Dividend Partisan

Monthly Progress Review: February

2012-02-27T14:16:00.001-05:00

It is time again for my Monthly Progress Review. This article will highlight the twelve trades I made in the month of February, as well as the profit (or loss) I received for each trade. This month I also added to one of my long term dividend holdings because I felt the entry price was right. Hopefully that particular trade encourages some of my devout dividend investor readers.

In other news, my technical analysis has continued to improve, and as a result it has allowed me to be somewhat more aggressive in my active trading. These 'chart based' trades as I'll call them, have been more profitable than some of my other methods. Furthermore, (and this is the most exciting improvement for this month I believe) is that I have begun shorting. Overall, another extremely active month for me in terms of buying and selling. I was proud of several of my trades, and especially disappointed in some of my others. I guess that's the way it goes.

Nonetheless, listed below is a summary of the dividends I received for the month of February in my Dividend Income Portfolio, as well as the profit or loss from my day trading activities:

Dividends Received
I received dividends from four companies this month: Abbott Labs (ABT), Paychex (PAYX), Proctor and Gamble (PG), and Realty Income (O). Given that I now only hold 6 dividend companies, my monthly distributions of dividends are going to be smaller; something I am comfortable with as long as I can have success in active trading. Nevertheless, the details of this month's dividend distributions are below:

*ABT - $52.79
*O - $22.30
*PAYX - $47.69
*PG - $46.26

For some reason I did not include the distributions from Pepsi or Anworth Mortgage (listed below) in my January total. As a result, these dividends were actually paid in January, but I will reflect them now with my February total. My mistake!

*PEP - $24.25 (received before I exited my position)
*ANH -$39.41

Therefore, since my January update my dividend income total was $232.70

Day Trading Profit/Loss:

Continuing my effort to disclose my total 'earned' monthly income (excluding my retirement account), listed below are the specific details for my third month of active trading.

*1st trade: Long Colgate (CL) - $382.41 profit
*2nd trade: Long Colgate (CL) - $57.72 loss
*3rd trade: Short Cinncinati Financial (CINF) - $179.75 proft
*4th trade: Short Nucor Steel (NUE) - $59.92
*5th trade: Short Realty Income (O) - still holding; waiting for exit
*6th trade: Long Proctor and Gamble (PG) - 20 Shares at $63.37 added to Dividend Income Portfolio
*7th trade: Options, Covered Call: PG - $36.04 profit
*8th trade: Options, Covered Call: PAYX - $6.04 profit
*9th trade: Options, Covered Call: ABT - $49.04 profit
*10th trade: Long Proshares Ultrashort QQQ (QID) - still holding; waiting for exit
*11th trade: Options, Covered Call: QID - $225.69 profit
*12th trade: Options, Covered Call: QID - $134.30 cost to close.

I was pretty excited about several of these trades, which I'll briefly discuss now. First, holding Colgate for strictly dividends would have taken awhile (or a very large portfolio) to earn the amount I was fortunate enough to receive. In fact, I only held the stock for about 20 minutes and made $382, which was exciting. Second, shorting CINF and O - these two particular trades were of dividend companies that I have held in the past in my dividend income portfolio (CINF) and one that I continue to hold (O). At the time I just felt O was priced too high, but I unfortunately shorted it while it was in an uptrend, which has forced me to be stuck for several days.

To conclude this section, for the month of February my Day Trading Profit was $747.07

Total Income (Day Trading and Dividends) for the month: $979.77

In conclusion, I have continued to learn about trading, but still continue to make mistakes as well. I am very excited about incorporating my short strategy, however, and am looking forward to improving in that area in the future. Furthermore, I am enjoying learning about Options trading as well.

Finally, despite the success I have had actively trading over these three months: December (~$600), January (~$1200), and now February (~$1000) I am still convinced that dividend growth investing is the safest, and "best," way to make it in the long run. Consequently, I will continue to rebuild my dividend income portfolio with profits generated elsewhere.

That's all for now. I've updated my 'Progress' Tab to reflect the amounts above. As always, I appreciate your thoughts and insight and would love to discuss investing with you.

Thanks for reading,

DivPartisan

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Recent Trade...

2012-02-13T14:04:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon all,

Rarely do I highlight individual trades 'mid month'; typically I wait until the end of the month and roll them all up in my Monthly Progress Reviews. But, I haven't written in awhile and thought I would provide a quick update to my last trade.

This month I have already made 10 trades, but my last trade in particular was the 'riskiest' and most complicated trade I personally have ever done. Many pros will laugh at its simplicity, but for me as a novice retail investor, I thought it would be worth mentioning and possibly soliticing some feedback from some of my readers. All of that said, here are the details of my most recent trade:

Today I bought 200 shares of Proshares Ultrashort QQQ ETF (ticker QID). From Morningstar,

ProShares UltraShort QQQ could be suitable as a specialty satellite holding either for high-frequency traders who understand how this exchange-traded fund works and who have a very high risk tolerance, or for investors who hold a bearish conviction toward large-cap growth stocks, most of which are tech companies. This ETF also might be a fit for investors who prefer avoiding the unlimited loss potential in short-selling individual stocks, those taking a speculative position, or those seeking a near-term hedge.

I then immediately sold a covered call of 2 contracts on QID as well, making a premium of right at about $225.

I think the Nasdaq is completely too high right now, and I am expecting a pull back in the near term. Things in Greece are completely affecting the markets right now so we'll see what happens.

Anyway, what are your thoughts?

DividendPartisan

Update to 10th Trade

2012-01-27T13:46:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon,

I wanted to provide a quick update to my 10th trade now that I have officially exited. For those who read my last post, you saw that I was 'stuck' for about two weeks due to a bad move on my part. Here are the details and outcome of that particular trade:

The stock I chose was JetBlue (JBLU). JetBlue is a great company, but I have quickly learned that airline stocks are risky, to say the least. I'll just leave it at that for now.

