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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Weekend Dividend Folio Recap 401K Week Ending 4-17-09

Currently have 223 holdings they are up 9.74% year to date. This week I sold all my wisdomtree etf's due to lack of volume and fair performance. Also sold all Market vectors etf's purchased some new vanguard etfs as well as some new powershares etfs. My top 5 performers are:

  1. ASH up 188.69%
  2. TRN up 56.64%
  3. SFL up 54.04%
  4. AMSWA up 48.80%
  5. KWR up 51.55%
Those 5 are my top performers Up for the year to current. And for my 5 underperformers:

  1. GSL down 12.87%
  2. XLU down 7.69%
  3. VALU down 7.31%
  4. VPU down 7.23%
  5. GGN down 6.76%
As you can see gold, silver and utilities continue to get killed on a pretty solid basis. Chemicals, shipping and transportation/rails are roaring right along. In my 223 holdings 33 are in the red and 190 are in the green. My biggest surprise is still ashland chemical ticker symbol ash this stock is screaming to the upside a gorgeous v-bottom chart forming and high volume a excellent addition to my portfolio The above numbers do not include dividends paid by the stocks. I do own all of these stocks in my holdings and will be buying more of some or all of them.

My 401k with principal finical group finished last year down 26.71% and this year starting the 1st of this month up 7.62% have seen a nice rebound in small cap funds and emerging market funds. Developed markets fund and precious metals not doing very well. Bond funds are squeaking out a small gain but not very hot either.

This coming week I have my eye on small cap stocks, emerging markets stocks/etf's, and on the watch list is MAT nice chart.

Thats it for this week.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Can Commercial Real Estate ETFs Survive the Tempest?

A big bankruptcy in commercial real estate announced this week raises questions about the health of the sector and its related exchange traded funds (ETFs).

General Growth Properties (GGP), the second-largest operator of shopping malls, filed for Chapter 11 on Thursday. This makes it the biggest retail casualty of the recession, says Paul R. La Monica for CNNMoney.

This development could affect a number of other U.S. companies. One of the largest unsecured creditors of General Growth is Bank of New York Mellon, although the bank is listed as a trustee for other creditors.

But the big worry is that as this recession drags on, is General Growth an anomaly, or the start of a larger trend? One economist sees losses in commercial real estate rising across the financial sector throughout the year. The economist said banks have an estimated $1 trillion exposure to commercial real estate. While it’s half as large as exposure to residential loans, it’s a hurt few banks can afford to take on.

On the bright side is those who feel that commercial real estate won’t wind up in a freefall, because prices didn’t get as far our of whack with reality as residential real estate did. And General Growth’s bankruptcy is not out of the blue - the company has been struggling for months.

Other real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been doing better: Simon Property (SPG), Kimco Realty (KIM) and Equity One (EQY) took advantage of the stock market rally and sold new shares to the public.


I dont own any of these Stocks metioned here.

BB&T (BBT) Declares $0.47 Quarterly Dividend

BB&T Corp. (BBT Quote) reported a sharp drop in first-quarter profit on Friday, but handily topped Wall Street expectations, sending its shares soaring in morning trading.

The Southern regional bank reported $271 million, or 48 cents per share, in earnings, down 37% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts had expected 31 cents per share, on average, according to Thomson Reuters.

I do NOT own shares of BBT.

Con Edison (ED) Approves $0.59 Quartely Dividend Yielding 6.11%

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) today declared a quarterly dividend of 59 cents a share on its common stock, payable June 15, 2009, to stockholders of record as of May 13, 2009.

Consolidated Edison, Inc. is one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $14 billion in annual revenues and $33 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through the following subsidiaries: Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., a regulated utility providing electric, gas, and steam service in New York City and Westchester County, New York; Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., a regulated utility serving customers in a 1,350 square mile area in southeastern New York state and adjacent sections of northern New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania; Consolidated Edison Solutions, Inc., a retail energy supply and services company; Consolidated Edison Energy, Inc., a wholesale energy supply company; and Consolidated Edison Development, Inc., a company that participates in infrastructure projects.


I own shares of ED.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

ONEOK Partners (OKS) Declares $1.08 Quarterly Distribution Yielding 9.91%

The board of directors of the general partner of ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS) has declared a quarterly cash distribution of $1.08 per unit, effective for the first quarter 2009, resulting in an annualized cash distribution of $4.32 per unit. The distribution is payable May 15, 2009, to unitholders of record as of April 30, 2009.

The distribution is unchanged from the fourth quarter 2008.

ONEOK Partners has increased its distribution 35 percent since April 2006, when a subsidiary of ONEOK, Inc. became general partner.

ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS) is one of the largest publicly traded master limited partnerships, and is a leader in the gathering, processing, storage and transportation of natural gas in the U.S. and owns one of the nation's premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting NGL supply in the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions with key market centers. Its general partner is a wholly owned subsidiary of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE), a diversified energy company, which owns 47.7 percent of the overall partnership interest. ONEOK is one of the largest natural gas distributors in the United States, and its energy services operation focuses primarily on marketing natural gas and related services throughout the U.S.

