June Dividend Income

After 34 years of clocking in and out of work and religiously saving 10% annually in my 401K every year, in good times and bad as well as investing in a separate brokerage account during that time period and contributing to a Roth IRA for the last 4 years. I have decided to share my monthly dividend income to show what regular saving and investing can accomplish.

For the month of June I made $4,581.27; an increase of 59.64% versus this time last year. What a difference a year makes, I remember last June was with all the dividend cuts so a massive jump compared to then was not entirely a surprise.  Two big contributors compared to last year was receiving my BEP/BEPC and NEWT payments in June instead of July and of course all those fantastic dividend raises announced earlier this year really kicked in.

On the home front my expenses have remained the same which means my savings rate has stayed steady at 24.9%. I did get out this month and enjoyed a meal (twice) at a restaurant and even went out to the pub one evening to enjoy some time with the boys.  It is a still a far cry from normalcy, but it felt good.  I had a vacation scheduled for the last week of June but with the sweltering heat it scuttled our plans, so we stayed home and enjoyed our pool. I still have quite a bit of vacation time so maybe August we’ll try again.

There were no violent swings in the markets but the end of July and August is the traditional vacation time for Wall Street so it will be interesting to see if we have light trading volume and volatile markets or if COVID restrictions will mute this affect. As far as a watch list, there are no screaming value plays however I did add some pipeline MLPs to my watch list.  For July my plan is to continue to just monitor 50+ stocks and buy in small allotments when an opportunity presents itself.

Date	Symbol	Company	Amount
6/1/21	ALE	ALLETE INC	$127.25
6/1/21	PSX	PHILLIPS 66	$25.56
6/1/21	SJM	SMUCKER J M CO	$4.08
6/1/21	WMT	WALMART INC	$14.48
6/3/21	CMI	CUMMINS INC	$37.67
6/3/21	DFS	DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES	$11.40
6/4/21	BLV	VANGUARD BD INDEX FDS LONG TERM BOND	$14.36
6/4/21	PFE	PFIZER INC	$225.38
6/4/21	VCLT	VANGUARD SCOTTSDALE FUNDS LONG-TERM COR	$15.74
6/7/21	HYG	ISHARES TR IBOXX HI YD ETF	$17.88
6/7/21	PFF	ISHARES TR PFD AND INCM SEC	$53.57
6/7/21	SO	SOUTHERN CO	$63.37
6/8/21	JNJ	JOHNSON &JOHNSON	$184.06
6/8/21	VLO	VALERO ENERGY CORP	$35.28
6/9/21	UPS	UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC	$227.86
6/10/21	CVX	CHEVRON CORP NEW	$22.61
6/10/21	IBM	INTERNATIONAL BUS MACH CORP	$146.74
6/10/21	MPX	MARINE PRODUCTS CORP	$0.01
6/10/21	MSFT	MICROSOFT CORP	$61.03
6/11/21	WBA	WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE INC	$45.49
6/14/21	MMM	3M CO	$57.35
6/14/21	UL	UNILEVER PLC SPON ADR	$13.05
6/15/21	AVA	AVISTA CORP	$132.44
6/15/21	FAF	FIRST AMERICAN FINANCIAL CORP	$146.29
6/15/21	NWL	NEWELL BRANDS INC COM	$25.56
6/16/21	DUK	DUKE ENERGY CORP	$63.58
6/16/21	VTRS	VIATRIS INC COM	$7.70
6/17/21	PRU	PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL INC	$477.16
6/17/21	PSEC	PROSPECT CAP CORP	$155.54
6/18/21	BHB	BAR HARBOR BANKSHARES	$48.25
6/18/21	BP	BP PLC SPONSORED ADR	$8.26
6/18/21	CMP	COMPASS MINERALS INTERNATIONAL INC	$137.52
6/18/21	R	RYDER SYSTEM INC	$52.68
6/18/21	WM	WASTE MANAGEMENT INC	$41.50
6/24/21	QCOM	QUALCOMM INC	$160.93
6/25/21	KHC	KRAFT HEINZ CO	$9.30
6/25/21	LMT	LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP	$5.24
6/29/21	TROW	PRICE T ROWE GROUPS	$16.54
6/30/21	ARCC	ARES CAPITAL CORP	$480.49
6/30/21	AVGO	BROADCOM INC	$7.20
6/30/21	BEP	BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE PARTNERS PARTNERSH	$266.34
6/30/21	BEPC	BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE CORP CLASS A SUBOR	$66.52
6/30/21	CTO	CTO RLTY GROWTH INC	$54.08
6/30/21	GATX	GATX CORP COM STK USD0.625	$53.15
6/30/21	GRMN	GARMIN LTD	$67.89
6/30/21	NEWT	NEWTEK BUSINESS SVCS CORP	$567.26
6/30/21	PEP	PEPSICO INC	$55.25
6/30/21	WEYS	WEYCO GROUP INC	$25.11
6/30/21	M1 Finance	M1 DIVIDEND GROWTH ACCOUNT	$45.27