Anyway, here are the details of the trade - I had been watching JBLU fall for several days in a row and I was hoping the following would occur: the stock would level out, the price would slightly rise as buyers took over, and I could scalp about $100 gain, and then get out. Unfortunately this trade was somewhat undisciplined and I entered too high.  In fact, I should have never entered period. As my skills in technical analysis improve, it is clear that I was entering at too high of a price.

Nonetheless, I was stuck holding JetBlue since the middle of January (at a relatively high purchase price) unable to exit due to its ~4% drop or so in price. Unwilling to take a loss, I had to wait it out and hope for a rebound. To complicate things further, I was extremely nervous to hold over its upcoming earnings.  The stock had recently been downgraded, and as earnings approached the price continued a slow decline. In fact there was one point where I was down around $4000. Fortunately, I kept my emotions in check, the stock rebounded, and I was able to exit prior to JetBlue's earnings call. (Now, for those who follow JetBlue, or read stock headlines in general, you'll notice that JetBlue actually beat earnings and the stock rose another 2% or so).

That's ok by me. For my particular situation, I was happy to exit prior to earnings, and I even made $99.21 on the trade. Hallelujah.

Now, my profits for January total at $1,297.93. Think how large of a portfolio I would need to earn that amount in dividends.

In other news/analysis, I am expecting a large market pullback in the near future. With my limited technical analysis abilities, it appears that almost every major company is over-bought and volume is low. We'll see what happens.

Take care,

DivPartisan

Monthly Progress Review: January

2012-01-25T07:12:00.000-05:00

It is time again for my Monthly Progress Review...the first monthly progress review of 2012!

This was another huge month for me in terms of buying and selling. My day trading plan is in full effect; however, I continue to earn dividends from my 5 core dividend growth holdings, such as Realty Income (O).

In the month of January, I made 10 stock trades. In this article I will highlight the details of each trade - showing you exactly which companies I bought and sold, AND their corresponding profit or loss. Overall, a very exciting month to begin the year.

Without further adieu, listed below is a summary of the dividends I received in my Dividend Income Portfolio and the profit (or loss) from my day trading activities for the month of January:

Dividends Received
I only received dividends from one company this month: Realty Income (O). Given that I now only hold 5 dividend companies, my monthly distributions of dividends are going to be much smaller; something I am comfortable with as long as I can have success in active trading. Nevertheless, the details of this company's dividend distribution for January is below:

*O - $22.21

Therefore for the month of January my dividend income total was a staggering $22.21.

Day Trading Profit/Loss:
Continuing my effort to disclose my total 'earned' monthly income (excluding my retirement account), listed below are the specific details for my second month of active trading:

*1st trade: Ford (F) - $413.19 profit
*2nd trade: USNQX Mutual Fund - $111.78 profit
*3rd trade: Sirius (SIRI) - $39.76 profit
*4th trade: Ford (F) - $130.64 profit
*5th trade: Sirius (SIRI) - $89.67 profit
*6th trade: Chipotle (CMG) - $143.77 profit
*7th trade: Ford (F) - $99.97 profit
*8th trade: Sirius (SIRI) - $89.70 profit
*9th trade: Urban Outfitters (URBN) - $57.62 profit

*10th trade: I currently am, as I call it, "stuck" in a stock that is flucuating approximately 5% below my purchase price. Definitely a bad move on my part; one that if I sell, I will pay for. I have been stuck for 13 days now...unable to trade at all because of it. I was somewhat careless with my decision to enter a long position at that price, and now I may not be able to actively trade for awhile. In fact, I do not plan to trade at all until the price rises to a point where I am comfortable exiting. That said, however, it is a quality company and should rebound. (There are still several days left in January, so we'll see what happens).

To conclude this section, for the month of January my Day Trading Profit was $1,176.10.

Total Income (Day Trading and Dividends) for the month: $1,198.72

In conclusion, I have learned a decent amount this month about trading, but I still have a long way to go. Furthermore, despite the "success" I have had actively trading in December (~$600) and January (~$1100), I am still convinced that dividend growth investing is the safest, and "best," way to make it in the long run.

That's all for now. I've updated my 'Progress' Tab to reflect the amounts above. As always, I appreciate your thoughts and insight.

Thanks for reading,

DivPartisan

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Dividend Investing Vs Day Trading...

2012-01-10T19:03:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

As many have seen, recently I drastically altered my investment strategy to include day trading. This shift in strategy left my portfolio with just five dividend stocks: Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Proctor and Gamble (PG), Realty Income (O) and Anworth Mortgage (ANH)... and not to mention many fellow readers baffled in disbelief as well.

Although there are several who frequent DividendPartisan that feel I have completely abandoned my dividend growth investment strategy and should potentially change the website's name, a closer look at my holdings and their overall percentages will reveal otherwise. In fact, four of my holdings (ABT, JNJ, PG, and O) made up over half of my original portfolio before I started selling my smaller holdings in order to fund my day trading - a fact that should not go overlooked when defining my investment persona... :)

Nevertheless, I have indeed been actively Day Trading for almost 30 days now, and as a result, I thought I would share some things I have learned in regards to.... what are somewhat polar opposites of Day Trading vs Dividend Investing.

Naturally, I'll use my personal journey and my own real-world portfolio in this process. My decisions and my trades are actual earnings, or losses, that others can hopefully glean some wisdom from. I hope you enjoy this review...

The Dividend Journey

In this section, I'll briefly highlight two things: my thoughts on dividend investing; and where my portfolio would have been should I have continued the course with 15 or so safe, dividend companies.

FACT #1: If I would have not sold any of my holdings, AND not made any additional contributions this year, I would have earned an estimated $2,200 of dividends in 2012.

FACT #2: My original portfolio closely followed the S&P500 (within a percentage point or two depending on when you took your data. I've slightly beaten the S&P over the last two years but not by a large margin). Therefore, from December 12th (the day I began day trading) to January 10th, my portfolio would be up around 2% or so.

