Q4 2023 Review / 2024 Preview

Gremlin here to discuss 2023. Its been a long year, and in the interest of everyone's time I will keep this intro short to a few highlights. First I have a new 'job', same company and I like it a lot. It does however take up more time, of which is already limited and some is going to be used on some extra education. Between that and everything else, I'll be dialing back down to 2 posts a year - semiannual updates. So on that front see you in July. 

Q4 2023:

Over the last quarter I added shares of my employer, Ames National (ATLO), Black Hills Corp (BKH), Bank OZK (OZK), Townebank (TOWN), and New Jersey Resources (NJR)  in my taxable account. I also added to Arrow Finanical (AROW), Interpublic Group (IPG), Flowers Foods (FLO), Realty Income, and ATLO in my retirement accounts. I also sold EMR in my retirement account. Their recent history of raises was not cutting it and I diversified the money out.

Last quarter I brought in a total of $1,549.46 in dividends ($810.22 taxable, $495.87 Roth, and $243.37 in my IRA).  In closing 2023, the dividend count was 18% higher than last year. 

In terms of dividend increases, I realized 12 raises from Leggett and Platt (LEG), McDonald's (MCD), Microsoft (MSFT), MSC Industrial Direct (MSM), Realty Income (O), Starbucks (SBUX), VZ, Broadcom (AVGO), John Deere (DE), Matthews International (MATW), and Exxon Mobile (XOM). The increases range from 0.2% to around 15% This brings my total raises to 66 on the year, 8 less than last year's final total.

Next half I will realize 14 dividend increases from Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Amgen (AMGN), Scotia Bank (BNS), CIBC (CM), DE, Eastman Chemical (EMN), Norwood Financial (NWFL), O, OZK, Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Toronto Dominion Bank (TD), Waste Management (WM), Abbott Labs (ABT), and CVS. The increases range from 0.2% to around 10%.

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

1st half 2024:
 

The usual mortgage and other debts continue, and house maintenance, which is always a bummer. That said, I am finally in the positive net worth and its super nice.

The buys shall continue until financial independence improves - with monthly rolling buys of course.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

2023:

• Invest a total of $9000 across all accounts. Challenge met.
  
• Receive $3800 in taxable dividends. Missed, had 3500.
  
• Get in slightly better shape, eat better - so lose a few lbs, workout weekly, and more salads.  I'll call this a tie.

2024:

I only have a few goals for next year, but here they are:

• Invest a total of $9000 across all accounts.
• Receive $4000 in taxable dividends.
• Get back to 2020 shape (not college shape but much closer to it than now).
  

I sincerely hope everyone has a great 2024.

Hope everyone has a great January, a better 2024, and a Happy New Year!
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned

Q3 2023 Review / Q4 2023 Preview

  Still Phone it in Gremlin here to welcome you all to another quarterly review. I was thinking of writing something fun, but its been another long 3 months, so lets skip that mostly. Suffice it to say my job has switched things up lately for the better, but the side effect has been more things to do. Anyways, lets see how the fund stowage is going shall we?

Q3 2023:

Over the last quarter I added to shares of my employer, Black Hills Corp (BKH), Ames National Corp (ATLO), Interpublic Group (IPG), and Bank OZK (OZK) in my taxable account. I also added two new small positions that I intend to build; New Jersey Resources (NJR) and Townebank Corp (TOWN).

I also added to IPG, Arrow Financial (AROW), Leggett and Platt (LEG), and ATLO in my retirement accounts.

Last quarter I brought in a total of $1,548.83 in dividends ($839.86 taxable, $503.40 Roth, and $205.47 in my IRA).  In total my accounts beat their respective 2022 months by 23% for July, 16% for August, and 11% for September. 

In terms of dividend increases, I realized 17 raises from AVT, Bank of Montreal (BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Cardinal Health (CAH), Canadian Imperial Bank (CM), Kroger (KR), LEG, O,  Medtronic (MDT), Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Target (TGT), Unilever (UL), Portland General Electric (POR) Smuckers (SJM), Essential Utilities (WTRG), Westlake Chemical (WLK), and Discover Financial (DFS). The increases range from just about .02% to more than 15%. This brings my total raises to 55 on the year.

In addition, I added about $30 in profits from options (covered call selling).

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

Q4 2023:

The mortgage continues and I am putting extra cash towards the principal monthly - not a huge number, but every little bit counts. Our debts currently outstrip our assets, since I do not count my home as an asset until I own it outright. Side note here, our total assets not including our house basically have equalized the total debt (if we count the house that's positive net worth, which is nice).