Politics, Pipelines, and My Watch List

I try not to let politics guide my investing approach. The primary reason I do not let it influence my investing habits is that the political landscape can change with every election and I believe most politicians pander for votes so its never easy to understand what they stand for (probably themselves lol).

However sometimes there are political policies or agendas you simply cannot avoid from influencing your investing approach. For me, the recent cancellation of the Keystone pipeline was a clear message that we will not be seeing any major new pipeline projects for the foreseeable future. This view has changed my approach towards investing in Energy MLPs, my original plan was to not invest in pipeline stocks until I hit retirement and rolled over my 401K to fund the purchase but now I have to re-evaluate this approach.

Pipeline infrastructure is not an just the most efficient method for moving fossil fuels but also bio-diesel, recycled natural gas and hydrogen making it a vital infrastructure for many years to come. With no new major pipeline projects that translates to a limited pipeline supply making existing pipeline more valuable. Long term this may increase the share price of Energy MLPs and since I am 7 years out from retirement I may be paying a higher share price for a lower dividend yield if I stick to my original plan. Due to this potential. I am adding the two largest (at least in miles of pipeline) Energy MLPs to my watchlist; Enbridge (ENB) and Kinder Morgan (KMI) and will start building out a position.

Looking at the chart above, EPD (blue line) is up 13.6% and KMI (purple line) is up 24.4% since March. ENB & KMI have both seen their share price rise quite a bit in the second quarter but I am looking for at least a 7% yield out of an Energy MLP and will have to wait for share prices to retreat a bit.

Buys and Sells for the Week 6/18

I went back to the office for the first time in over a year and even a enjoyed a drink at the local pub afterwards. Still have not received permission to go back regularly but it was a nice change none the less. Almost a level of normalcy returned for not just me but the markets too. The Fed announcement of potential rate increases pushed markets lower for the week and created a few buying opportunities. I felt like this is the first time markets reacted in a somewhat normal way. Here are my trades for the week :

1. Avista Corp. (AVA) – increased position – Utilities were falling on Friday. Grabbed 4 shares @ $43.45 and a 3.87% yield.
2. Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) – increased position – Prices dipped below $15/share and I unloaded some cash to bring me up to a full position. Grabbed 120 shares @ $14.91 and a 4.57% yield.
3. BCE Corp (BCE) – increased position –  Still above my preferred buy price but this has been hovering above $50/share for so long I couldn’t help myself when prices dropped. Grabbed 4 shares @ $49.43 and a 5.3% yield.
4. General Mills (GIS) – increased position –  GIS should be sending a dividend raise my way this fall and decided to add some shares. Grabbed 6 shares @ $60.29 and a 3.38% yield.
5. Kimberly Clark (KMB) – increased position –  Slowly adding to this new position. Grabbed 2 shares @ $128.73 and a 3.54% yield.
6. Oil-Dri Corp. of America (ODC) – increased position –  ODC raised their dividend this week so I upped my buy price. Grabbed 10 shares @ $35.35 and a 3.06% yield.
7. The Southern Company (SO) – increased position –  A limit order from late April was finally triggered on Friday. Grabbed 3 shares @ $62.48 and a 4.23% yield.
8. Verizon (VZ) – increased position –  Bought this early in the week, slightly better deal on Friday but you can’t time the market. Grabbed 3 shares @ $56.70 and a 4.43% yield.