Fact #3: In December and January, my original portfolio would have returned right about $320 in dividends.

Observation: Dividend Investing is the way to go for slow, steady, safe growth..no doubt about it in my mind. I love the "relaxed, guaranteed income" feel it brings and I cannot say enough about the wisdom in this investment strategy.

The Day Trading Journey

In this section, I'll highlight two things: my thoughts on day trading; and where my results have been thus far. Please keep in mind that I have only actively traded now for about 20 available trading days total.

Fact #1: In about a three week span I have made over $1,400 in active trading gains. Deposited into my account, real cold hard cash. These earnings have been a blessing I definitely am grateful for and only share in order to be open about this process, nothing further. $1,400 would have taken me about 7 months to earn in dividends; about 210 days of the year vs 20.

Fact #2: I have only made 9 trades thus far and have not spend too much time doing it (though my wife may slightly disagree). Nevertheless, my trades are as follows (not in any order or magnitude): several of Sirius (SIRI), several of Ford (F), one of AMR (American Airlines...delisted), one of a mutual fund, and one of Chipotle (CMG). I have averaged over $150 on almost every trade.

Fact #3: I have not been very aggressive in my day trading (truly I haven't). More importantly, I have sold too early on EVERY SINGLE TRADE, missing out on many, many larger gains. I am notorious thus far for selling too early.

Observation: Day trading is not for everyone, and definitely is not for money that you cannot psychologically "afford" to lose. Risky. I believe in Dividend Investing and continue to plan for it to be the core of my portfolio.

I believe that sums up this post. As always, I would love your feedback; whether you are a dividend investor and have a blog of your own, or are simply trying to get the highest possible return with your money. What are your thoughts?

Take care,

Dividend Partisan

Final Recent Sell...

2012-01-06T21:17:00.001-05:00

Good Evening all,

My apologies for not writing in awhile. I have been very busy as of late, and can officially say I am now I proud homeowner as well. Pretty cool!

In other news, my wife and I have been all around the country for the holidays to see my family (nothing like driving 1359 miles in one day! It is definitely a different feeling, let me tell you, when you hear your GPS say "continue 520 miles on I-40"). Things are finally now starting to settle down affording me the time to write once again.

Anyway, those who have followed the latest posts on DividendPartisan know that I have recently been selling my "dividend" paying holdings in an attempt to amass enough capital to effectively participate in the day trading game. Many warned me; many even openly disagreed with me in my divergence from the safe dividend stalwarts that used to make up my portfolio. And I appreciate their honesty and caution. Let me be the first to stay that day trading has some "stressful" moments! That said, however, I cannot be more pleased with my results thus far. I hesitate to say this for fear of sounding like I'm bragging, but so far this month I have already earned $697 dollars. Praise God for that; goodness. And with 16 trading days left this month, it is possible I will break $1000.

Consequently, it is hard to understand why I would stick with a 100% dividend strategy that would have only earned around $170 this month.

Nevertheless, I made my final two sales within the last several weeks and am excited to have this new part of my strategy now going full steam. The following two companies were the last on my "sell" list:

Waste Management (WM): Waste Management is another great dividend company, and was part of my "Original Six" companies that I purchased back in the beginning of 2010 that I have frequently written about. It has been paying higher dividends for 9 straight years and currently yields a large 4.17% dividend. Hands down a great company for the long term investor in my opinion. And I doubt trash removal from the largest waste service provider is going anywhere anytime soon. Nevertheless, with WM only making up around 6% of my portfolio, and its slow capital growth, I decided to sell.

General Electric (GE): General Electric slashed it's dividend back in early 2009 and many people were pissed, to be honest. I felt that it would restore it's dividend as it's balance sheet improved, and held around 150 shares patiently waiting. Fortunately GE has done just that, and has raised its distribution several times in 2011 alone. Nevertheless, I got somewhat impatient with this particular stock, and sold a little too early in this stock's recent price increase. As a result, I earned very little in capital gains, but was thankful for the 3.5% or so yield as a shareholder.

Well, that is the end of the dividend selling, I can assure you. This leaves me with 5 great dividend paying companies: Abbott Labs (ABT), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Proctor and Gamble (PG), Realty Income (O), and Anworth Mortgage (ANH).

What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them as I've tried to be completely open and honest with my change in strategy.

Take care,

DividendPartisan

Monthly Progress Review: December

2011-12-28T10:32:00.001-05:00

It is time again for my Monthly Progress Review...the final monthly progress review of the year until I publish my 2011 Annual Review.

This was a huge month for me in terms of buying and selling. In fact, I sold off six of my dividend paying companies to free up some capital for my day trading aspirations, and then began that particular strategy around the middle of the month as well. Overall, a very exciting month to end the year.

Listed below is a summary of the dividends I received for the month of December in my Dividend Income Portfolio. I also will highlight my profit (or loss!) from my day trading activities.

Dividends Received
I only received dividends from four companies this month: Johnson and Johnson, Realty Income, Southern Company, and Waste Management, but I was still pleased with my monthly total. The details for each company's distribution are below:

*JNJ - $47.50

*O - $22.06

*SO - $30.71

*WM - $37.06

Therefore for the month of December my dividend income total was $137.33. I'll reserve all other analysis and details of this month (as far as dividend income goes) for my Annual Review Post in several days.

Day Trading Profit/Loss:
This is a new category for my 'Monthly Progress Reviews'; one that I'll continue to post with each new month if that's ok. I've had many people warn me about this strategy and I am thankful for their advice. For now, I am going to continue to attempt to earn more income each month; however, through a strategy of active investing.

Listed below are the details of my very first month of day trading:

*TradeKing Refer-a-Friend 'New Account' Bonus: $50
*Four Trades: $587.45

Therefore for the month of December my Day Trading Profit was $637.45.

