Latest Stock Buys and Watch Lists
Yes I’m new to the stock market, but come on, even I know this is a bit crazy. Ups, downs and all around insanity. Get your act together!
It’s awesome being a dividend investor right now because my current plan of action is to ignore the craziness. Can I get a “Amen”?
My portfolio worth went from 12% to 7%. That’s impressive. When I looked at my account recently, my absolute first reaction was “Cool, I’m still 7% higher than if I did nothing with my money”. I’m forever the optimist. Plus I’ve gained $78.49 in dividends alone since I started in October, 2015 so WOOT WOOT.
Way better than a savings account. All around my portfolio is up $484.70.
Latest Stock Buys
In this recent downturn, I picked up 1 share of Apple (APPL) at $91.18. I had an extra hundred in my Robinhood Account and while I thought I would NEVER buy Apple, I couldn’t pass it up. I have always avoided it since I’m more of a Google guy and frankly people who love Apple products are THE WORST. Look at these people. Come on, you’re tattooing a company brand to your body and it’s an apple.
Here are some my reasons: Apple has SO much extra cash on hand (55.84 Billion) according to Yahoo. Plus with such a loyal following, they can do so much. I’m still waiting for them to buy Adobe. It’s been rumored, but nothing has happened. They did however recently invest $1 Billion in Chinese Uber Rival, Didi Chuxing. Uber is huge and if these guys have the Chinese market, there are opportunities to grow.
Yes, the iPhone market is getting saturated, and Samsung is getting some of that smart phone market share, but so what. Reference the above Apple Tattoo. People are die hard about Apple products and they frankly work well. That loyal following was the sustainability I needed to buy my first Apple share and now the prices is up to $95.22. I’m just sad I couldn’t buy more at the time. It was so near it 52-week range low and it’s P/E at 10.60. I usually try to take P/E (Price Earnings Ratio) into account
FUN Coincidence: Right after I bought my 1 share. Warren Buffet announced he invested $1 Billion in Apple. So maybe I’m doing something right. Am I the next Warren Buffet? It’s very likely, based on this one isolated coincidence.
Watch List
I now have an extra $130 in my Robinhood Account now waiting to be invested. I was hoping to write this article and do some research on what I should do with it.
Here is my list of the next 3 stocks that I’m watching and may pounce on in the next month.
- Verizon (VZ)
- Main Street Capital Corporation (MAIN) – Maybe
- Kinder Morgan (KMI)
I’ve often listed many reasons why I love Verizon (VZ). The simplest is that people HAVE to have a cell phone and Verizon is growing a solid hold over this industry. How much is your monthly cell phone bill? You can answer this because you have a cell phone and you will climb stairs and mountains to get a better signal. Anything you pay a monthly bill for, I’m all for. I’m a huge fan reoccurring payment models and Verizon has one of the best. The P/E is still an impressive at 11.26 and at the current price per share is $49.66. It seems worth it for me. Frankly anything under $50 I’ll buy for Verizon. Just like anything under $100 for Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), I’ll buy.
The second is Main Street Capital Corporation (MAIN) I’ve been recently learning more about since Jason Fieber, of the previous glorious Dividend Mantra, brought this to my attention through his Facebook Page. Since he had a significant holding of it, I thought I’d give it a look.
Main Street Capital Corporation is a business development company focused on lending capital and expertise to lower middle market companies with annual revenue between $10M-$150M. WTF. I had to spend all morning looking up what Business Development Companies were.
Business development companies function similar to REITs where they typically distribute 98% of their taxable income as dividends to avoid corporate taxation. In fact, you could say business development companies are REITs for Businesses. They buy, improve and sell companies to make a profit.
I am still on the fence about this one since it’s high risk/reward and it’s heavily influenced by any kind of Fed Rate Hike. If it gets back down to $26 I may try it out. It has an attractive monthly dividend, meaning it pays it’s dividends monthly like Realty Income (O).
Third, I may get in on Kinder Morgan (KMI). I love that it’s essentially a pipeline toll road that oil companies will pay in order to move their natural gas. Recently the price has dropped from $44 a year ago to the current $17. People are waiting to see where the oil and gas movement will go, but I think it’s already hit bottom and will slowly move up. If there is one oil & gas business model I can get behind, it’s Kinder Morgan.
I just need to understand their tax structure better……
Have you bought Apple recently or have any other recommendations for Stocks to watch out for?
Wallet Squirrel is a personal finance blog by best friends Andrew & Adam on how money works, building side-hustles, and the benefits of cleverly investing the profits. Featured on MSN Money, AOL Finance, and more!
Great buy on AAPL I think it may be oversold but hey I still am not a fan of their products. They need far more innovation to get their mojo back. Sadly I owned them this summer at $124. I was thinking of buying them at the lows to average the cost down but I like other companies better. I have been watching banks and REITs lately.
