101 Dividend Champions For October 2011 [View article]
David,
Perhap billshea could read what Bill in Denver states and come to a clearer understanding of your work and intent. Note: My girlfriend likes your picture and wondered why billshea seems to be standing out in traffic in his picture.
Concerning ETFs I have to agree completely. I put them in the same dirty bucket as mutual funds. In mid 2008 I was stupid blessed to go to a Bond Fund in my 401K as the only means of preserving capital out of frustration that I had no place to go to cash. I was also blessed to find that my 401k offered a Self-Managed Account where I could buy other mutual funds, Etfs and individual stocks. I was clueless and went through several fantasy drafts of stocks as a means of learning.
Then in March of 2009 I bought my first stock...Wachovia at $8.00 and sold it for $15.00 three days later. I took my profits and did it again on Friday...the following Monday it went to 0.00. I held the stock until Wells Fargo slipped in and bought Wachovia and lost about $2.00 per share but kept my initial investment and overall picked up $5 to $6 which translated into Wells Fargo stock.
What is the point or points? First I realized I knew next to nothing but actually was making money with my money. Second, I wasn't whining about what some Mutual Fund or ETF was doing with my money. Third, it was my money and that first experience told me I needed to stay humble and continue to learn if I was going to grow it verses lose it.
Most important lesson was if I can pick good individual stocks then I don't have to live with a Fund or ETF that carries crappy stocks along with the better stocks. I don't need a bag of mixed nuts when all I want are cashews.
I was officially done with Mutual Funds and ETFs were like ugly offspring. I rode the recovery up and made many mistakes but was still doing much better then the mutual funds in my 401k. As Buffett put it about the banks ..."who can't make money when you are offered money at zero. Even I can do that!"...paraphrasing but you get the point. That is where I was.
So I was very average...below average and I'm still average with a lot to learn. I know this, you need specifics when investing...generaliza... like the ones in this article are not dependable...at best they are dangerous. There is a responsibility when writing, a due diligence. So hopefully, in that, the author will look at future articles with that perspective.
101 Dividend Champions For October 2011 [View article]
David,
Impressive as usual and a nice acknowledgement to Norman. I was glad to see your decision to include it. It is as valuable as the rest of the information you present to all of us. Many thanks for your tireless effort to provide very necessary information and solutions.
Dividends In Danger? Frontier, CenturyLink, Conoco Phillips, 3 Others Continue To Attract Comments [View article]
David,
So I own COP and after reading what Bret stated in the article recommended by David Fish I think I will hold.
This is partly due to my change from a total return zealot to coming over to the dark side of dividend investing. You see I owned COP before and sold it at 47.00...can you believe it. Now I was happy with the gain like a child when given M&Ms...but we all know a d-g child doesn't want just a few M&Ms....it wants a bowl of them:)
SA was a place I heard about and started reading. There was David Van Knapp articles and Plus 5. Then there were articles by David Fish and most recently Norman Tweed. What I liked the most were the comments. Norman was hanging out in the comments with SurfGeezer and Robert and many others. So I hung out also, but never commented except to ask questions.
Norman and his 4% brought me around to the importance of d-g investing. He also showed me my error in having TOT in my 401K which was hitting me for 33% in foreign taxes so my dividend was really about 4.5%.
David Fish showed me what RMD is and also offered an avenue to eventually reduce my tax burden in the years when it will matter most. David Van Knapp emphasized the importance of not carrying to many stocks and knowing the ones you hold and why you hold them. So I'm placing my bet. My next entry point for COP is $60.56 which brings a 4.4% and from what I have read the split between the 2 companies could raise the overall dividend to 5%. So why COP? It is more about where it wants to go and what it is involved with. It is involved in the recent pipeline between EPD/EEP coming out of Cushing and moving into Texas to get that clogged supply closer to the refineries. It also has a large committment in Canada and has bought up a lot of the land leases for the oil sands. Projections are that 20% of the imported oil will come from these oilsands into the US. 1.7 trillion barrels are projected over a 30 year period. This also involves a pipeline from Canada through the US to refineries in the south.
As this article states so aptly, if it fizzles then the move is most probably to CVX but the tingle is if it doesn't.
ConocoPhillips: High Yield, Low Valuation And Finding A Bottom [View article]
Place your bets and stand on your convictions. For myself, COP offers opportunity at this price. From what I have read about the split coming in 2012 the overall dividend yield should fall in the 5% range. As stated earlier should oil swoon my next entry price to buy would be $60.57 As far as bad bets I sold COP @ 47.00 and made a nice gain but simply didn't stand on those convictions. I listened to the rabbit and ran, instead I should have heard the tortoise. Long COP...again:)
5 Reasons To Seriously Consider Enterprise Products Partners [View article]
Well done Surf...so it is back on....good to hear! It is much needed . I hope the folks in the states can be satiated so the pipeline from Canada moves forward which should be good for another holding...COP.
5 Reasons To Seriously Consider Enterprise Products Partners [View article]
Hey Todd, Thank-you for another very good article on one of my favorite stocks. Actually two...Linn Energy is a somewhat larger holding at this point over EPD but both are solid. They have been "Blue Chip" to my portfolio. The tax problems associated with these stocks is not an issue or at least isn't so far and well worth a few extra dollars to have a certified tax accountant deal with it. Thanks again.
Your Capital Growth Stock Is Actually A Dividend Stock In Disguise [View article]
Geordy.....I think this article is a "growth" article...not an article about growth stocks but unto itself has become a growth article. This has to be one of the longest set of comments from the SA family. Everyone came out to play in your playground. Haha...I believe your mission was accomplished in that you made us all think about our present positions, beliefs and perspectives. You didn't necessarily change anyone's mind but you made all consider. That I can appreciate.
Diversification Is Important For Income Investing Too [View article]
David and Rich....As I walk into this new adventure of retirement I do realize this will be just as major an experience as any other segment of my life. I can not emphasize my gratitude to the both of you for this information and insight. To think this started with RMD = Remove my Drachmas...! This excites me because it is new to me and a new place to explore. It is a valuable strategy. Time to find my shovel and pail because both of you have shown me a new place to dig. Thanks again.
Diversification Is Important For Income Investing Too [View article]
Thank-you David for correcting another misrepresentation. I have my daughter putting her money in a Roth. I assumed it was for young people and took myself out of eligibility. You have shown me a means of conversion to a Roth that might just work. I will have to draw from my 401k for about 2 years in order to pay off my home mortgage and the taxes are a consideration as I go through that. But the plan is to be paid off by the time I'm 62 where I will be eligible for Social Security. That will add to the pension I will be drawing. From there I have 8 years to roll my 401k and IRA into a Roth. So once I pay the taxes on the withdrawals I can technically convert any amount? That being correct it might be a bit painful from a tax perspective, but to be tax free by 70 from withdrawals could be more then worth it. Not to mention whatever is left to pass on would be tax free. I like it. I like it a lot. Thank-you.
A further thanks for Champions and Contenders plus the "sweet spot" article by Jeff Paul.
4 High Yield Dividend Stocks With Attractive Valuations [View article]
Todd has some great stuff. He was the one that reinforced my decision on UAN. I read an article from Motley on UAN and then checked into it. UAN was a speculative choice and its history was limited because it was an off shoot of CVR energy. Great, now let's look at CVR. The thing I found out from Todd and the "comments" was that it was the only company that utilized CVR by-products in order to make fertilizer---therefore minimal cost--margin, margin. It has a great dividend. Management reiterated the 1.92 annual dividend. It is young and has been volatile with higher highs and higher lows. Currently it is about $27.00 which is still over a 7% dividend.
Anyway...the reason I'm telling you this is because when I was making my decision to jump I actually thought about you. You have continued to invest since your retirement. I'm not retired so why stop investing. So I put my order in. I'm the one that should be saying thanks for UAN, for showing me the light on the foreign taxes from TOT and for giving me information on where to look about rollovers. No Norm, my thanks to you. Your perspective has helped me immensely.
Diversification Is Important For Income Investing Too [View article]
David---you are the man....thanks:) I did have fun venting... and was leaning toward Remove MY Drachmas. On a serious note, when talking to Norman, he mentioned that he had to move as per company policy. Could that be the reason why my administrator stated the 10% minimum? Just looking at how many days off I have left. Thanks again.
Diversification Is Important For Income Investing Too [View article]
Owyhee--Thanks for that information. The 10% is what my Company Savings Plan Administrator quoted. No one from SA ever stated that to me. I was attempting initially to find out if when I retired at 59 1/2 would I be able to transfer my 401K out into an IRA without having to cash out the stocks I owned within it. So my initial misrepresentation was that I had to transfer and your misunderstanding was that I was misrepresenting....I was repeating. Thank-you for reinforcing that I don't have to get out of my 401k and I will gladly give you the 1-800 number I fought through on my antique Blackberry while wishing for a rotary phone so I could talk to a representative unsuccessfully....in case you wish to pursue this misrepresentation to the next level and then the next level...go for it!! BTW....this is venting about the BS I went through to get one question answered taking off a day of work to do so-- it is not directed at you even though you accidentally pushed that button. Further, what in God's name is RMD---it could be Remote Mobile Device or Remove My Drachmas ?? Let me know and thank-you.
101 Dividend Champions For October 2011 [View article]
Perhap billshea could read what Bill in Denver states and come to a clearer understanding of your work and intent.
Note: My girlfriend likes your picture and wondered why billshea seems to be standing out in traffic in his picture.
LONG-> David Fish articles
Dividend Income Plans' Major Flaw [View article]
Concerning ETFs I have to agree completely. I put them in the same dirty bucket as mutual funds. In mid 2008 I was stupid blessed to go to a Bond Fund in my 401K as the only means of preserving capital out of frustration that I had no place to go to cash. I was also blessed to find that my 401k offered a Self-Managed Account where I could buy other mutual funds, Etfs and individual stocks. I was clueless and went through several fantasy drafts of stocks as a means of learning.
Then in March of 2009 I bought my first stock...Wachovia at $8.00 and sold it for $15.00 three days later. I took my profits and did it again on Friday...the following Monday it went to 0.00. I held the stock until Wells Fargo slipped in and bought Wachovia and lost about $2.00 per share but kept my initial investment and overall picked up $5 to $6 which translated into Wells Fargo stock.
What is the point or points? First I realized I knew next to nothing but actually was making money with my money. Second, I wasn't whining about what some Mutual Fund or ETF was doing with my money. Third, it was my money and that first experience told me I needed to stay humble and continue to learn if I was going to grow it verses lose it.
Most important lesson was if I can pick good individual stocks then I don't have to live with a Fund or ETF that carries crappy stocks along with the better stocks. I don't need a bag of mixed nuts when all I want are cashews.
I was officially done with Mutual Funds and ETFs were like ugly offspring. I rode the recovery up and made many mistakes but was still doing much better then the mutual funds in my 401k. As Buffett put it about the banks ..."who can't make money when you are offered money at zero. Even I can do that!"...paraphrasing but you get the point. That is where I was.
So I was very average...below average and I'm still average with a lot to learn. I know this, you need specifics when investing...generaliza... like the ones in this article are not dependable...at best they are dangerous.
There is a responsibility when writing, a due diligence. So hopefully, in that, the author will look at future articles with that perspective.
101 Dividend Champions For October 2011 [View article]
Impressive as usual and a nice acknowledgement to Norman. I was glad to see your decision to include it. It is as valuable as the rest of the information you present to all of us. Many thanks for your tireless effort to provide very necessary information and solutions.
Chris
Dividend Income Plans' Major Flaw [View article]
I knew you could DRIP stocks but I had forgotten that you can DRIP sarcasm:)
Dividends In Danger? Frontier, CenturyLink, Conoco Phillips, 3 Others Continue To Attract Comments [View article]
So I own COP and after reading what Bret stated in the article recommended by David Fish I think I will hold.
This is partly due to my change from a total return zealot to coming over to the dark side of dividend investing.
You see I owned COP before and sold it at 47.00...can you believe it. Now I was happy with the gain like a child when given M&Ms...but we all know a d-g child doesn't want just a few M&Ms....it wants a bowl of them:)
SA was a place I heard about and started reading. There was David Van Knapp articles and Plus 5. Then there were articles by David Fish and most recently Norman Tweed. What I liked the most were the comments. Norman was hanging out in the comments with SurfGeezer and Robert and many others.
So I hung out also, but never commented except to ask questions.
Norman and his 4% brought me around to the importance of d-g investing. He also showed me my error in having TOT in my 401K which was hitting me for 33% in foreign taxes so my dividend was really about 4.5%.
David Fish showed me what RMD is and also offered an avenue to eventually reduce my tax burden in the years when it will matter most.
David Van Knapp emphasized the importance of not carrying to many stocks and knowing the ones you hold and why you hold them.