Total Income (Day Trading and Dividends) for the month: $774.78

As I mentioned above, in a post later this week (time permitting) I will do an in depth annual review of my dividend income portfolio.

That's all for now. I've updated my 'Progress' Tab to reflect the amounts above. As always, I appreciate your thoughts and insight.

Thanks for reading,

DivPartisan

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On This Day..

2011-12-25T09:07:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD"

~Joshua 24:15

Recent Sell #4

2011-12-19T06:53:00.000-05:00

“Another sale?” you may be asking? “This guy has lost it,” you may be thinking. “He has completely abandoned his strategy,” you may claim. BUT STAY WITH ME. I do have a detailed plan in place, and will unfold all of the details if you just read on. Though I have trimmed my positions, a more in depth look will reveal that I haven’t sold off that much of my portfolio ‘percentage-wise’ (which I’ll explain in greater detail later).

In this article, I will highlight the final sale that I recently made in order to fully fund my day trading strategy.

Though some of you are probably more than skeptical at this point, I am hoping that when I release the results of my first month of day trading in my “December Monthly Progress Review” that you will, if nothing else, appreciate my attempt. I intend to be completely open and honest with reporting my results of this new venture. So, we’ll see how it goes!

Without further adieu, the following company was last on my list of targeted sales:

Walmart (WMT): Walmart is a great company that everyone has heard of and knows as a household name. With around $421 billion dollars of revenue a year, simply put it is the largest company in the world. Aside from that, however, it is also a great dividend play that has been raising distributions for 37 years and pays a nice 2.5% yield. Fortunately for me I was able to buy in at around $52 and sold around $58. This was another one of my smaller holdings, at 5% of my portfolio.

I expect WMT to be my last sale in the near term as I develop this new piece of my investment plan. That said, however, I am keeping a close eye on General Electric (GE) and on Waste Management (WM) as potential sales as well. I have broken the fear of selling (if that wasn’t obvious at this point) and will no longer settle for a consistent dividend with a less than stellar total return. In fact, plainly said without trying to be arrogant, I am confident I can do better day trading.

What do you think of my decision to sell Walmart? Was it the right move? Or another mistake?

Thanks for reading,

DividendPartisan

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Recent Sell #3

2011-12-15T21:29:00.002-05:00

The selling continues.

In one month alone I have now sold six of my fifteen holdings. (But stay with me. Let's see how this turns out.)

This article will highlight two more companies that I have targeted to be eliminated from my dividend income portfolio. The two companies that I have now sold my entire position of were:

Automatic Data Processing (ADP): I bought ADP back when it was around $39 a share, and have recently sold at around $50; what a blessing. As with my previous sales, ADP was only 5% of my portfolio and therefore not a significant portion of my dividend strategy. As many of you know, ADP is an excellent company, the largest in the human resources administration services (and a competitor of another of my holdings, PAYX). ADP has been raising distributions for 37 years and currently pays a 3% yield. Nevertheless, I am hopeful that these funds will earn more when used elsewhere.

Cincinnati Financial (CINF): CINF has been raising distributions for 51 years and yields over 5%; a great track record for dividend investors seeking a safe return. Despite its great dividend history, however, it hasn't seen much capital gains this year, and I probably paid slightly too much for it when I bought initially. As a result, for me personally it probably was not the best investment (though by no means a bad one). I enjoyed 4 dividend checks and cannot complain about being a shareholder. In conclusion, it was a small portion of my portfolio at only 3%, and I was happy to sell when I did.

In conclusion, this is the third article in my "Recent Sell" series; which as you know, has the ultimate underlying goal of raising the necessary capital to fund my day trading plans as a new piece of my overall investment strategy. I am confident that I can incorporate this new strategy and beat a 4% or so return that many blue chip companies are paying through dividends.

I'd ask that you stick around long enough to at least see the "near term" results of this plan. Or, if you have any advice, I'd appreciate that as well.

Thanks again,

DividendPartisan

Recent Sell #2

2011-12-11T13:23:00.000-05:00

Continuing my effort to amass the necessary capital to fund my day trading strategy, I have sold once again.

This article will cover my recent sales of two more great dividend paying companies. This time, the following two companies were placed on the dreaded chopping block:

Leggett and Platt (LEG): Leggett and Platt is a great dividend company that has been raising its dividends for 40 years and pays a 4.9% yield. I sold for a decent gain and was thankful to have received four dividend checks as a shareholder. Given its share price, future growth potential, and its relatively small size in my portfolio, at 5%, I targeted LEG as an appropriate selling opportunity, and have now placed the funds in my ‘day trading pot’.

PepsiCo (PEP): In the investing world, PepsiCo is synonymous with a big, blue-chip dividend stalwart. It has been steadily raising distributions for 39 years now. Those that need and rely on a steady income stream would do well to hold Pepsi stock. That said, with only about 50 shares owned, it’s payouts (though reliable) were small and therefore nothing to be excited about. Also, with Pepsi I saw very little capital gains, and felt these funds could be better appropriated elsewhere: again in my ‘day trading pot’.

With the sale of these two companies, the necessary capital to employ my day trading strategy is coming together, and I AM EXCITED. Lord willing, I plan to blow my regular income of about $165 a month from dividends out of the water.

What do you think of these two companies? What do you think of my decision to sell them?? I really would appreciate your comment, as some may think I have completely abandoned my strategy at this point.

Expect the selling to continue, perhaps...

Here’s to our pursuit,

DividendPartisan

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Recent Sell....

2011-12-08T20:00:00.002-05:00

This is the first time in two years I have sold a stock. Two years gone by without selling.

Consequently, this is the first article where I will highlight the details of my decision to sell. In fact, my decision to sell two companies. Two great dividend paying companies at that.