PS. Regarding your question on my blog, sorry for the late response my gf had graduation this weekend and it was crazy! I am not sure how the SEO is affected by videos I get my Yoast light to be green and that is what I care about. I think it may be better to have words rather than videos for SEO but from an audience perspective they enjoy the video far more.
Apple is on my watch list.
I am a holder of KMI. I just doubt to keep for the ling run or sell now… I am not sure what todo.
Yeah, when I first bought AAPL, I had the intention of selling it shortly after since it was near its 52week low. It’s freaking APPL, they ARE going to bounce back. Yet if they didn’t bounce back, I would be comfortable keeping it since it fits within all my dividend investing requirements. I really couldn’t go wrong.
Ha ha ha yea Yoast seems to be the standard for SEO now-a-days. I try to get every single green light I can when posting. My Robinhood App Review is now 27 on Google. Wahoo!
I know traditionally as long as you get a minimum 300-500 words, that’s what Google considers that decent content. I haven’t looked it up in a while though. I love your videos so keep up what works for your readers. It’s just something I noticed. Keep it up!
Thanks for commenting Amber Tree!
Yea, KMI is a strange beast. Their business model shouldn’t be that affected by Oil & Gas prices, but it’s tanked since last year. I do think it’ll start going up soon. I’m just trying to decide if I want to get into the complicated tax issues that come with MLPs.
Taxes, yuk.
You are not alone in picking up some AAPL. Seems like many of our fellow dividend investors are buying it up under $100 a share. Despite the cash position, valuation and dividend yield for AAPL I still do not hold that name nor any other tech in my portfolio. I know I may be missing out on some good near term price appreciation but long term I just do not feel comfortable owning any tech name. Thanks for sharing your recent buy.
I always say stick with what you’re comfortable with. That’s why I havn’t gotten into the Oil & Gas stocks, I just don’t feel comfortable with them yet. AAPL is my first tech stock. I was comfortable enough with how they make money, so I took the position, but I totally get it.
Thanks for commenting DivHut!
I bought into the energy sector – only for dividend stocks – a couple months ago. 125 shares of KMI at a cost basis of 15.74/share was my biggie, but I also bought into (a couple shares each via Motif) Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobile, BP, Chevron, Helmerich & Payne, and most interestingly Sandridge Permian Trust.
Sandridge (PER) is a weird beast. It’s a royalty trust for which I expect the share price to go steadily downward, because they’re not establishing any new wells on their holding. The key is if it can distribute enough of its earnings to make the loss of share value worth it. I think maybe: I bought in mid January at 2.50ish/share, so it only needs to generate $200 over the next 10 years for me to be happy.
Hey Mike!
Glad to know some people are taking advantage of the Oil/Gas industry. Have you had issues with the complicated nature of taxes for MLPs like KMI?
I just looked at Sandridge (PER). Not sure what I think about it, never looked at it before. I didn’t know you could even have Trust as stocks. One of the big things I look at is trends, and PER’s 5 year trend looks like a sledding hill. It just keeps going down. Not sure if it’s worth the 15.45% dividend yield for me. I with you the best on that investment!
Yeah, royalty trusts are odd. I think I understand them enough to choose whether to invest or not, but at a little over $100 invested, I can afford to be wrong on this. I’m banking on oil prices rebounding, in which case the yield could go back up to 30-40%.
I have only owned KMI in 2016, so I can’t speak to any tax issues firsthand. However, I’m not anticipating trouble because 1) I don’t hold that stock in a tax-qualified account like an IRA [wouldn’t recommend an MLP in an IRA just about ever], and 2) My cost basis is so low that it will be very easy for Return on Capital to drive my K-1 cost basis to $0, and I’ll gladly take the Long-Term Capital Gains tax once that happens.
Also, my accountant is pretty sharp 🙂 If he could handle everything I went through last year, with 2 different jobs in two different states, including having Job A in State A, and Jobs A and B in State B, plus all my dividend payments from 100+ different companies (thanks Motif…) which, due to the number of transactions, had to be done BY PAPER in State A and electronically in State B…yeah, an MLP is no problem. I wouldn’t be skittish about investing in KMI if you like the company (I do) and are willing to stick it out long term (I am).
I’m a big fan of MAIN. There’s just something really cool about monthly dividends. It’s priced a bit on the high side right now, but on the next dip, this is a good stock to buy. I have 115 shares, but I’d like to get upwards of 500 in the future. 500 shares would provide a really nice monthly dividend. Enough to buy 2 new shares each month.
Mike, I’m with you thinking that oil is on the rebound. That’s why I mentioned KMI, but it sounds like you have a solid approach to that stock. Rock on.
You’re accountant sounds bad ass. I may need a reference if things get to complicated with this dividend investing thing next year. =)
Thanks for sharing!
I REALLY like the idea of MAIN and I will likely tap into in the future. Thanks for the reassurance.
I will likely wait, like you said till the price dips again. 500 shares though, that would be awesome! It is such a cool idea knowing you could buy 2 share every month…..FOREVER!
Alright, setting my ideal buy price now. Thanks Investment Hunting!