For more information about ONEOK Partners, L.P., visit the Web site: www.oneokpartners.com.


This is a master limited partnership which mails a k-1 form at the end of the year and should be held in a taxable account to get full benefit. I do not own this stock and do not own k-1 stocks in my roth ira.

Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) Announces $0.24 Quarterly Dividend Yielding 3.32%

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (KALU) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend payment of $0.24 per share on the Company's outstanding common stock. The dividend will be payable on May 15, 2009 to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 27, 2009. Kaiser Aluminum also announced that it plans to release it first quarter 2009 financial and operating results on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 after the market closes.

My fair value on this stock is approx. $40.95 currently trading at $29.11. Up 30.24% ytd, next to nothing in debt this is a excellent aluminum play. I do own shares of Kalu, and do recommend this stock.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

PG PUMPS UP Quarterly Dividend by 10% to $0.44 Per Share, Yielding 3.72%

P&G continues 52-year track record of dividend increases
Procter & Gamble Co (PG) declared a 10 percent dividend increase on Tuesday, continuing a string of rising payouts that spans more than half a century.The maker of Tide laundry detergent and Crest toothpaste has raised its dividend for 52 straight years, and analysts had expected that to continue, especially since the company is working to convince investors that it is a solid performer, even in a recession. P&G raised its quarterly dividend to 44 cents per share from 40 cents per share. It said the dividend for the quarter ending in June is payable after May 15 to shareholders of record on April 24.
I own PG stock.

JNJ shares jump after profit beats Street

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - News) on Tuesday said its quarterly earnings fell, hurt by generic competition for its Risperdal schizophrenia drug and the strong dollar, but lower costs enabled the company to beat Wall Street expectations.The diversified health-care company, whose shares rose more than 3 percent in premarket trading, said it earned $3.51 billion, or $1.26 per share, in the first quarter. That compared with $3.6 billion, or $1.26 per share, in the year-earlier period.

Analysts on average expected $1.22 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.J&J reaffirmed its 2009 profit profit forecast of $4.45 to $4.55 per share.All eyes are likely to focus on J&J's results on Tuesday because it is a component of the Dow Jones industrial average and the first major U.S. health-care company to report first-quarter results.Global company revenue fell 7.2 percent to $15 billion in the period, well below the $15.43 billion Reuters Estimates forecast. Sales would have fallen only about 1 percent if not for the stronger dollar, which depresses the value of overseas sales when converted back into U.S. currency.
But J&J bolstered results by cutting spending more than 10 percent on research, and on sales, general and administrative expenses.


"They've managed things well, reducing expenses the way they had telegraphed they would, and it's going straight to the bottom line," said Steve Brozak, an analyst with WBB Securities.
"This is a game of expectations, and even though sales were weak across all three of J&J's business units, people were expecting far worse numbers," Brozak said.Sales of consumer products fell 8.7 percent to $3.7 billion despite strong demand for J&J's Listerine mouthwash and Neutrogena skin-care line, as the strong dollar battered overseas sales.

Global sales of prescription drugs fell 10.1 percent to $5.8 billion, as cheaper generics wrested away two-thirds of Risperdal sales and demand for anemia drugs Procrit and Eprex continued to wither due to safety concerns.Sales of medical devices and diagnostics slipped 2.9 percent to $5.5 billion, as J&J's Cypher stent faced brutal competition from Abbott Laboratories Inc's (ABT - News) newer Xience stent.
Stents are tiny scaffold-like devices used to prop open heart arteries that have been cleared of plaque.

I own shares of JNJ and Abt and will be adding to my stake in both in the future. 

GWW (Grainger) Reports Mixed Q1 Earnings 16% decline in profits

Grainger (NYSE: GWW) reports Q1 EPS of $1.25, versus the analyst estimate of $1.07. Revenue for the quarter was $1.47 billion, versus the consensus of $1.49 billion.


The Chicago-based company still beat Wall Street expectations, and its shares rose in premarket trading.
W.W. Grainger recorded net income of $96.4 million, or $1.25 per share, down from $114.2 million, or $1.41 per share, in the same period last year.Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 was $1.47 billion, down 12 percent from $1.66 billion in the same period last year.

      Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.06 per share on revenue of $1.48 billion."Businesses and institutions have responded to the recession by buying less and looking for ways to improve productivity," said James Ryan, president and chief executive of W.W. Grainger. "We do not believe that we've seen the bottom to the sales decline and expect increased pricing pressure throughout the remainder of the year."

           W.W. Grainger said it will expand its sales force and offer more customer incentives in the second quarter, which is expected to cost between $25 million and $50 million in 2009.
As part of cost reduction plans announced in February, the company said it eliminated 200 employees and incurred severance expense of $5 million, or 3 cents per share, in the first quarter.
It said it expects to cut 300 to 400 workers this year.Shares of W.W. Grainger rose $2.76, or 3.6 percent, to $80 in premarket trading.

 I do own shares of GWW and plan to buy more in the future.

MetLife (MET) says NO THANKS To Treasury's Capital Purchase Program

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) issued the following statement today in response to inquiries regarding its potential participation in the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Capital Purchase Program:

MetLife, which has been a federally chartered bank holding company since launching MetLife Bank, N.A. in 2001, has elected not to participate in the program.