The buys shall continue until financial independence improves - with monthly rolling buys of course.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Happy Fall.

- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned

 

Q2 2023 Review / Q3 2023 Preview

Phone it in Gremlin here to welcome you all to another quarterly review. I was thinking of writing something fun, but its been a long 3 months, so lets skip that mostly. Suffice it to say my job has switched things up lately for the better, but the side effect has been more things to do - not that there's a compliant. Anyways, lets see how the fund stowage is going shall we?

Q2 2023:

Over the last quarter I added shares of my employer, Avnet (AVT), Ames National Corp (ATLO), Interpublic Group (IPG), National Retail Properties (NNN), Bank OZK (OZK), and Union Pacific (UNP) in my taxable account.

I also added to IPG, Arrow Financial (AROW), Leggett and Platt (LEG), and ATLO. In addition, moved my First National of Long Island (FLIC) shares in my IRA to my Roth.

Last quarter I brought in a total of $1,781.55 in dividends ($1115.81 taxable, $470.92 Roth, and $194.82 in my IRA).  In total my accounts beat their respective 2021 months by 146% for January, 14% for February, and 15% for March. 

In terms of dividend increases, I realized 15 raises from American Express (AXP), Cisco (CSCO), General Dynamics (GD), Pepsi (PEP), WalMart (WMT), Realty Income (O), John Deere (DE), Kimberly Clark (KMB), Apple (AAPL), Evercore (EVR), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Raytheon (RTX), Sonoco (SON), Ameriprise Financial (AMP), and Discover Financial (DFS). The increases range from just about .02% to more than 15%. This brings my total raises to 38 on the year.

Next quarter I will realize at least 11 dividend increases from Bank of Montreal (BMO), Scotia Bank (BNS), Cardinal Health (CAH), Canadian Imperial Bank (CM), Kroger (KR), LEG, O, Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Target (TGT), Unilever (UL), and Portland General Electric (POR). The increases range from 0.2% to around 12%.

In addition, I added about $30 in profits from options (covered call selling).

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

Q3 2023:

The mortgage continues and I am putting extra cash towards the principal monthly - not a huge number, but every little bit counts. Our debts currently outstrip our assets, since I do not count my home as an asset until I own it outright. Side note here, our total assets not including our house basically have equalized the total debt (if we count the house that's positive net worth, which is nice).

The buys shall continue until financial independence improves - with monthly rolling buys of course.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Stay cool this summer, its like a million degrees outside and humid.

- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned

Q1 2023 Review / Q2 2023 Preview

Allergies Come Early Gremlin here to welcome you all to another quarterly review. I hope its just me, but probably not - the pollen in the air this year feels like its at an all time high, even with the new air filters I keep putting in our HVAC system. Spring is here, the world is turning faster in some parts and slower than others. My oldest kid will start kindergarten this year, I am a coach of little kids soccer, which is everything you think it is. Anyways, I could blabber on about how excited the little things like sleeping in past 7:30AM make me feel, but lets just cut to the dividend chase. The market is wild, there are great buys everywhere, and for once I have some change to unleash.

Q1 2023:

Over the last quarter I added shares of my employer, Avnet (AVT), Scotia Bank (BNS), Eastman Chemical (EMN), Gerdau (GGB) via stock dividend, Interpublic Group (IPG), Leggett and Platt (LEG), Medtronic (MDT), National Retail Properties, Realty Income (O), Bank OZK (OZK), Verizon (VZ), and ZIM Integrated Shipping (ZIM) in my taxable account. Unfortunately, I closed my VF Corp position after it announced a dividend cut, and I had my South Jersey Industries (SJI) position bought away and taken private.

I also added to IPG, Kinder Morgan (KMI), LEG, AT&T (T), and Ames National Corp Com (ATLO) in my retirement accounts. In addition, moved my VZ shares in my IRA to my Roth.

Last quarter I brought in a total of $1,439.75 in dividends ($749.01 taxable, $459.52 Roth, and $231.22 in my IRA).  In total my accounts beat their respective 2021 months by 10% for January, 12% for February, and 12% for March. 

In terms of dividend increases, I realized 23 raises from Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Amgen (AMGN), My Employer (B**), CIBC (CM), Canadian National (CNI), EMN, Eaton Corp (ETN), IPG, 3M (MMM), Norwood Financial (NWFL), O [2x], Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Toronto Dominion Bank (TD), Waste Management (WM), Union Pacific (UNP), Abbott Labs (ABT), Yum Brand (YUM), CVS, Deere (DE), Corning Inc (GLW), Prudential (PRU), and T Rowe Financial (TROW). The increases range from just about .02% to more than 10%. This brings my total raises to 23 on the year.

