The importance of consistent deposits

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 90 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Investing and Trading Account: $7,390.46
Total Return: 2.65%
Est Monthly Income: $12.41 / month

Trading: $3,479.00
Total Return: -3.36%
Stock
     NOK: 0.0%
Options
     SPY 152 May PUT: -21.49%
Cash: $2,788.73

Investing: $3,911.46
Total Return: 8.65%
Stock
     AFL: -4.91%
     HAS: +8.26%
     SPLS: +8.08%
     STX: +16.48%
Energy
     WHZ: -2.05%
Gold
     IAU: -0.25%
Bonds
     BLV: -2.33%
     JNK: -1.77%
     PCY: -1.95%
Cash: $1,183.90

ETF Account: $7,183.94
Total Return: -0.22%
Est Monthly Income: $14.15
US Stock
     SPY:  +2.34%
     XLV: +2.87%
     VNQ: +1.22%
International Stock
     EWZ: -1.58%
     PXR: -2.19%
Gold
     IAU: -1.04%
Bonds
     BLV: -2.26%
     JNK: -2.13%
     PCY: -1.83%
Cash
     Cash: $2,065.61

Permanent Portfolio: $7,221.42
Total Return: 0.30%
Est Monthly Withdraw Rate (4% rule): $21.92
Listed by weighting
     SPY: 25.22%
     GLD: 24.61%
     TLT: 24.33%
     Cash: 25.84%

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

4% Retirement Rule

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Why I bought Staples (SPLS)

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 89 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Investing and Trading Account: $7,136.19

Total Return: -0.19%

Est Monthly Income: $11.48 / month

Trading: $3,472.00

Total Return: -2.2%

1 SPY 152 May PUT: -13.85%

Cash: $2,987

Investing: $3,664.19

Total Return: 1.78%

Stock

     AFL: +0.21%

     HAS: +2.31%

     SPLS: +12.49%

     STX: +10.54%

Energy

     WHZ: +4.4%

Gold

     IAU: -0.25%

Bonds

     BLV: -3.08%

     JNK: -1.12%

     PCY: -2.5%

Cash: $1,190.15

ETF Account: $7,155.49

Total Return: -0.17%

Est Monthly Income: $14.15

US Stock

     SPY:  +1.99%

     XLV: +2.54%

     VNQ: +0.82%

International Stock

     EWZ: 0.42%%

     PXR: 0.34%

Gold

     IAU: -1.04%

Bonds

     BLV: -3.01%

     JNK: -1.48%

     PCY: -2.37%

Cash

     Cash: $2,013.44

Permanent Portfolio: $7,140.16

Total Return: -0.14%

Est Monthly Withdraw Rate (4% rule): $21.68

Listed by weighting

     SPY: 25.42%

     GLD: 24.87%

     TLT: 24.27%

     Cash: 25.43%

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

The case against DRIPing your dividends

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

With everything I talk about investing and trading wise I want to offer both sides. The more options, ideas, and strategies that you have for your own portfolio the better you will become as an investor.

The choice to DRIP or not to DRIP is a good decision to have. What to do with free money coming at you. Neither choice is a bad one that will ruin your account. Its more a question of which will provide more benefit then the other for you.


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

First trade of the trading account...

Looking at the markets and talking with some fellow investors and traders has brought up concerns that the stock market is going to go lower. We've had a good run up since November with a pullback in December.

So I initiated the first trade today for the Trading Account. I bought 1, 152 SPY May PUT @ 5.63.
I chose SPY because its the ETF that covers the S&P500 and thusly the market as a whole. I went with a May time frame because I don't want to get bad theta decay and start losing a lot of time value if I had gone with a February or March contract. Lastly I went with 152 because its a few dollars into the money which will give better return then going for cheap options out of the money, like say 145 or 140. You have to get bigger moves with out of the money options before you start to see good gains. With the price being 5.63 I am paying $563 for this.

