Though I've been an indexer for the first few years of my career, I've been reading up and investing in a few individual companies and peer-to-peer lending.
My dividend-focused portfolio includes:
**Long-term holdings as of 5/5/14**
ARCP
K
KMI
KO
MCD
TGT
UL
WMT
**Short-term positions**
DVY - acts as a parking lot, of sorts. This is where I plan to put new monies while accruing enough to make good-sized purchases since it could take a couple months to achieve enough capital to buy stocks with less than 0.5% commission. The expense ratio is 0.40% and the dividend rate is ~3.0%, so it's not too shabby.
LendingClub - I know this isn't really a "short-term" holding, since the investments are held up for 3-5 years based on the loan, but with a 15.0% APY (for now..), I feel comfortable with the balance accrued, and any payments received will go toward other positions.
ESPP - Company stock @ 15% discount - IMO a no-brainer for short-term holding for a sweet return but I have to hold for 3 months. Though the waters have been pretty stormy for my company, they expect things to turn around this year. Trading between $50-65 but has > 2.3% yield, so it's not a terrible short-term holding. If the stock price stays stable, it should give about 10% return per sale.
IJT - iShares small-cap growth fund. This will remain a small position, and I will not be adding more to it unless it's at an exceptional discount compared to my cost basis. I know this really isn't a great holding for dividend strategy, but I hope that it can post some big gains in the next couple years to put toward other investments. This is also a no-commission ETF through Fidelity.
Watch List - PEP, DPS, OHI, O, PM, PG, T
Any thoughts/critiques are very much welcomed.
My dividend-focused portfolio includes:
**Long-term holdings as of 5/5/14**
ARCP
K
KMI
KO
MCD
TGT
UL
WMT
**Short-term positions**
DVY - acts as a parking lot, of sorts. This is where I plan to put new monies while accruing enough to make good-sized purchases since it could take a couple months to achieve enough capital to buy stocks with less than 0.5% commission. The expense ratio is 0.40% and the dividend rate is ~3.0%, so it's not too shabby.
LendingClub - I know this isn't really a "short-term" holding, since the investments are held up for 3-5 years based on the loan, but with a 15.0% APY (for now..), I feel comfortable with the balance accrued, and any payments received will go toward other positions.
ESPP - Company stock @ 15% discount - IMO a no-brainer for short-term holding for a sweet return but I have to hold for 3 months. Though the waters have been pretty stormy for my company, they expect things to turn around this year. Trading between $50-65 but has > 2.3% yield, so it's not a terrible short-term holding. If the stock price stays stable, it should give about 10% return per sale.
IJT - iShares small-cap growth fund. This will remain a small position, and I will not be adding more to it unless it's at an exceptional discount compared to my cost basis. I know this really isn't a great holding for dividend strategy, but I hope that it can post some big gains in the next couple years to put toward other investments. This is also a no-commission ETF through Fidelity.
Watch List - PEP, DPS, OHI, O, PM, PG, T
Any thoughts/critiques are very much welcomed.