March Review / April Preview, 2018

Personally Intrigued Gremlin here to discuss this past month and upcoming April.  Dividend wise March was a madhouse, more on that later.  March was also busy at home with almost every moment at home consumed by baby care or social gatherings in some way related to baby stuff.

Meanwhile, I am also working at saving cash all the time, in most every aspect of my life.  So far the results are pretty ordinary, but given enough time the result will be extraordinary.  Those results will be very rewarding and in spite of whatever political or economic action that may come - my path is directly forward with saving and investing.  Living in the DC area I hear a lot of theorizing of how things can go.  Most of that stuff is just noise, and I patiently disregard most of it, while personally mocking some of it.

March:

This month I made one purchase, acquiring shares of the Bank of Montreal in my taxable account.

Last month I brought in a total of $380.58 in dividends ($156.97 taxable, $82.86 Roth, and $140.75 IRA).  This is an increase from last year ($282.82 total) by 34.5%.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized* 11 raises from Amgen (AMGN), Archer-Daniel's Midland (ADM), Dominion Resources (D), Dunkin Donuts (DNKN), Eaton Corp (ETN), Union Pacific (UNP), Waste Management (WM), YUM! Corp (YUM), Prudential (PRU), 3M (MMM), and T-Rowe Price (TROW).  The increases ranged from 4% to about 20%.  I have now realized 18 raises thus far this year.

Next month I will realize five raises from the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Coca-Cola (KO), Realty Income, and Walmart.  The increases range from 0.2% to about 5.5%.

* I only count increases when realized, because until that money is delivered any statements or declarations are simply conjecture.

April:

The mortgage continues, so at least part of our 'rent' counts towards our house. Our debts currently outstrip our assets.  Outside of our house, we still have very low interest auto debt (1.9 and 1.5% for our cars).  Both my car and house are receiving slightly out-sized payments monthly.  We are effectively eliminating debt, while still building and assets.  Even on just one income

The weather has gotten nice and I have 'recovered' some bike parts that might have gone missing thanks to someone who wanted bike parts at the end of last year.  That means I will be riding my bike almost every day (I ride to my nearby commuter train station).  Between riding my bike, having work cover my train cost, and keeping food costs very low - I am saving a ton of cash despite my wife having taken the year off to spend with our son.  Once she resumes work our income will be outstanding, and our investments will benefit handsomely.

My next buy will probably be in May, but there is an outside chance it will come in April.

Next month should produce around $75 in dividends, which is a 6% YOY increase.  The first month of each quarter remains a bit of a weak link on my dividend calendar.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Hope everyone has a great March.
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned

Recent Buy, March 2018

Bracketed Gremlin here to discuss a recent stock buy.  Did anyone here finally call the 16 seed blowing out a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament?  I didn't, but I did find the whole thing amusing.  In sports, if I have no horse in the race, I universally root for the underdog.  Its just more fun seeing someone win when they were not supposed to do that.  Anyways, if I cannot win Buffett's million, I might as well just buy some quality dividend paying stocks.  So that is what I did, picked up some more shares to further pump my dividend income.

Today, I added a new position by purchasing shares of the Bank of Montreal (BMO) in my taxable account.  I bought 15 shares, with a total cost of $1,135.94 ($75.27 / share, plus commission).  The current yield is 3.90%.  The P/E ratio for BMO sits today at approximately 13.77, trailing.  The yield is slightly above the 5 year average of 3.88%, and P/E is slightly above the average of the past 5 years (11.75).  BMO has a trailing payout ratio of approximately 51%.  BMO is a member of the Canadian Dividend All-Star list, with 6 years of growth.  They, along with the other major Canadian banks froze payouts during the 2008 Financial Crisis, only to resume them with two years.  BMO has been paying dividends since 1829, and has never once missed a payment.

BMO is my third Canadian Bank stock, after Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS).  The Canadian banking sector is very solid, even with all the press surrounding the very real housing bubbles in Toronto and Vancouver.  BMO has the least exposure to those markets of all of the Canadian majors, and it has a strong presence in the USA with Harris Bank.  It may not be as conservative as Toronto-Dominion Bank, but it still has an impeccable and set of credentials.

This purchase will add approximately $36 to my forward 12 month dividend income.

I will update my portfolio page at the end of the month.

What do you think of BMO? 

- Gremlin
- Long BMO, CM, and BNS

February Review / March Preview, 2018

Hanging Out Gremlin here to discuss this past month.  February was a strong month.  I got to watch enough Olympics to be tired of winter sports, minus hockey, until the next go around.  Speaking of hockey, it was also one of the best gold medal games I have ever seen.  Onto the real world, there are a lot of challenges going on right now.  The little one has learned to roll and is getting more engaged every day.  Some point soon, in say the next 10 years, I am sure he will intentionally try to make me mad.

On the home financial front, I have continued trimming finances, and the wife has done a fairly good job with that as well.  I am still able to continue stockpiling fresh cash with dividends in the effort to make new purchases.  The goal for the next few months is to pad my main accounts with cash so I am able to act should a very nice opportunity arise.

February:

This month I made no new purchases in any account.

Last month I brought in a total of $233.83 in dividends ($28.49 taxable, $59.14 Roth, and $146.2 IRA).  This is an increase from last year ($225.94 total) by 3.5%.  The percentage would be higher, but Discover (DFS) has switched its payout month to March.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized* five this month from from O, Abbott Labs (ABT), AT & T (T), Omega Healthcare (OHI), and my employer (B**).  The raises range from 1% to 11%.  I have now realized 7 raises thus far this year.

Next month I will realize 11 raises from Amgen (AMGN), Archer-Daniel's Midland (ADM), Dominion Resources (D), Dunkin Donuts (DNKN), Eaton Corp (ETN), Union Pacific (UNP), Waste Management (WM), YUM! Corp (YUM), Prudential (PRU), 3M (MMM), and T-Rowe Price (TROW).  The increases range from 4% to about 20%.  Next month will be nuts.

* I only count increases when realized, because until that money is delivered any statements or declarations are simply conjecture.

March:

The mortgage continues, so at least part of our 'rent' counts towards our house. Our debts currently outstrip our assets.  Outside of our house, we still have very low interest auto debt (1.9 and 1.5% for our cars).  Both my car and house are receiving slightly out-sized payments monthly.  We are effectively eliminating debt, while still building and assets.  Even on just one income!

My next buy will likely be this month (in March).

Next month should produce around $375 in dividends, which is a 32% YOY increase.  Boom.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Hope everyone has a great March.
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned