Thursday, April 23, 2015

Selling BAX

I think it's time to sell BAX.  It's been a poor performer, down around 5% since I bought it.  They had a poor EPS quarter to end 2014, and another poor quarter to start 2015 (see below).  The stock is UP today on improved 2015 full year guidance, but I don't believe them.


Furthermore, they are doing a spin off this year, and I don't know what the new companies will like post spin, nor do I know what impact this will have on the dividend.  Time to look for a better company to invest in.

Possibly Abbvie....we'll see.  Limit order placed just above latest price.

Chump

Friday, April 17, 2015

Adding to DLR position

Market is down 1%, adding a little my DLR position, initiated last week.

Chump

Monday, April 13, 2015

YTD 2015 Performance vs. the S&P 500 and 1Q Dividends

The market and portfolio have had a rocky 1st quarter.  Below is a graphic that shows the Chump IRA total value, and it's weekly returns vs. the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested:





Both the Chump IRA and the S&P 500 are shy of 3% year to date, which seems slow/rocky, but heck, if this keeps up, we'd have a 10%-12% year, which would be great vs. history.  The portfolio tracks the S&P pretty closely, but I'll keep looking for value plays to give it a boost over the long run.

The portfolio contains several "unloved" stocks that I'm betting will have a nice run eventually.
These include:
  • BBL
  • TUP
  • BAX
  • HAL
  • CVX
  • COP
  • PM
  • IBM
BBL, HAL, CVX, and COP are all related to oil and energy, and have been beaten up pretty good this year, while IBM, BAX, PM, and TUP are just viewed negatively by wall street, largely due to the strong dollar and exposure to depressed earnings from abroad.  All these companies are fine, they just need a bit of time, so I hold.

On the dividends front, they just keep growing (and reinvesting).  Here is the dividend table, with 1Q2015 added:




Dividends collected in the first quarter were up 7.6% vs. prior year, and above $4,000.   With the recent sale of Walmart, and the addition of better dividend payers, this growth will continue!

Here are the current portfolio names:



Best,

Chump




Tuesday, April 7, 2015

DLR...Digital Realty Trust

Starting a position today in DLR.  Here is a snapshot from FASTGraphs:



With this addition, I have around 7% of the portfolio in real estate via REITs...  O, OHI, and now DLR.  Chuck Carnevale recently did a nice piece on DLR here: 


In addition, Mr. REIT, Brad Thomas, has it on his list of top investment ideas for 2015.  At present, DLR is paying a nice yield of 5.1%, has a good credit rating for a REIT, and is moderately undervalued on a FFO (funds from operations) basis.

DLR invests in technical space for servers, back up data, etc.... a fast growing market as internet and cloud spending increase exponentially.

I'll look to add more to the position if interest rates rise this summer.  That event would properly hammer REIT prices temporarily, and present a nice opportunity to add to positions.

Best,

Chump