May 16, 2014 Snapshot

This week, the S&P 500 was down -0.03%, while the Chump IRA was up +0.24%.  For the full year 2014, the Chump IRA is up 5.53%, while the S&P 500 is up only 1.60%.  This is a pretty nice out performance after 4.5 months....

Here is what happened in the portfolio this week:

• Added to TUP position early in the week, small add of around 1/6 of full position on a dip
• Received dividends from:
• AAPL $139.70
• O $54.99
• OHI $227.57
• KMI $190.16
• Over $600 in dividends for the week, reinvested into these same names
• VMI and CSCO both had greater than 5% gains on good news, both are still a hold in the portfolio

That's it for now,

Chump

Valmont Industries (VMI)

The stock is up around 5% today alone.....glad I'm holding.  Here is why:

Valmont Industries (VMI) Declares $0.375 Quarterly Dividend, Approves $500M Buyback

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Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE: VMI) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, or $1.5 annualized, an increase from $0.25.May 13, 2014 5:32 PM EDT

The dividend will be payable on July 15, 2014, to stockholders of record on June 27, 2014, with an ex-dividend date of June 25, 2014.

The annual yield on the dividend is 1 percent.

The Directors also authorized the Company to purchase up to $500 million of its outstanding common stock from time to time over the next twelve months at prevailing market prices, through open market or privately-negotiated transactions. The purchases will be funded from available working capital and short-term borrowings and will be made subject to market and economic conditions. Valmont is not obligated to make any repurchases and may discontinue the program at any time. Valmont currently has approximately 26.8 million shares outstanding.

For a dividend history and other dividend-related data on Valmont Industries, Inc. (VMI) click here.

This is a 50% dividend increase, and gets the current yield up to around 1% from 0.65%.  Looking at the valuation for the stock (before the recent increase in price):

Today's PE of 14.5 is still will below the recent high of 21 at the end of 2010.  I'll continue to hold.

Best,

Chump