A little explanation to my recent decision - In an effort to build the necessary capital to fund my day trading aspirations, I have chosen to sell the following two companies:

AT&T (T): After the failed merger with T-mobile, I recognized that though this company pays a hefty dividend, it’s growth potential was limited (or ‘slow’ may be a better description), and as a result, my small position in this company could ultimately be more profitable used elsewhere: in my “day trading pot” to be exact.

Do not get me wrong; I think T is an excellent dividend company that has the potential to make any patient investor seeking consistent dividend income happy. Nevertheless, I chose to sell the 3% of my portfolio that T made up.

Southern Company (SO): It pains me to sell this company. For numerous reasons I have loved (and profited) from my purchase of SO. SO was my only utility, purchased way back in January 2010 at $33 a share. It was part of my coveted ‘original six’ that I have referenced numerous times on my site. Despite my attachment for this stock, however, I believe the timing is right for this sale. I also believe my available funds will be better used elsewhere: again, in my “day trading pot”.

I ended up selling SO for a large gain; at its 52 week high to be exact - a point at which many think it is overvalued. I tend to agree, and thought it was a good time to exit. Like AT&T, Southern Company pays a large dividend, but was only a modest portion of my portfolio at 7%.

In conclusion: two sales of two solid dividend paying companies. The question now remains - Did I make the right move?

Time will tell I guess, but I am optimistic. It would be unwise to sell these securities for the purpose of an ‘extravagant vacation’, or a 80” TV (yes, they actually sell those now). However, reallocating these funds as another growing piece of my investment strategy I hope will be a wise choice.

I'd greatly appreciate your thoughts on this decision. And, on my plan to enter the day trading game if you have time. This definitely is new territory for me. Thanks!

Ps, expect to see more “Recent Sell” articles in the near future…..

DividendPartisan

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Let the Day Trading Begin...

2011-12-01T11:45:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. Many of you may be thinking.."Day Trading! Day Trading?!? What is a title like that even doing on a dividend investment site whose focus is quality, dividend growing companies!" :)

Nonetheless, I wanted to let my readers know that I have decided to begin actively day trading as a part of my investment strategy.

As the cartoon above suggestions, sometimes day trading can take over one's life. My response - fortunately I don't have kids at this point! :). Just kidding. Though I don't have kids, I do not have the time, nor do I want the addition of this strategy to unbalance my priorities.

I do believe, however, that I have a solid, relatively low risk strategy in place and I am anxious to get started. I will begin this month, December 2011, and will continue as long as it makes sense to do so.

Since this site's focus is on dividend and value investing, I do not plan to dwell on this topic too much, but we will see what happens. I have high hopes!

For now, I will simply add a section to my 'Monthly Progress Results' articles with a specific category entitled 'Day Trading Results' where I will briefly highlight my profit (or loss!) for each particular month's day trading activity.

What do you think of this plan?

We'll see how this goes! Thanks for reading,

DivPartisan

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Monthly Progress Review: November

2011-11-28T05:59:00.000-05:00

It is time again for my Monthly Progress Review.

Two cool things happened to me this month that I'll highlight in this article: one with my portfolio, and one in my personal life.

Listed below is a summary of the dividends I received, as well as the purchases I made for the month of November in my Dividend Income Portfolio:

Dividends Received
I received dividends from five companies this month: AT&T, Abbott Labs, Paychex, Proctor and Gamble, and Realty Income. Listed below are the details for each:

*AT&T (T) - $19.35

*Abbott Labs (ABT) - $52.32

*Paychex (PAYX) - $47.17
*Proctor and Gamble (PG) - $45.88

*Realty Income (O) - $21.92

Therefore for the month of November my dividend income total was $186.64. This is a new monthly high for my dividend income portfolio, which I was excited about. :) I have been slowly building my positions over time, and it is nice to reach a new milestone. I am patiently awaiting the day when I break into the $200s/mo. Hopefully that will be a frequent occurance next year perhaps.

Purchases

Again, as stated in my August Update, I have stuck to the plan and made no new purchases this month. I have continued to pay down debt, build cash reserves, and prepare for my upcoming home purchase. With the addition of November's dividends to my Progress Tab; however, I now have earned $1,520.89 this year in passive dividend income. Praise the Lord!

In other news, I also celebrated my 26th birthday, so that was cool as well. My wife and I spent a wonderful day together; we went bowling for a few games, watched the Bronco's play, and then we each had 8oz filet's at a great local steakhouse and brewery for dinner. Overall, a very nice day. It is weird to think though that I have now lived over a quarter of a century and that 25 is behind me forever. Time is moving by!

As I close this post, I am reminded again how thankful I am for all of the blessings in my life. How wonderful is it for us to have a God who blesses us and does not treat us as our sins deserve. Take a moment and reflect on the message to us from Psalms 103:

Psalm 103
Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul,  and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Praise the Lord, you his angels,  you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul.

Well, that's all for now. As always, I appreciate your thoughts and insight.

Thanks for reading.

DivPartisan

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DivPartisan Updates: Top 20 Stock List, Portfolio, etc...

2011-11-11T11:09:00.003-05:00

Hello all,

It has been far too long since I have made some updates to DividendPartisan. Consequently, I wanted to let you know that I have now updated the following:

*Dividend Income Portfolio Tab
*Top 20 Stock Watchlist Tab
*Progress Tab (through October)
*Reader's Poll Question

Listed below are some of the details of these updates. Be sure to check out the specific 'tabs' above and the Reader's Question on the right of this page. Be sure to vote too! Thanks again...

Portfolio Updated
My last portfolio update was as of 24 August. At that time my dividend income portfolio was set to bring in $2,086 per year at an average yield of 4.40% with 15 dividend stocks.

A little more than two months later, I still own 15 positions and have made no new purchases. That said, however, I have reinvested $335 worth of dividends and now have a portfolio set to bring in $2,112. With my last purchase (four to be exact, in August), I have already benefited from two new dividend paying companies: O and T, and have received increased dividends from WM and GE. Overall, I am very pleased with the direction of my portfolio. See the details of all of my holdings here.

