison index. I'd like to know over longer periods than YTD, if you care to share that info.]]> Tue, 04 Jun 2013 12:26:50 -0400 1. yes, I read the article
2. I'll learn what your relative performance is. Learning the 'process of dividend investing' doesn't provide that information.
3. No
4. I don't care how many "readers you've gained". Your article has been out here a couple of days now and four people thought it interesting enough to respond. (maybe the other 12,996 "followers" are away on vacation or something). By the way, Bernie, at his height was a hell of a lot more popular than you, look at where he is now. 'Popularity' may be overrated.
I'm just curious, what's your alpha? I'm not asking to challenge or embarrass. I really want to know. I'm 62, I've been a dividend investor since 1974. My first purchases were in companies that directly sponsored DRIP plans. As I recall some of the names: Southern Pacific, Safeway, Del Monte, Sierra Pacific Utility, some of them no longer even exist or are subsidiaries.
It's entirely possible to be a dividend investor and underperform a broad index over the long term. This should be a concern to you. The S&P 500, over the long haul of 50 years, has beaten inflation by roughly seven percentage points. You may ask, what if I had constructed a portfolio that beat inflation by, say, five percentage points, what is the real difference? The answer is probably several hundred thousand dollars; a significant number.
By the way, YTD my alpha is + .20%. I'm basically even with the market. Over the last few months, I've shifted from fully invested to about thirty percent cash. This has been a mistake.
My best holding is AFL. I purchased a single share in 1989, mailed off @ 500 bucks to the company the first couple of years and reinvested the divs. I now have @ 770 shares worth around $43,000.
So, what is your alpha, and comparison index. I'd like to know over longer periods than YTD, if you care to share that info.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1478181/comments?source=feed#comment-19579361 19579361 'I don't know'? I ask because the title of your article (posted on Seeking Alpha) is 'My Dividend Portfolio Looks Much Better Than Expected' I would think that you would expect to be as good as average and what could be more average than an index of several hundred stocks? I'm just curious. What's your alpha?]]> Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:10:37 -0400 'I don't know'? I ask because the title of your article (posted on Seeking Alpha) is 'My Dividend Portfolio Looks Much Better Than Expected' I would think that you would expect to be as good as average and what could be more average than an index of several hundred stocks? I'm just curious. What's your alpha?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1478181/comments?source=feed#comment-19578951 19578951 I don't see either one in your article.
The S&P average of the 500 largest companies is, well, average.
If you're holdings are largely in this index, it would be a good place to start. That index has gained 14.34% since Jan. 1, 2013.
What have your holdings gained?]]> Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:47:43 -0400 I don't see either one in your article.
The S&P average of the 500 largest companies is, well, average.
If you're holdings are largely in this index, it would be a good place to start. That index has gained 14.34% since Jan. 1, 2013.
What have your holdings gained?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1478181/comments?source=feed#comment-19572301 19572301 'My Dividend Portfolio Looks Much Better Than Expected'

What's your Alpha and what is your comparison index?]]> Mon, 03 Jun 2013 17:48:12 -0400 'My Dividend Portfolio Looks Much Better Than Expected'

What's your Alpha and what is your comparison index?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/1100781/comments?source=feed#comment-19516651 19516651
That's such an inspiring quote, i"m going to write that one down.]]> Sun, 02 Jun 2013 02:33:59 -0400
That's such an inspiring quote, i"m going to write that one down.]]>