So I'm placing my bet. My next entry point for COP is $60.56 which brings a 4.4% and from what I have read the split between the 2 companies could raise the overall dividend to 5%.
So why COP?
It is more about where it wants to go and what it is involved with. It is involved in the recent pipeline between EPD/EEP coming out of Cushing and moving into Texas to get that clogged supply closer to the refineries. It also has a large committment in Canada and has bought up a lot of the land leases for the oil sands. Projections are that 20% of the imported oil will come from these oilsands into the US. 1.7 trillion barrels are projected over a 30 year period. This also involves a pipeline from Canada through the US to refineries in the south.
As this article states so aptly, if it fizzles then the move is most probably to CVX but the tingle is if it doesn't.
ConocoPhillips: High Yield, Low Valuation And Finding A Bottom [View article]
As far as bad bets I sold COP @ 47.00 and made a nice gain but simply didn't stand on those convictions. I listened to the rabbit and ran, instead I should have heard the tortoise.
Long COP...again:)
5 Reasons To Seriously Consider Enterprise Products Partners [View article]
5 Reasons To Seriously Consider Enterprise Products Partners [View article]
Thank-you for another very good article on one of my favorite stocks.
Actually two...Linn Energy is a somewhat larger holding at this point over EPD but both are solid.
They have been "Blue Chip" to my portfolio.
The tax problems associated with these stocks is not an issue or at least isn't so far and well worth a few extra dollars to have a certified tax accountant deal with it.
Thanks again.
Top 6 Basic Material Stocks With Substantial Dividends [View article]
Your Capital Growth Stock Is Actually A Dividend Stock In Disguise [View article]
Haha...I believe your mission was accomplished in that you made us all think about our present positions, beliefs and perspectives. You didn't necessarily change anyone's mind but you made all consider.
That I can appreciate.
Diversification Is Important For Income Investing Too [View article]
To think this started with RMD = Remove my Drachmas...!
This excites me because it is new to me and a new place to explore. It is a valuable strategy.
Time to find my shovel and pail because both of you have shown me a new place to dig. Thanks again.
Diversification Is Important For Income Investing Too [View article]
You have shown me a means of conversion to a Roth that might just work. I will have to draw from my 401k for about 2 years in order to pay off my home mortgage and the taxes are a consideration as I go through that. But the plan is to be paid off by the time I'm 62 where I will be eligible for Social Security. That will add to the pension I will be drawing.
From there I have 8 years to roll my 401k and IRA into a Roth.
So once I pay the taxes on the withdrawals I can technically convert any amount?
That being correct it might be a bit painful from a tax perspective, but to be tax free by 70 from withdrawals could be more then worth it. Not to mention whatever is left to pass on would be tax free. I like it. I like it a lot. Thank-you.
A further thanks for Champions and Contenders plus the "sweet spot" article by Jeff Paul.
4 High Yield Dividend Stocks With Attractive Valuations [View article]
It is young and has been volatile with higher highs and higher lows. Currently it is about $27.00 which is still over a 7% dividend.
Anyway...the reason I'm telling you this is because when I was making my decision to jump I actually thought about you. You have continued to invest since your retirement. I'm not retired so why stop investing. So I put my order in. I'm the one that should be saying thanks for UAN, for showing me the light on the foreign taxes from TOT and for giving me information on where to look about rollovers.
No Norm, my thanks to you. Your perspective has helped me immensely.
Diversification Is Important For Income Investing Too [View article]
I did have fun venting... and was leaning toward Remove MY Drachmas.
On a serious note, when talking to Norman, he mentioned that he had to move as per company policy. Could that be the reason why my administrator stated the 10% minimum? Just looking at how many days off I have left. Thanks again.
Diversification Is Important For Income Investing Too [View article]
So my initial misrepresentation was that I had to transfer and your misunderstanding was that I was misrepresenting....I was repeating.
Thank-you for reinforcing that I don't have to get out of my 401k and I will gladly give you the 1-800 number I fought through on my antique Blackberry while wishing for a rotary phone so I could talk to a representative unsuccessfully....in case you wish to pursue this misrepresentation to the next level and then the next level...go for it!!
BTW....this is venting about the BS I went through to get one question answered taking off a day of work to do so-- it is not directed at you even though you accidentally pushed that button. Further, what in God's name is RMD---it could be Remote Mobile Device or Remove My Drachmas ?? Let me know and thank-you.