I had the money to buy more options in the account but just like with my weighting of my investments, I do not want to go too heavy into one trade.

I'll be keeping a close eye on this one and talk about it during the weekly update in video form. I did want to get it out there as I bought it though.



Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 88 update

Just as when the Model Portfolio started off, the Effort Portfolio weekly numbers are a work in progress. I have my spreadsheets which will show the current numbers but what about historical records? Those are important and has utility as it  helps us to measure where we were at various stages. I still go back at the old weekly updates and check on what was happening at a point in time.

It can be interesting how each account or portfolio will have its own characteristics and nuances. The Model Portfolio was about DRIP and income so that was the data that needed to be kept track of. The Effort Portfolio as a whole is more total return so the income will be less important.

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Investing and Trading Account: $7,179.95
Total Return: 1.13%
Est Monthly Income: $11.48 / month
Trading: $3,500
Cash: $3,500

Investing: $3,679.95
Stock
     AFL: +0.08%
     HAS: +0.60%
     SPLS: +11.32%
     STX: +22.82%
Energy
     WHZ: +1.87%
Gold
     IAU: -1.05%
Bonds
     BLV: -1.31%
     JNK: +0.46%
     PCY: -1.03%
Cash: $1,182.03

ETF Account: $7,155.49
Total Return: 0.78%
Est Monthly Income: $14.15
US Stock
     SPY:  +1.17%
     XLV: +1.23%
     VNQ: +1.53%
International Stock
     EWZ: -0.40%
     PXR: -1.74%
Gold
     IAU: -1.83%
Bonds
     BLV: -1.23%
     JNK: +0.1%
     PCY: -0.90%
Cash
     Cash: $2,011.10

Permanent Portfolio: $7,106.35
Total Return: +0.09%
Est Monthly Withdraw Rate (4% rule): $23.68
Listed by weighting
     SPY: 25.37%
     GLD: 24.87%
     TLT: 24.91%
     Cash: 24.85%


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Portfolio Management with selling Enerplus

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

I see a lot of talk in the Investing community about all the riches and money you can make and how great a pick such and such stock is. Then when a loss comes up, and it always does everyone has them, its only talk about the next stock and hopefully everyone forgets about the loss.

The losses though gives us more to learn then our wins. Keeping logs and records of not only your numbers but what you were thinking are a big part of the success at investing and trading.


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Have a double data entry process for your demo account

When running a paper account or demo account have your actions and totals listed together so they can double check each other...

I was looking at the ETF Account this morning and noticed my Brazil position EWZ was down -13%. However looking at its chart since I bought shares, it has been flat. If this were a normal account I could just check my broker activity and compare to my numbers to see where I am wrong. Or to see where they are wrong and call them to fix it! Upon closer scrutiny of the ETF account, I noticed I was short 1 share that I had purchased. I had listed the purchase separately below the totals and they didn't match. My totals at the tops showed an average purchase price for EWZ at $66. It hasn't been above $60 since May of last year.
If only the totals were recorded it would have been harder to find especially down the road after I buy in a couple more positions into the total.


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 87 update

Lets get back on track...

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Here is the link to the Google Finance formulas for their spreadsheets.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

ETF account positions

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

The Effort Portfolio is now up to date and the reboot is complete. I have to say I am happy to have this done as we can now get back to discussion of actively managing the accounts.


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor  accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Why I sold AGNC

Here is my response to a comment "troubled investor" made...

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

One of the biggest mistakes I see being made is not selling a bad position when it looks like it could be worse just so you won't take a paper loss. Holding on in the hopes it turns around.

But wait a minute. Isn't that what I did with Enerplus? Glad you asked because there is a difference. With Enerplus I felt it was a losing position but in company that was still good, just undervalued. American Capital was a losing position and I feel its not able to turn around without more substantial loses. I am willing to take on some small short term paper loses if I feel the share price will bounce back. With AGNC I don't see that.

