Full speed, no steering

[DividendGarden]

(09-26-2016, 02:54 PM)DividendDragon Wrote: NOW is ALWAYS the time to start investing

As the saying goes, "the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago.  The second best time is today."

[O'Bazooka]

(09-26-2016, 02:54 PM)DividendDragon Wrote: Great list O'Bazooka!

I'm British so can help with a European perspective on things (No Brexit jokes please!)

A few stocks I would look at (LSE listed) are;

WHTB
NXT

Both, in my opinion attractively valued at present.

NOW is ALWAYS the time to start investing, even if the market has been on a bull streak, there's no knowing where it will end.
We've been waiting on a correction for years now and still, nothing.

I'm currently still nibbling on certain stocks but keeping some dry powder too.

Good luck on your journey and I look forward to following it.

Thanks a bunch! Do you mean Whitbread by WHTB, closest ticker I found is WTB? Both seem to have a reasonable price and solid div growth, will definitely keep an eye on them.

From this end of the world I could recommend checking out Kone (KNYJY or KNYJF in US) for the long term. Not exactly attractively valued currently and there's some headwind, but the business and dividend growth are great. The price always seems too high and yet keeps on elevating.

[O'Bazooka]

Portfolio update: I have changed to second gear, adding some new positions (V, UL, NKE) and building up earlier ones since the last post. Current portfolio is listed with weights in the beginning of the opening post. Comments?

I'm now also roughly half invested. I was planning to hold at least a 50% cash position until there would be a more serious pullback. Now I think I'll just add monthly and keep on eye for bargains, near term future could be interesting I think. I'd like to be fully invested eventually and don't mean to really time the market, just to not go all-in too quickly. Only thing I've actually learned in the past years is the market doesn't need to do anything.

Currently I'm pondering on adding to CVS (bought at 90$) and looking at DEO, MCD, AFL if I were to add new names with these prices.

[kayboy]

(11-06-2016, 11:57 AM)O Wrote: Portfolio update: I have changed to second gear, adding some new positions (V, UL, NKE) and building up earlier ones since the last post. Current portfolio is listed with weights in the beginning of the opening post. Comments?

I'm now also roughly half invested. I was planning to hold at least a 50% cash position until there would be a more serious pullback. Now I think I'll just add monthly and keep on eye for bargains, near term future could be interesting I think. I'd like to be fully invested eventually and don't mean to really time the market, just to not go all-in too quickly. Only thing I've actually learned in the past years is the market doesn't need to do anything.

Currently I'm pondering on adding to CVS (bought at 90$) and looking at DEO, MCD, AFL if I were to add new names with these prices.

Here goes my personal stock-picking bias'. I have no problems with sin stocks but I quit drinking 4yrs. ago so why would I  buy DEO?
I wouldn't buy CVS since they don't sell tobacco. Since I have a boatload of MO and RAI, I buy my smokes elsewhere. I don't eat at McDonalds. I once considered
AFL, but 80% of their business comes from Japan, which is fine with me, but currency fluctuations of the yen is out of my wheelhouse, so no thanks.
Disclaimer: My portfolio's stock selections are mine and should not be construed as suitable for any other investor.

[O'Bazooka]

Update: On November and December I slowly added to some positions and added a few small ones for companies I really want to own. Got ABT this month but no other buys so far this year. Also closed TGT, RDS and TROW for some gain and due to not being sure about owning companies in these industries either. Current portfolio of 15 stocks with weights:

KO 7%
PEP 7%
PG 3%
UL 7%
CVS 7%
DIS 9%
NKE 4%

V 14%

MMM 2%

JNJ 14%
ABT 3%
GSK 8%

MSFT 1%
T 7%
VZ 7%

[O'Bazooka]

OK, time for a final update:

Some time ago I decided to give up picking individual stocks and change to as neutral as possible index investing. My whole portfolio consists now of a few market weighted ETF's covering the global investable market with lowest possible fees. With a quick glance I counted that among my index funds familiar big DGI stocks make up for at least 25% of the whole portfolio, or approx. 33% of the developed world large caps. On top of that number there names like Berkshire, General Electric, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, so the ingredients are not that different.

The main reason for this decision was that getting dividends from stocks makes no sense in my country, where an accumulating ETF or fund is free from income tax (other than withholding inside the fund). The other reason was that although I was doing fine, so were passive index funds with no work required. I had thought that I could run a portfolio without investing too much time in to it, but realized I was understating the effort it took and ended up basically wasting my hours when index funds were available all the time.

I don't think dividend growth is a bad approach, in fact it still feels rational and one the best ways to look at the stock market. I'm still drawn to the attempt of beating the market with stock picking and passive income, but in the end the tax problem was too much to ignore. I just want to thank everyone for this forum, although DGI was not optimal for me it was certainly a great learning experience leaving me with a more mature view on investing in general. Goodbye!

[ChadR]

If the taxes are worse going with DGI, absolutely go to passive investing. Good luck with your future endeavors.

[crimsonghost747]

I struggle with the tax thing too. Dividends get taxed so when reinvesting them, I'm basically losing a big chunk of my profit straight away. However, I ultimately have plans to live in a country where this is not a problem and quite frankly I still require the stable and, hopefully, growing income stream so DGI fits that purpose.

If I wasn't planning on living on dividends sooner rather than later, then I might switch too. But I really do appreciate the constant and constantly growing cashflow, it makes life so much less stressful.