Next quarter I will realize at least 8 dividend increases from American Express (AXP), Cisco (CSCO), General Dynamics (GD), Pepsi (PEP), WalMart (WMT), O, DE, and Kimberly Clark (KMB).  The increases range from 0.2% to around 8%.

In addition, I added about $50 in profits from options.

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

Q2 2023:

The mortgage continues and I am putting extra cash towards the principal monthly - not a huge number, but every little bit counts. Our debts currently outstrip our assets, since I do not count my home as an asset until I own it outright.

The buys shall continue until financial independence improves - with monthly rolling buys of course.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

I sincerely hope everyone's 2023 has started in the best way possible, despite all of the crazy.

- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned

Q4 2022 Review / Q1 2023 Preview

Gremlin here to discuss 2022. Its been a long year, and in the interest of keeping this brief I will cut to the chase. 2022 was a decent year for my portfolio, but it feels like it hasn't been a good year for the world. So with that said, I'll cut to my portfolio, which has been doing well despite the minimal amount of support I have added to it. 

Q4 2022:

Over the last quarter I added shares of my employer, Avnet (AVT), Interpublic (IPG) Medtronic (MDT), Bank OZK (OZK), Target (TGT), and Verizon (VZ)  in my taxable account. I also added to IPG, Kinder Morgan (KMI), ATT (T), and Ames National Corp (ATLO) in my retirement accounts.

In addition, for 2023 I am officially rolling in two speculative positions that have been providing variable, though useful, dividends. I am including my positions of Gerdau (GGB) and ZIM Shipping (ZIM) as well.

Last quarter I brought in a total of $1,423.29 in dividends ($747.99 taxable, $414.07 Roth, and $261.23 in my IRA).  In closing 2021, the dividend count was 14.5% higher than last year. 

In terms of dividend increases, I realized 14 raises from Black Hills Corp (BKH), McDonald's (MCD), Microsoft (MSFT), MSC Industrial Direct (MSM), Realty Income (O), Starbucks (SBUX), VF Corp (VFC), VZ, Broadcom (AVGO), Matthews International (MATW), JM Smucker's (SJM), Exxon Mobile (XOM), First of Long Island (FLIC), and Emerson Electric (EMR). The increases range from 0.2% to around 10% This brings my total raises to 72 on the year, 11 more than last year's final total.

Next quarter I will realize 12 dividend increases from Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Amgen (AMGN), CIBC (CM), Eastman Chemical (EMN), Norwood Financial (NWFL), O, OZK, Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Toronto Dominion Bank (TD), Waste Management (WM), Abbott Labs (ABT), and CVS. The increases range from 0.2% to around 10%.

In addition, I added $1000 in profits from options and speculation trading. Going forward this number will be tiny, as I plan to only sell a handful of covered calls for the foreseeable future.

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

Q1 2023:

The mortgage continues and I am putting extra cash towards the principal monthly - not a huge number, but every little bit counts. Our debts currently outstrip our assets, since I do not count my home as an asset until I own it outright.

The buys shall continue until financial independence improves - with monthly rolling buys of course.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

2022:

• Invest a total of $8000 across all accounts. Challenge met.
  
• Receive $2800 in taxable dividends. Met.
  
• Weight, just lose a little of it. Smallest of wins.

All I can say is better than 2021, but barely.

2023:

I only have a few goals for next year, but here they are:

• Invest a total of $9000 across all accounts.
• Receive $3800 in taxable dividends.
• Get in slightly better shape, eat better - so lose a few lbs, workout weekly, and more salads.
  

I sincerely hope everyone has a better 2023 than 2022.

Hope everyone has a great January, a better 2023, and a Happy New Year!
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned

Q3 2022 Review / Q4 2022 Preview

Time Change Gremlin here to chat about financial progress this past quarter. Summer is over, kids are back to/ starting their annual routine. Football has started, of which I have watched no games. Iran is looking like its headed for a revolution. Russia looks like its driving towards a cliff. And the Earth is basically dangling butt a foot (1/3 of a meter for you non-Americans out there) above a bonfire, seeing if it can't win that $20 game of chicken is has running with Venus. The one thing that is certain is that very little seems to be certain these days. However, if you look close enough you will see patterns and normalcy. The best pattern I've found are dividends, which keep right on rolling. 

With that, lets see how this quarter went. For starters it went better, and my wife has picked up some part time work that adds to our financial security, so already a win before I look at the numbers.