Additionally there is another risk I didn't mention in the video. When interest rates rise the net interest spread will disappear very quickly. This will speed up the dividend cuts and probably share price drop. Eventually though the new mortgages coming in to AGNC will carry a higher yield but that will take time.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Investing account positions

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

So I have quite a few changes for investment choices then what the Model Portfolio had. As I mention in the video, for a demo account to work it has to be as close to real life as possible. If we go and make choices of what MIGHT have happened then it skews the numbers. Even if minor now, when we add in compounding false numbers will compound into bigger false numbers. At that point in time then what would be the point of a demo account if it isnt giving you an accurate as possible experience in the markets and testing your strategy?

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Account 3 and the Effort Portfolio as a whole

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

The 3rd and final account will be essentially what I was doing with the previous Model Portfolio minus the savings account. It will have the most updates and discussions on my channel and blog because it will have the most maintenance.

To say I am excited about the new direction of the portfolio is an understatement. For awhile now I felt I was  only connecting with a select few of you because it was so focused on dividend investing. I won't be giving that up and for those of you out there that also dividend invest you won't be missing out.

However as I have mentioned in the past three updates, a large portion of you guys have been left out. The ones just starting out. The ones not ready to dive into earning reports and a pile of numbers. The markets are big enough for everyone to make money in their own way.


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Account 2: ETFs and Themes

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

So for the Effort Portfolio, Account #2 is going to pretty much be investing in ETFs and other minimally intensive trading. It will be a good bridge between the laziness of Permanent Portfolio to the sometimes hectic and busy work of the last account.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Permanent Portfolio

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

I'll talk more about how the three accounts will work together in the 3rd account video tying everything together.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

2012 Year in Review.

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

I want to talk more about the education and experience side of running a portfolio in the early years. I listed some of the mistakes and things I would learn from in this video that occurred in 2012. These happened when the portfolio had low dollar amounts. As the deposits would continue to come in and add in the portfolio grows by $5,200 each year. That means the investing and trading choices that we take later on in our portfolio's lifetime will have more weight then the early ones. Your wiser and smarter decisions will make more money then your earlier mistakes and you come out net positive.
Just one more reason for us to not wait too long before we start.


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Where are the weekly updates?

There is a good reason I've been quiet as of late...

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

I lost track of how many times friends have brought up that they know they need to put money away for retirement but they don't want to get into all the math and research.

A reboot of the Model Portfolio will add a lot of benefit for another reason I do not think I was clear about in the video. The three sub accounts of the new Effort Parity Portfolio can be independent strategies on their own. If you want to only put in the minimal time but still want good returns there is something for you here. If you are interested in stock picking I'll continue to have updates and thoughts about that. If you want something in between, a combination of all three or want to ignore the other sub accounts then that works too.

These will be fantasy demo funds. For these three I will NOT be putting my own real money into them.

Lastly, and this is highly important to me, I will be leaving up all the old videos and blog posts. I hate when people try to cover up their past mistakes. ERF will be there for everyone to see no matter when you start following me. I find its also important because as viewers and readers, you really should know what the person was doing in the past. How do we react to news and events. How do we recover from mistakes. How to we gain experience and grow.


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 86 Update

No video for this week as I have a lot going on right now. Its always this way for me and the holidays.
It does however offer a good opportunity to comment on being a trader and investor.

There is a mental shift that will come when we eventually are able to quit our day jobs and go full time managing our own income.  While I am not at that point I do spend my day talking and emailing with those that are at that point to get an idea what is in store. We will no longer have to be working 8 hours a day and the time needed to be set aside for supporting ourselves financially drops. Considerably.

Some of that can already be seen with the Model Portfolio. My income stock are working great giving a steady stream of dividends. I do not have to keep a close eye on all of them.  The trading account is building up to get ready to take on trades. I have enough in there now to start doing option selling with $22.50 priced stock and WHZ currently and almost enough for TCAP. But there is no rush for every day offers a potential trade. Stress on the word potential. Some of the traders out there like Aileron will take a trade a week or every other week. That doesnt take a whole lot of time during your work week. What else is there to be done? Enjoying life plain and simple. Thats what I am striving for.



Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Trading
$1.59 dividend from JNK


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: $2,253.83
1 SPY 135 JAN PUT: $98 (-$269)
 Purchased @ 3.67
Cash: $2,155.83

Investing Account: $4,726.54
Estimated Monthly Income: $19.90 ($0.600 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.018 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.68 ($0.015 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $2.42 ($0.042 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.80 ($0.035 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.92 ($0.082 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.16 ($0.062 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.37 ($0.100 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.76 ($0.160 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.19 ($0.073 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,091.10

Savings Account: $2,175.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $825.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250



Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Intelligent Investor Part 4

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Quite a long video but the last two chapters were absolute gold. So much utility in there for us as retail investors.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 85 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

A little bit different type of a weekly update. Not as stuffy, at least I hope it came across that way.


Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Trading


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: $2,161.83
1 SPY 135 JAN PUT: $106 (-$261)
 Purchased @ 3.67
Cash: $2,055.83

Investing Account: $4,732.21
Estimated Monthly Income: $19.89 ($0.591 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.018 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.68 ($0.015 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $2.42 ($0.042 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.80 ($0.035 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.92 ($0.082 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.16 ($0.062 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.37 ($0.100 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.75 ($0.150 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.19 ($0.073 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,091.10

Savings Account: $2,175.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $825.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Anti dividend debates

This happens for more often then it should....

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

If dividends are so bad for investors and companies or do not mean anything then why do 402 of the 500 companies in the S&P500, reflecting the 500 biggest most successful companies in the U.S, pay a dividend? If you want to question my intelligence and investing experience by asking what makes me think I can do better then the CEO with corporation's money then you are also questioning 80.4% of the top CEOs in the U.S.


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 84 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Trading
$9.13 distribution from WHZ
$6.03 dividend from STX
$1.13 dividend from PCY
$2.02 dividend from AFL
$2.37 dividend from COP
$0.37 interest from Investing account
STX raised dividend 19%
TCAP raised dividend 2% (12% raise Y/Y)


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: $2,077.83
1 SPY 135 JAN PUT: $122 (-$245)
 Purchased @ 3.67
Cash: $1,955.83

Investing Account: $4,732.21
Estimated Monthly Income: $19.89 ($0.591 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.018 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.67 ($0.015 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $2.42 ($0.042 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.80 ($0.035 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.92 ($0.082 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.16 ($0.062 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.37 ($0.100 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.75 ($0.150 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.19 ($0.073 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,091.10

Savings Account: $2,175.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $825.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Intelligent Investor review part 3

Delayed but not forgotten...

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 83 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Investing
$0.92 from ERF


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: $2,002.83
1 SPY 135 JAN PUT: $147 (-$220)
Purchased @ 3.67
Cash: $1,855.83

Investing Account: $4,713.09
Estimated Monthly Income: $19.42 ($0.539 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.018 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.67 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $2.01 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.92 ($0.082 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.16 ($0.057 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.32 ($0.098 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.74 ($0.150 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.18 ($0.068 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,081.60

Savings Account: $2,175.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $825.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 82 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

I am sure that this will  not be the final format of how I show my numbers for the trading account. Its job won't really be to generate steady income that I can count on monthly for my bills. It can however generate faster profits then the Investing account that I can then move over to the investing account to buy more stable dividend and income generating assets. Any ideas that you guys have?



Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Investing
$2.30 from ABT
$1.59 from JNK


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: $2,181.83
1 SPY 135 JAN PUT: $326 (-$41)
Purchased @ 3.67
Cash: $1,855.83

Investing Account: $4,533.50
Estimated Monthly Income: $19.42 ($0.533 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.018 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.67 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $2.01 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.92 ($0.076 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.16 ($0.057 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.32 ($0.098 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.74 ($0.150 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.18 ($0.068 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $981.60

Savings Account: $2,175.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $825.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Preparing the Model Portfolio for the Fiscal Cliff

Now that we've discussed what the Fiscal Cliff is what changes, if any, do I need to make for the Model Portfolio...

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

There is something else that the SPY Put option brings to the account beyond the economic reasons I mention in the video. Peace of mind. While I do not think it will happen, we can have a complete meltdown and I will come out ahead.
We can have a rise in the markets and my share price will rise so I will come out ahead.
Combined with the Investing account's dividends of bringing in income... Its as close to as win-win as you can get.

This mentality is what I think retail investors really needs to get down to doing. Getting away from the buy low sell high as their entire strategy.


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

The Fiscal Cliff

What is the Fiscal cliff that everyone keeps talking about?

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

So there is my take on the Fiscal Cliff. Its a double whammy of two big problems at the same time. As I mention in the video, we as a society and a government haven't picked which one we want to fix yet let alone how we are going to fix things. I'm not sure if we will decide before things worsen. We only have a couple months. I don't expect an immediate drop off or crash like 2008. However between that and both Europe and China struggling its could all add up to a financial struggle at best.

Next I will talk about my own actions in planning around this and some things that we as retail investors and traders can do. I never liked that attitude of sitting around waiting for someone else to fix a problem when we can do it ourselves.



Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

The Market Bottom is in

I'm calling the bottom of the pullback right here guys. We are going up as of now. How do I know?
This morning I bought 1, 135 SPY JAN Put option. I got filled this morning @ 3.67.

All joking aside, I do have some concerns about the market going forward. I'll have a couple videos coming out discussing the Fiscal Cliff (tonight) and how I am going to be reacting to it (video out tomorrow). In the meantime though I have spent $370 out of the trading account ($367 for the option plus $3 for commissions). SPY is an ETF covering the S&P500 which will measure the general market movements. This is to protect the Investing Account as a whole, not a particular position. More on this tomorrow...

With investing I get filled in on Tuesday and my expectations to hold are for months or years. With trading though it is a much quicker time frame so I wanted to get this trade out in real time and not wait a couple days to make it look like I cherry picked data or to avoid talking about losses. I REALLY hate when others do that.




Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

My social manifesto

Manifesto: a written public declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

I've seen a growing problem online. Times are tough for government, families, companies, and individuals. Lots of emotion out there at what went wrong and who is to blame. To a certain extent that is fine IF, and that is a big IF, one can then get a clear head and move on to making change in their life.

A struggle comes up though in moving on to the fixing part vs the dwelling on the problem.

To some I apologize for being silent and watching those ideas go unchecked without giving a dissenting voice to. I'm still going to be giving the weekly updates and moving forward, leading by example with my own actions. I think that is far more effective then sitting back and only talking.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 81 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Savings
$1.59 from JNK


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: 2,225.78

Investing Account: $4,537.32
Estimated Monthly Income: $19.41 ($0.523 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.67 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $2.01 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.92 ($0.076 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.16 ($0.057 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.32 ($0.098 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.74 ($0.150 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.18 ($0.068 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $881.60

Savings Account: $2,175.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $825.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Selling Options

I think I made it through with not switching around terms and how options work as far as selling vs buying and calls vs puts.