Buys and Sells for Week 6/11

Last month’s inflation numbers came in above what was expected (5% versus 4.7%) and it did little to market volatility insinuating it was already priced in or maybe investors are waiting to see if this is temporary. I am old enough to have lived through high inflationary times before and 5% is a far cry from ringing the panic bell so I’ll continue buying. Here are my trades for the week:

1. Kimberly Clark (KMB) – increased position – I know the short term earnings growth story for KMB is dismal but I will continue to build a position while share prices are down. Grabbed 1 shares @ $129.27 and a 3.53% yield.
2. Verizon (VZ) – increased position –  VZ has been hovering just above the mid-50s, was hoping to see price action drop below $55 but it appears $56-$57 is the current bottom. Grabbed 3 shares @ $57.09 and a 4.41% yield.

May Dividend Income

After 34 years of clocking in and out of work and religiously saving 10% annually in my 401K every year, in good times and bad, I have decided to share my monthly dividend income to show what regular saving and investing can accomplish.

For the month of May I made $2,475.74; an increase of 12.16% versus this time last year. This was just a touch below my desired minimum of 12.5% growth.

On the home front my expenses have remained the same which means my savings rate has stayed steady at 24.9%. Not much really changed for me during the month of May with the exception of getting fully vaccinated for COVID.

There was no major movements in the overall stock markets other than which spin doctor did the occasional brief of if inflation is transitory or worse. But for the most parts markets must have it priced in as their were no violent swings. I did add three new positions with Broadcom (AVGO), Investors Bancorp (ISBC), and Kimberly Clark (KMB) and I consistently keep adding to my Algonquin (AQN) and Merck (MRK) positions. As far as a watch list, there are no screaming value plays that jump out at me so I’ll continue to monitor a little over 50 dividend stocks for any opportunity that arises.  Unless there is a pullback, I plan on staying with small $200 buying lots for the foreseeable future.

Date	Symbol	Company	Amount
5/3/21	GIS	GENERAL MILLS INC	$84.20
5/3/21	T	AT&T INC	$613.84
5/3/21	VZ	VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC	$57.87
5/6/21	BLV	VANGUARD BD INDEX FDS LONG TERM BOND	$14.08
5/6/21	VCLT	VANGUARD SCOTTSDALE FUNDS LONG-TERM COR	$15.09
5/7/21	HYG	ISHARES TR IBOXX HI YD ETF	$18.00
5/7/21	PFF	ISHARES TR PFD AND INCM SEC	$53.32
5/10/21	APD	AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS INC	$33.65
5/14/21	ABBV	ABBVIE INC	$188.00
5/17/21	HAS	HASBRO INC	$34.46
5/17/21	OHI	OMEGA HEALTHCARE INVESTORS INC	$722.72
5/17/21	PG	PROCTER AND GAMBLE CO	$113.48
5/20/21	PSEC	PROSPECT CAP CORP	$155.54
5/21/21	ARTNA	ARTESIAN RES CORP	$193.62
5/25/21	FAST	FASTENAL	$11.35
5/28/21	ODC	OIL DRI CORP OF AMERICA	$17.28
5/28/21	SBRA	SABRA HEALTH CARE REIT INC	$84.60
5/28/21	WSM	WILLIAMS-SONOMA INC	$10.69
5/28/21	M1 Finance	M1 DIVIDEND GROWTH ACCOUNT	$53.95

Buys and Sells for the Week 6/4

I had similar trades from last week but with slightly better prices and one stupid blunder on my part. Here are my trades for the week:

1. Kimberly Clark (KMB) – increased position – Finally got my below $130 mark. Grabbed 1 shares @ $129.83 and a 3.51% yield.
2. Merck and Co. (MRK) – increased position –  Price slowly comes down and I slowly buy. Grabbed 2 shares @ $75.48 (pre spinoff) and a 3.44% yield.
3. Investors Bancorp Inc. (ISBC) – increased position –  I meant to buy $200 dollars and forgot to change the buy setting from shares to dollars and ended up buying 200 shares, Doh! Luckily I like ISBC it just stung a little as I was not planning on dropping this much cash. Grabbed 200 shares @ $14.77 and a 3.79% yield.