Q3 2022:

Over the last quarter I added shares of my employer, Scotia Bank (BNS), Lakeland Bancorp (LBAI), and Leggett and Platt (LEG), in my taxable account. On top of that I initiated new positions of Avnet (AVT), Interpublic Group (IPG), and Verizon (VZ) in my taxable account.

I added to Cisco (CSCO), Discover Financial (DFS), LEG, Matthews International (MATW), Ames National Corp (ATLO), and Essential Utilities (WTRG) in my retirement accounts. In addition, I initiated a position in IPG in my Roth and converted my Portland General Electric (POR) shares from my IRA to my Roth. Thus far this year I have converted all of my POR, all of my Omega Healthcare (OHI), and the remaining 3M (MMM) shares to my Roth.

Last quarter I brought in a total of $1,340.19 in dividends ($698.64 taxable, $385.01 Roth, and $256.54 in my IRA). In total my accounts beat their respective 2021 months by -7.25% for July, 9.67% for August, and 10.7% for September. The July decline is due to T. Rowe Price (TROW)'s special dividend last summer. 

In terms of dividend increases, I realized 18 raises from Bank of Montreal (BMO), BNS, CIBC (CM), Hershey's (HSY), Kroger (KR), LEG, Medtronic (MDT), Morgan Stanley (MS), National Retail Properties (NNN), Realty Income (O), POR, Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Target (TGT), John Deere (DE), Smucker's (SJM), Walgreens (WBA), Westlake Chemical (WLK), and WTRG. The increases range from just about 0.2% to more than 24%. This brings my total raises to 58 on the year.

Next quarter I will realize at least 8 dividend increases from Microsoft (MSFT), O, Starbucks (SBUX), VZ, First of Long Island (FLIC), and Emerson Electric. The increases range from 0.2% to around 10%.

I added minimal profits from selling a few covered calls. Two of my speculative positions will join the portfolio as dividend payers next year. I have been a happy owner, and will unveil those then.

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

Q4 2022:

The mortgage continues and I am putting extra cash towards the principal monthly - not a huge number, but every little bit counts. Our debts currently outstrip our assets, since I do not count my home as an asset until I own it outright.

The buys shall continue until financial independence improves - with monthly rolling buys of course.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

I sincerely hope everyone's summer 2022 is as good as can be.

- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned
- Victory for Ukraine

Q2 2022 Review / Q3 2022 Preview

 

Summer Gremlin here to talk about the second half of the first half of the year. This year, and indeed this decade, is one that continues to get weirder and weirder for mostly all the wrong reasons. Its not even worth delving into the world considering any crystal ball predictions out there are probably wrong or so right that they're still wrong. So lets examine how my dividend growth adventure is going. The summary is below, but suffice it to say things are still headed in the right direction despite all of life's challenges.

Q2 2022:

Over the last quarter I added shares of my employer, Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Lakeland Bancorp (LBAI), and YUM, in my taxable account. I also added to Cisco (CSCO), Corning (GLW), JM Smucker (SJM), Ames National Corp (ATLO), and Essential Utilities (WTRG) in my retirement accounts.

Last quarter I brought in a total of $1,266.97 in dividends ($660.36 taxable, $379.99 Roth, and $229.62 in my IRA).  In total my accounts beat their respective 2021 months by 0.24% for April, 7.4% for May, and 12.1% for June. 

In terms of dividend increases, I realized 17 raises from Apple (AAPL), American Express (AXP), CSCO, Evercore (EVR), General Dynamics (GD), JNJ, Coca Cola (KO), Realty Income (O), Pepsi (PEP), Raytheon (RTX), Sonoco (SON), WalMart (WMT), Ameriprise Financial (AMP), Corning Inc (GLW), Discover Financial (DFS), Kinder Morgan (KMI), and Kimberly Clark (KMB). The increases range from just about .02% to more than 10%. This brings my total raises to 40 on the year. In addition, my holding of CIBC (CM) had a 2 for 1 split.

Next quarter I will realize at least 8 dividend increases from Bank of Montreal (BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), CM, Kroger (KR), Medtronic (MDT), Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Target (TGT), and John Deere (DE).  The increases range from 3% to around 24%.

In addition, I added about $150 in profits from options and speculation trading

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

Q3 2022:

The mortgage continues and I am putting extra cash towards the principal monthly - not a huge number, but every little bit counts. Our debts currently outstrip our assets, since I do not count my home as an asset until I own it outright.

The buys shall continue until financial independence improves - with monthly rolling buys of course.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

I sincerely hope everyone's summer 2022 is as good as can be.

- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned