07-29-2014, 12:05 AM
I have 27 in my portfolio and 18 in my wife's. We have 5 of the same company so that leaves 40 different companies. There's only a couple I'm keeping a close eye on right now, MAT and LO, the rest I spend no more than a few hours a week to monitor at most.
If you're not used to them, maybe you don't feel comfortable without knowing more. I basically just look at headlines to see if anything is changing in any of the companies I own and see if I need to look closer. When earning are reported, I may look at the results and dig a little deeper but there are few companies I'm willing to trade right now.
Maybe I'm going about it all wrong but I don't think PEP, JNJ, PG, KRFT, CVX, COP, etc. are going out of business any time soon. ABBV's doing a tax inversion and WAG is thinking about it. Am I worried about it? No. Do I think BAX's management is going to let Biogen kick their butts out of the hemophilia market. I don't think so. Is UTX not going to sell any more elevators or helicopters or jet engines? Probably not. GE just poured some money in my pocket today and KRFT just dumped some money in my wife's. So far, so good. MSFT got some bad press about laying off workers. Maybe they needed to. After a 22% bump in the dividend a few months ago, I still don't think Bill Gates is digging in his couch cushions for spare change nor worried about where his foundation is going to get more money to give away.
I think the important thing is to do the research up front and find out how the business operates it and what could have a big effect on it. I think you also have to expect the business to hit a rough spot every once in a while. Sometimes it takes a couple years for them to overcome it but a dividend growth company that's been doing this for a while somehow finds a way to overcome it.
Intel was pissed on and badmouthed for the last few years and they froze the dividend. Yet the whole time they still paid dividends in the 3-4% range and when the business cycle changed & the new CEO started implementing some of his ideas they gave our portfolios a a big boost. Used some of their success to add to my wife's portfolio. I know how Intel does business and the freeze wasn't unexpected. Now that things are getting back on track, if they don't raise the dividend soon, I'll think more about selling and moving on.
Find what's comfortable for you.
If you're not used to them, maybe you don't feel comfortable without knowing more. I basically just look at headlines to see if anything is changing in any of the companies I own and see if I need to look closer. When earning are reported, I may look at the results and dig a little deeper but there are few companies I'm willing to trade right now.
Maybe I'm going about it all wrong but I don't think PEP, JNJ, PG, KRFT, CVX, COP, etc. are going out of business any time soon. ABBV's doing a tax inversion and WAG is thinking about it. Am I worried about it? No. Do I think BAX's management is going to let Biogen kick their butts out of the hemophilia market. I don't think so. Is UTX not going to sell any more elevators or helicopters or jet engines? Probably not. GE just poured some money in my pocket today and KRFT just dumped some money in my wife's. So far, so good. MSFT got some bad press about laying off workers. Maybe they needed to. After a 22% bump in the dividend a few months ago, I still don't think Bill Gates is digging in his couch cushions for spare change nor worried about where his foundation is going to get more money to give away.
I think the important thing is to do the research up front and find out how the business operates it and what could have a big effect on it. I think you also have to expect the business to hit a rough spot every once in a while. Sometimes it takes a couple years for them to overcome it but a dividend growth company that's been doing this for a while somehow finds a way to overcome it.
Intel was pissed on and badmouthed for the last few years and they froze the dividend. Yet the whole time they still paid dividends in the 3-4% range and when the business cycle changed & the new CEO started implementing some of his ideas they gave our portfolios a a big boost. Used some of their success to add to my wife's portfolio. I know how Intel does business and the freeze wasn't unexpected. Now that things are getting back on track, if they don't raise the dividend soon, I'll think more about selling and moving on.
Find what's comfortable for you.
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“While the dividend itself is merely a rearrangement of equity, over time it's more like owning an apple tree. The tree grows the apples back again and again and again, and the theoretical value of the tree doesn't change just because of when the apples are about to fall.” - earthtodan
“While the dividend itself is merely a rearrangement of equity, over time it's more like owning an apple tree. The tree grows the apples back again and again and again, and the theoretical value of the tree doesn't change just because of when the apples are about to fall.” - earthtodan