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

As my closing comment stated, options can get really complicated. Perhaps more so then the average person  will be able to manage. But its something I feel should be learned and explored because they are a tool that we can use for the right job at the right time.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Why would you want to buy stock options

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Continuing my option series where here I talk about my thoughts on buying options. They have lots of uses and there are many more scenarios then I discuss here.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 80 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Trading
$1.33 from PCY


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: 2,325.78

Investing Account: $4,607.65
Estimated Monthly Income: $19.40 ($0.513 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.67 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $2.01 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.91 ($0.072 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.16 ($0.057 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.32 ($0.098 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.74 ($0.140 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.18 ($0.068 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $881.60

Savings Account: $2,075.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $725.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250



Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

What makes up the valuation of a stock option

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Stock options give a lot of versatility in how they can be used but they can be complex in how they work. They do have lots of moving parts to keep straight and to keep in mind when deciding to use them or not. That might bring one to question if the average person, the Theoretical Family, can use them or not.
If a family is looking to replace their income with investing and trading then they HAVE to learn and explore their "options" available to them (pun intended). Without learning what is available they cannot expect to make the best decisions for their portfolio and their livelihood.



Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Halloween Financial Horror

A humorous break from the dividend investing talk...

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

I learned an important lesson from this. Diversification of income and assets. At that time I only had my 401k, much like many good little citizens doing what they have been advised by Wall Street. That shock that it could have been gone was enough for me to realize that I needed multiple accounts and multiple ways for providing for my future.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 79 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Dividend investing takes time but patience is rewarded. Look back to the first couple months and what was I saying. Don't get disheartened by the low income now its about the future. Things will build upon itself. Just one and a half years later and we can see the beginning of the growth. The fourth and first quarters is when the dividend raises take place. MCD and AFL already gave theirs. ABT has theirs with the split. The Model Portfolio got in front of these and we will see the yield on cost start to rise.


Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Trading
$8.57 dividend from AGNC
$0.91 dividend from ERF
AFL raised dividend 6%


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: 2,225.78

Investing Account: $4,611.68
Estimated Monthly Income: $19.39 ($0.508 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.67 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $2.01 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.92 ($0.076 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.16 ($0.057 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.32 ($0.098 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.74 ($0.140 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.18 ($0.064 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,022.61

Savings Account: $2,075.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $725.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 78 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Investing
Purchased 8.6851 shares of STX


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: 2,125.78

Investing Account: $4,649.32
Estimated Monthly Income: $19.35 ($0.504 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.64 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $2.01 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.91 ($0.072 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.16 ($0.057 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.32 ($0.098 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.74 ($0.140 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.18 ($0.064 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,022.61

Savings Account: $2,075.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $725.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250



Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

What are Stock Options?

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Before anyone starts jumping in with "You forgot about X"... this is a VERY BASIC overview of stock options. I wanted to just go over them conceptually to start things off with.

Now this is not to say I will be jumping into them with the trading account. A big part of why I want to go over them is that stock options are very common and can be very appealing. The Theoretical Family has had 1.5 years to educate themselves and read up on things about the markets. Options should be an option... pun intended.



Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 77 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Trading
$1.16 dividend from O
$1.56 dividend from JNK


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: 2,125.78

Investing Account: $4,551.26
Estimated Monthly Income: $18.42 ($0.504 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.64 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $1.08 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.91 ($0.072 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.16 ($0.057 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.32 ($0.098 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.74 ($0.140 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.18 ($0.064 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,022.61

Savings Account: $2,075.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $725.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 76 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

The $0.50 interest payment from cash in the investing account should have been listed last week. The savings account I have not added in interest in as the money is in a savings account with my credit union.... which apparently is not paying a yield of note. I'm going to have to get that transferred to the Sharebuilder savings account this month. Just wanted to bring that up as that number not changing is not due to me missing it.



Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Savings
Bought 2.73 shares of MCD
$0.50 interest from cash position in Investing account.


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: 2,025.78
Estimated Monthly Income: $0
Max loss per trade (1% of account): $20.25
Portfolio stop (3% account): $60.75

Investing Account: $4,603.22
Estimated Monthly Income: $18.41 ($0.490 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.64 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     MCD: $0.70
     STX: $1.08 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.91 ($0.072 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.15 ($0.053 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.32 ($0.098 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.73 ($0.131 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.18 ($0.064 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,022.61

Savings Account: $2,075.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $725.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250




Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

McDonald's (MCD)

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

I mentioned that the dividend has grown quite well over the past 5 years since the Great Recession started but their dividend raises go beyond that. 35 straight years they have raised dividends that's quite an achievement considering all the other investing and trading fads out there that come and go.

I made the video a few days ago and am posting it now. Since that time McDonald's has filed paperwork to start selling bagged coffee. Their McCafe line of specialty coffee drinks now accounts for 6% of their sales. As I mention in the video, they got rich from a dining experience more so then by selling hamburgers. The success of the McCafe line shows us that they can adapt and win at changing tastes and new trends.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Dreams and Goals part 2

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

I want to make it clear how critical it is to not get stuck dreaming especially when it comes to finance. We are mortal beings. We have even less time for our working years where we are old enough for a job yet not old enough to be too frail. Add in the years where we don't care about debt and then more years to pay it off and you do not have much time left. We do not have time to waste idly.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 75 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Investing
$0.92 dividend from ERF
$6.83 dividend from TCAP



Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: 2,025.78
Estimated Monthly Income: $0
Max loss per trade (1% of account): $20.25
Portfolio stop (3% account): $60.75

Investing Account: $4,575.53
Estimated Monthly Income: $17.71 ($0.490 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.64 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     STX: $1.08 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.91 ($0.072 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.15 ($0.053 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.32 ($0.098 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.73 ($0.131 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.18 ($0.064 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,272.11

Savings Account: $1,975.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $625.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

American Capital Agency Corp (AGNC)

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

With as how complex AGNC is I just knew I was going to miss some things and it turns out its an important one.

American Capital Agency Corp focuses mostly on improving the book value. Thats a higher priority then making the most money they can. This is a big benefit to shareholders because every time they have an SPO and sell more shares it runs the risk that existing shareholders will see dilution in their value if AGNC cannot find better deals then they have in the past. If they can increase the book value which is a per share basis then everyone benefits not just new investors.

AGNC is very good at this having raised the book value 11 of the past 12 quarters. Keep in mind, that is through a couple interest rate cuts. With Bernake targeted QE3 to buying mortgages then the existing mortgages will start increasing in value because there is buying pressure and AGNC might be able to offload some of their own mortgages for a profit. At the least they can claim the value is higher of their existing ones.

If AGNC declaring all their mortgages are a higher value because of QE3 sounds fishy its probably because it is. I wouldn't think they increase in value I just care about the actual payments coming in from the people wanting to pay off their mortgage. But I can benefit from the rise. A high book value will increase the share price. The higher that gets then whenever it has its big 33%-50% drop will have it settle higher then without QE3.

I might sell if it gets high enough. Normally with dividend investing I will not do that because the dividend is increasing year over year and the company is increasing year over year. With 90% of my investments that is the case. AGNC is different and I have to think differently with it. We KNOW for a 100% fact that it will drop at some point by a lot. That's not an opinion or calling a top. AGNC themselves is saying this.

If we know how to deal with and plan for a setback then is it a setback? I'm keeping the dividend to buy more after the big drop to dollar cost average in with its own profits. If it gets high enough I'll sell and keep the money to rebuy in after the drop.



Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 74 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Investing
$1.15 dividend from O
Purchased 6.8521 shares of AGNC


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: 2,025.78
Estimated Monthly Income: $0
Max loss per trade (1% of account): $20.25
Portfolio stop (3% account): $60.75

Investing Account: $4,490.07
Estimated Monthly Income: $17.65 ($0.434 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.64 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     STX: $1.08 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.91 ($0.068 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     AGNC: $2.86
     O: $1.15 ($0.053 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.28 ($0.051 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.73 ($0.131 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.17 ($0.059 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,172.11

Savings Account: $1,975.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $625.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Internet Marketing

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

So yes this topic comes up enough that I felt I needed to make an entry. There are lots of internet marketers out there who seem confused at what I am doing. Why are you on the internet if not to make money?!?!