Top 20 Stocks Watchlist Updated
There were several updates to my Top 20 Dividend Stocks Watchlist as well:
1) I removed HGIC due to their deal with Nationwide Insurance.
2) I removed AT&T (T) due to my purchase of this awesome dividend company back in August
3) I removed Realty Income (O) due to my purchase of this incredible dividend company back in August
4) I replaced the three companies mentioned above with 3 New Outstanding Dividend Companies, and I did a little shuffling of the order of the list as well. Check it out here.

Progress Tab
I also updated my dividend portfolio's 'Progress' Tab. This tab shows how much dividend income I receive each month as well as the total that I have received this year. For 2011, I have averaged $134 in dividends each month, and have earned a total of $1,334 through October this year. Pretty cool! See more details here.

Reader's Poll Question
Finally, I updated the 'Reader's Poll Question' off to the right of Dividend Partisan's home page. My last question polled the reader's as to where they thought the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) would be at by May 31st. Of the 27 people that voted, 19 people (70% of the voters) thought it would be at least 12,500 or higher. Clearly, that hasn't happened as we have watched the DOW sink below 11,000 and then back up to 12,000. Nevertheless, we have yet to see it breach 12,500.... and at current levels, the 'greater than 13,000' poll option in which 5 voters chose as their guess, seems more like a shot in the dark at this point for any month this year. All of that said, be sure to check out the new poll question on the right of your screen. I'd love to hear your input.

Well, that should conclude this post. My apologies for not updating these tabs sooner. I continue to try and manage my free time as best as possible; still committing to writing for DivPartisan while not letting it consume all of my down time and preventing me from pursuing other interests as well.
As always I welcome any and all comments. Take care,

Dividend Partisan

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Monthly Progress Review: October

2011-10-31T05:33:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween!

This past week I saw on the television show "The Biggest Loser" that the average American spends $45 on Halloween candy. My wife and I spent $7 total. How much did you spend? Regardless, let's see how many Americans' candy tabs my dividend income for this month would have covered... (jk)

It is time once again for my Monthly Progress Review. Listed below is a summary of the dividends I received, as well as the purchases I made for the month of October in my Dividend Income Portfolio:

Dividends Received

*Automatic Data Processing (ADP) - $18.39
*Anworth Mortgage (ANH) - $41.69
*Cincinnati Financial (CINF) - $24.65
*General Electric (GE) - $22.80
*Leggett and Platt (LEG) - $29.00
*Realty Income (O) - $21.74

Therefore for the month of October my dividend income total was $158.27. Not a giant number this month, but its that much closer to my 2011 Dividend Goal! On a side note, I am loving my Realty Income purchase. I have owned the company for two months, have earned $43.60 in dividends, and have already reinvested 1.3 shares. Not to mention the $400+ capital gain. I think this stock is a winner.

Purchases

A rather slow month for me again in terms of purchases, as I made no new buys in October in my dividend income portfolio. I was, however, very tempted to leverage myself in order to take advantage of some great opportunities. At the last minute, I decided against it. Probably a wise choice (thanks to my wife) given my recent home purchase, but part of me recognizes I missed a quality buying opportunity. Especially with the recent large jumps the market has now made. Nonetheless, thanks to dividend reinvestment I was at least able to get $158.27 into the market...

Finally, with the addition of October's dividends to my Progress Tab, I now have earned $1,335.11 this year in passive dividend income. Praise the Lord! As for whether I'm on track or not, I think I've got some big months left this year, but will most likely not reach my goal of $2k of dividends received from my dividend income portfolio. We'll see.

Well, that's all for now. As always, I appreciate your thoughts and insight. How is your portfolio performing?

Thanks for reading!

DivPartisan

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Why I Need to Average $150 a Month in Dividend Income

2011-10-26T10:07:00.001-04:00

Airborne. For those of us affiliated with the military, we recognize the above picture as our fellow high-speed paratroopers exiting a C-130 aircraft as part of an airborne operation.

We also realize, (though the average civilian may not), that this skill, given its additional requirements and inherent risks, affords us the opportunity to make an additional $150 a month should we maintain our airborne currency status.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, based on your perspective :), I will be leaving the airborne world in a few months and will be joining the 'leg' community of non-airborne units and moving to Missouri. As a result, I will no longer receive Parachute Pay. Consequently, I will therefore need to average $150 in dividend income; otherwise I will essentially take a small monthly pay cut. (Though $150 is not too large a sum of money, every bit counts!) My monthly average of dividend income received to this point is around $140, so I have some catching up to do.

Anyway, there isn't much too this article other than to let you know I will be moving in a few months and to possibly enlighten you to a small piece of the military incentive-pay structure. Jumping out of an aircraft is quite a thrill; especially at night with a 35+lb ruck sack strapped to you. Fortunately I never had to pull my reserve on the way down (praise God), and despite several hard landings, was never seriously hurt or injured.

To conclude, as you may know I currently reinvest all dividends received in order to buy more shares, and will therefore 'feel' the effects of $150 less each month in my budgeting. Nonetheless, it was great being Airborne, and I am thankful for the experience and the small bonus that came with it each month.

As always, I welcome any comments. Thanks for reading,

DivPartisan

2011-10-24T07:53:00.001-04:00

How Can You Reduce Your Mortgage Payments?
This is a guest post written by Scott at mortgagefit.com

How Can You Reduce Your Mortgage Payments?
Most of the home-owners are looking for the suitable way as to how they can reduce their mortgage payments. This is because the cost of living is increasing day by day and so it has become necessary to reduce your mortgage payments. With the help of mortgage refinancing sites you will find various options with the help of which you can afford to manage your monthly payments and pay them on time.

5 Ways to reduce your mortgage payments

Go through this article to know about 5 ways how you can reduce your mortgage payments.

Payment holidays - If you face any emergency situation, some traditional lenders may offer you extra benefits such as “payment holidays”. These features are quite often seen on the credit cards where you receive your monthly statement and the lender agrees to waive off your credit card payment for a month. Though the interest rate still exists on your credit cards, it gives you sometime to manage your payments. The mortgage lenders are also doing the same thing and so, you should willingly talk to your lender if they can waive off your mortgage payment for a month.

Opt for refinancing - You may chose to opt for mortgage refinancing or increase the amortization period for a long time in order to lower your mortgage payment. If your present mortgage is for a time period of fifteen years, you may take out another mortgage loan for a period of twenty years. It is true that it takes long time to build equity in your property since you make your payments with high interest rate but by making low payment every month you’ll get at least some relief.

Low interest rate - In case you have to pay high interest rate or variable interest rate on your mortgage payments, it is wise that you choose mortgage refinancing and avail low interest rates on your loan amount. Even if the interest rates have not fallen, if you have a good credit score, you will be able to get a low interest rate on your mortgage loan.

Make interest payments – You may lower your mortgage payment with the help of interest payments only. This can be said as the best option and the lowest type of mortgage payment you want to make. The negative aspect of it is that you will not be able to build any equity in your property but once you regain your financial stability, you will be able to renew your mortgage payments with much better terms and conditions.

Save your interest - If you have more than one mortgage loans on your house, you’ll have different interest rates for different loans. When you combine all the loans altogether, you’ll be able to get the same rate and you can also save your interest at the same time. However, when all the debts are combined together, the mortgage payments will be little low as to when they’re paid separately.

You will find some people who may choose to move to a less costly home in order to reduce their monthly mortgage payments. It may happen that few members in the family have shifted to another place and so, it will be useless to live in a big house. You may sell your home and buy a new one which suits within your economy so as to reduce your mortgage payments.

Why I Absolutely Love Dividends...

2011-10-18T05:27:00.001-04:00

First, this shirt is way over the top, and is definitely too much for me. (It was in the first row of pictures when I googled "love dividends"). Now, that said, however, like many of the readers of this site, we do in fact love dividends. That's why we blog about them and invest in companies that offer them and use them in specific ways in our investment strategies.

This article, referencing a specific example from my life and my portfolio highlights exactly why, like so many of us, I love dividends...........because when you think about it, we do love them don't we?...

As many of you know, I was gone for the month of September doing some intensive miltary training. As a result of this training, I was without cell phone and without internet connectivity for the entire month (take a few minutes to imagine that please). Consequently, my portfolio was on it's own - alone and unafraid. Hopelessley and absolutely at the mercy of Mr. Market in a tumultous time, to say the least.

Running some quick numbers, the DOW closed on the 1st of September at 11,493 after a "bad day" of losing 119 points. When I returned and checked the internet on September 28th, the DOW had closed at 11,010. Down approximately 480 points from when I left and dangerously close to dipping back in the 10,000s.

I couldn't believe it. My investments, that track the DOW somewhat closely (given that most are large cap, blue chip stocks; (though not trying to brag I have beat the market for almost 2yrs in a row now)), had done nothing but lose money all month. What a joke. A completely wasted month. Or was it?

Here's why I love dividends so much, and I'll use the month of September as a microcosmic example:

1) I didn't have the ability to invest - no access to internet or phone
2) I didnt have the ability to invest - no extra capital, (even if I did have internet/phone access)
3) My portfolio as a whole, like most, lost money

Yet despite all of the reasons above, my personal porftolio of dividend stocks generated the following:

1) $174 of income. Paid to me in hard cash. That I didn't even know I earned.
2) My reinvestment settings allowed me to invest $174. That I didn't even have the ability to invest because of no internet access and no capital.
3) I dollar-cost-averaged $174 into stocks that bought mores shares at decent prices, that will eventually pay more dividends themselves.

Bottom line - Awesome.

Without any money, any internet access, or any of my own doing, my portfolio invested $174 this month. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - what a blessing.

Hopefully you enjoyed my analysis, and found it somewhat insightful. If nothing else, hopefully it encouraged you to stay the course that dividend investing requires. It's a long road. I'm encouraged to think that someday if I stick with it I'll accomplish my mission statement because of month's like September.

Thanks for reading,

DividendPartisan

Ah, the real estate market...

2011-10-12T10:32:00.002-04:00

As you can tell, it's been a few days since my last post. Well, that said, I am pleased to report that my absence in writing is a result of one thing: the real estate market.

That's right, real estate. My wife and I are finally entering the real estate market and I am thrilled.

You may have heard that the fastest way to become a millionaire is through real estate. Oftentimes I believe it, yet obviously I have yet to experience it first hand. And I doubt I will at this point. However, it is great to begin my journey in this type of investing. In fact, I am very excited about this investment opportunity, because that ultimately is what I view it as, an investment opportunity. Consequently, I would like to share the details of it with you now.

It has been a bit of a fast paced last several days for my wife and I. A little background - we flew into St. Louis and drove to St. Robert, Missouri in order to research and check out the rental market right outside the army post known as Fort Leonard Wood. Our plan was to spend one day conducting our rental search and then the following day would be spent relaxing back in St. Louis. From the beginning, our plan was to simply rent an apartment or duplex in preparation for the possibility that I may be stationed there in the next few months.

Well, several hours into our trip, being very disappointed with the rental opportunities, and learning some new details about the VA Loan, my wife and I had done a complete180 degree switch in strategy. In fact, we spent the "vacation day" reserved for St. Louis looking at purchasing a home in St. Robert instead. To make a long story short, within 36 hours of landing in Missouri and beginning our rental search, we left with a written contract, with a realtor, to buy a brand new home. Quite a change from the original plan!