I have to say though what really ticks me off is when some amateur internet marketer with a garbage site, who doesn't know what they are doing, and failing at their goal wants to comment that I am not doing what I am not even trying to do (generate ad revenue).




Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I
am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 73 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Trading
$1.56 dividend from JNK


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: 2,025.78
Estimated Monthly Income: $0
Max loss per trade (1% of account): $20.25
Portfolio stop (3% account): $60.75

Investing Account: $4,402.42
Estimated Monthly Income: $14.75 ($0.428 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.64 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     STX: $1.08 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.91 ($0.068 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     O: $1.11 ($0.047 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.28 ($0.051 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.73 ($0.131 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.17 ($0.059 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,323.11

Savings Account: $1,975.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $625.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 72 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Trading
$1.89 dividend from AFL
$1.76 dividend from WMT
$2.34 dividend from COP
$0.35 dividend from PSX


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: $1,925.78
Estimated Monthly Income: $0
Max loss per trade (1% of account): $19.25
Portfolio stop (3% account): $58.77

Investing Account: $4,382.49
Estimated Monthly Income: $14.74 ($0.419 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.64 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     STX: $1.08 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.014 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.79 ($0.025 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.91 ($0.068 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     O: $1.11 ($0.047 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.28 ($0.051 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.72 ($0.121 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.17 ($0.059 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,321.76

Savings Account: $1,975.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $625.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250




Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Merger and Acquisitions

The Theoretical Family has to deal with their first M&A...

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Should the average person invest in Royalty Land Trusts

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Investing and Trading are like any skill set to make a living. You have to put the time in to improve your skill. Learning, practicing, doing, etc. I think this is where the vast majority of traders and investors will get themselves into trouble. Not the actual investments they make with their money but the lack of investing in themselves.

Its easy to start investing and trading. Just open up an account, deposit some money in, and then start clicking the buy button. Sooner or later a big mistake happens but the blame often is not with what they bought but how and why they bought it. As I mention in the video, use the proper tool the way its intended.


Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.

Week 71 update

EDIT: At the time this blog entry was posted I had a Youtube video here. That has been removed but I want the rest of my content to be remain. Nothing hidden no past mistakes ignored. All out in the open.

Weekly Activity
$100 deposit into Investing
$3.22 dividend from STX
$1.12 dividend from PCY
$0.58 interest from Cash in Investing account
6.4% dividend raise for TCAP over previous quarter's dividend


Model Portfolio Totals

Trading Account: $1,825.78
Estimated Monthly Income: $0
Max loss per trade (1% of account): $17.25
Portfolio stop (3% account): $51.75

Investing Account: $4,330.61
Estimated Monthly Income: $14.73 ($0.402 from DRIP)
Stock
     ABT: $0.77 ($0.012 from DRIP)
     AFL: $0.63 ($0.005 from DRIP)
     STX: $1.08 ($0.010 from DRIP)
     WMT: $0.59 ($0.011 from DRIP)
Energy
     COP: $0.78 ($0.016 from DRIP)
     ERF: $0.91 ($0.068 from DRIP)
     WHZ: $3.68
REITs
     O: $1.11 ($0.047 from DRIP)
BDCs
     TCAP: $2.28 ($0.051 from DRIP)
Bonds
     JNK: $1.72 ($0.121 from DRIP)
     PCY: $1.17 ($0.055 from DRIP)
Maneuvering Cash: $1,321.76

Savings Account: $1,975.20
Emergency Fund: $1,000
General/Car Fund: $625.20
Portfolio Protection
     Trading Account: $100
     Investing Account: $250



Disclaimer: The investments and trades in my videos and blog entries are not recommendations for others. I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant, or tax adviser. The financial actions I talk about are for my own portfolio and money and only suited for my own risk tolerance, strategy, and ideas. Copying another person's financial moves can lead to large losses. Each person needs to do their due diligence in researching and planning their own actions in the financial markets.