Needless to say, we really saw God's provision for us on this trip. We found a beautiful, brand new house, not even listed on the market yet, in a very quailty neigborhood, only minutes from post, at a very reasonable price. Exactly what we were looking for.

Now, on to the investment side of things...

One piece of information you'll be interested to know is that the longest amount of time we will be living in this house is no more than 9 months; a very short duration before we'll be required to move again. That said, many would think it is unwise to purchase a home when you only plan to live in it for about a year. I thought so as well at first.

I guess only time will tell, but right now my wife and I believe we will be able to hold on to the property when we leave, rent it with a net profit of about $50 a month, and have it completely paid off in a little more than 15 years. At that point, we'd be receiving close to an additional $1500 a month in passive income. What a cool bessing that would be.

Well, those are the "bigger picture" type details. As I mentioned earlier, I am very new to real estate and have been getting a whirlwind course the last few days as I try to navigate counter offers, closing costs, lenders, paperwork, etc.

In conclusion, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this idea. Or if you have any real estate advice in general, I'd greatly appreciate your comments.

Until next time,

DividendPartisan

Monthly Progress Review: September

2011-10-03T09:26:00.000-04:00

Since I was gone for the past month, it is time now to catch up on my Monthly Progress Review.

Listed below is a summary of the dividends I received, as well as the purchases I made for the month of September in my Dividend Income Portfolio:

Dividends Received

*JNJ - $47.08

*PEP - $24.05
*O - $21.74
*SO - $30.36
*WM - $36.64
*WMT - $14.70

Therefore for the month of September my dividend income total was $174.57.

This is the highest monthly total I have ever received in my dividend income portfolio. What a blessing!

Purchases

As I mentioned several articles ago, I most likely will not be making any more purchases this year. I need to focus on both rebalancing and also putting capital towards other requirements my wife and I have. As a result, I made no new purchases in September in my dividend income portfolio. We'll see what happens next month!

Finally, with the addition of September's dividends to my Progress Tab, I achieved another exciting feat this month - I have now more than doubled the amount of dividends received in 2010 ($512) with a new yearly total of $1,175.70. Praise the Lord!

Well, that's all for now. As always, I appreciate your thoughts and insight.

Thanks for reading.

DivPartisan

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I'm Back!

2011-09-30T13:28:00.001-04:00

Hello all,

I wanted to write a quick note letting you know I have officially returned from my military training exercise. A little bit about the training if you’re interested…

My unit “deployed” to NTC - the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, California where we spent the month in intensive training validating our systems and preparing for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. Without going into too many details, I spent about 25 days (working 16hrs on average/day) in the desert of California that definitely reminded me of the desert in Afghanistan. A lot of similarities! Needless to say, I am very thankful to be back.

Training like this always reminds me of two things: how proud I am of our military and how great we live as Americans. This past month I was consistently reminded of the numerous daily comforts we take for granted. Don’t believe me? Try living without air conditioning in the summer for awhile. Try walking long distances to get to where you need to go instead of driving. Go without showering for four days. Try using only a Port-O-Pottie for three weeks straight. And these are just a few examples. When you really think about it, there truly are so many ways; so many luxuries that we have been blessed with that ultimately make our lives much more enjoyable. I would encourage each of us to be thankful and always remember all that we have been given.

As for the DividendPartisan, I will begin regular posting again starting next week. I have a lot to update you on in regards to dividends and am excited for the future and the remaining few months of this year. Thanks again for your patience during my absence.

Take care,

DP

Gone For the Month

2011-09-01T12:50:00.002-04:00

Hello all,

I wanted to post a quick note today informing you that I will not be writing during the month of September. I have some lengthier military training going on (some across the country even), and will therefore not be making any updates to DividendPartisan during that time.

We've been working tirelessly in preparation for this training (avg 14hr work day) that ultimately will validate our unit to deploy to Afghanistan. As a result, my entire focus needs to be on this training until the exercise is complete. If you would like to know more, leave me a message in the comments section, and I'll go into more details.

I will resume regular posting in the beginning of October and will be sure to cover what happened with my portfolio - purchases and sales, dividends received, etc. from September.

Stay with me! I appreciate the support.

God bless our military and our country! Take care,

DP

Monthly Progress Review: August

2011-08-29T08:44:00.005-04:00

It is time again for my Monthly Progress Review.

Listed below is a summary of the dividends I received, as well as the purchases I made for the month of August in my Dividend Income Portfolio:

Dividends Received

*ABT - $51.83

*PAYX - $45.18

*PG - $45.49

Therefore for the month of August my dividend income total was $142.50. Not bad for only three of my companies paying dividends this month; however, these three companies are my 'heavy hitters' (if you will) and make up roughly 30% of my portfolio. Overall, no big surprises though and I was happy with the amount of dividends received.

Purchases

August was a crazy month for me in terms of purchases. Listed below is a quick review of the buys I made this past thirty days:

*Realty Income (O) - 150 shares

*General Electric (GE) - 60 shares

*Waste Management (WM) - 30 shares

*AT&T (T) - 45 shares

Conclusion
With the addition of August's dividends added to my Progress Tab, I have now achieved a small feat, and have earned $1,001.13 of completely passive income (through dividends) this year. Praise the Lord!

Finally, after initiating positions in O and T, I have now achieved one of my 2011 Goals as well.

Well, that's all for now. As always, I appreciate your thoughts and insight.

Thanks for reading.

DivPartisan

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Dividend Portfolio Update: August

2011-08-24T08:25:00.002-04:00

At the start of each month I update my Dividend Income Portfolio. Though I am very late this month, I have now made updates to the following:

* Current holdings
* Each holding's current yield

* Each holding's respective % of my portfolio
* Each holding's % of my total income

* 2011 Total Annualized Income

* Morningstar's Average Star Rating of my portfolio

See an updated list here for the month of August, or click on the 'Portfolio' Tab above.

Any advice??

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading,

DivPartisan

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