"MetLife is well positioned, with approximately $5 billion in excess capital, a strong balance sheet and leading market positions in our core group and individual insurance businesses, where our revenues continue to be healthy," said C. Robert Henrikson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of MetLife, Inc. "MetLife has already taken actions to reinforce its strong financial position, including raising capital in the marketplace. We have therefore decided not to participate in the Program."

"Although a number of economic challenges remain, MetLife is well positioned to continue meeting the needs of our clients," added Henrikson. "We repositioned our investment portfolio over a year ago for the current recession; completed a successful $2.3 billion common stock offering last October; and successfully remarketed over $1 billion in debt earlier this year. We are confident that we have the finicial strength to continue to succeed now and over the long-term."

MetLife also confirmed today that, as a federally chartered bank holding company with more than $100 billion in total assets, the company is one of the top 19 U.S. banking organizations participating in the Treasury's capital planning exercise being conducted under the department's Capital Assistance Program. MetLife is working closely with the Federal Reserve on this exercise.

I do not own metlife stock.

Wells Fargo Earnings Announcement To hot to Handle

Bloomberg reported Monday that Wells Fargo (WFC) may need an additional $5OB to pay back the U.S. Treasury and to cover loan losses. WFC surprised the market last week, by pre – announcing a $3B profit in the 1st quarter, but provided limited details of that pre – announcement.We should not be euphoric about this announcement, as there are some unknown details and negative headwinds that the company still faces.
With the current job losses continue to increase at a 700K per week clip, we can expect the credit losses for WFC will rise with the higher unemployment. This will reduce the company’s bottom line, and will impact their earnings going forward.

As reported by Bloomberg, WFC charge – off rate significantly increased to $3.3B in its current quarter compared to $2.8B from the last month.

Credit Suisse analyst Moshe Orenbuch stated,
“Given rising unemployment, continued home price declines and general macroeconomic headwinds, WFC’s consumer and commercial portfolios remain at risk for meaningfully higher credit losses over 2009 and 2010.”

I think this bank stock as a lot of work to do, this rise is premature, I do not hold the shares at this time and dont intend to buy in the near future.

ANH pumps up Quarterly Dividend to $0.30 per share Yeilding 19.25%

Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation (NYSE: ANH) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share for the first quarter of 2009. The common stock dividend is payable on May 19, 2009 to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 30, 2009. This is an increase compared to Dec. '08 dividend of $0.26 and Oct. '08 dividend of $0.25.

About Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation

Anworth is a mortgage real estate investment trust which invests primarily in securities guaranteed by U.S. Government-sponsored agencies, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae. Anworth generates income for distribution to shareholders primarily based on the difference between the yield on its mortgage assets and the cost of its borrowings.

I do not hold ANH shares at this time.

GS Cuts Quarterly Dividend by 25.5% to $0.35 per Share

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) cuts its quarterly dividend by 25.5% from $0.47 to $0.35 per common share. I dont own GS shares, as they do not meet my dividend threshold.

Monday, April 13, 2009

iShares ETF Sale? Not So Fast!

Barclays’ line of iShares exchange traded funds (ETFs) were sold last week to a private-equity firm. Or were they?

Under the terms of the deal struck with CVC Capital Partners, Barclays is allowed to solicit new offers for the line and “potentially other related businesses” for at least 45 days, beginning on April 15, reports Joe Morris for Ignites.

According to the Suday Telegraph, Barclays intends to do just that by sending out feelers to other fund managers. The list includes Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab and Deutsche Bank.

The entire Barclays Global Investors unit could be on the block, some sources are saying. The unit has nearly $1.5 trillion under management. If there were any bids for BGI that included iShares, analysts say they would need to be at least $11.9 billion to gain board approval. If Barclays terminates the deal with CVC, it would have to pay a $175 million penalty.

SKT Boosts Quarterly Dividend to $0.3825, Yielding 4.69%

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc.(NYSE: SKT) announced today that its Board of Directors approved an increase in the annual dividend on its common stock shares from $1.52 per share to $1.53 per share. Simultaneously, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $.3825 per share for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009. A cash dividend of $.3825 per share will be payable on May 15, 2009 to holders of record on April 30, 2009. The dividend is yielding 4.69%.

At this time I do not own skt. I do not recommend this stock, currently trading with a P/E of 49.15 P/B of 4.85 times super overpriced. Lots of debt, has gone up approx. 21% this month. I will be staying clear of this stock.

Take-Two Buyout Rumors Shares Up 14%

Barron's is saying the two day 20% rally of Take-Two (NASDAQ:TTWO) shares is due to buyout rumors, whatever the case may be, its a nice Monday surprise for shareholders. TTWO is blowing up. TTWO does not pay a dividend, I do not own or recommend this stock at this time.

My Broker Folio Investing Da BOMB!!

Ok this is where I tell you all about my broker of choice folioinvesting.com

They charge $29.00 per month or $290.00 for the whole year. You get unlimited trades in both windows. Here is some info from their site.

Ready-to-Go Folios

We have over 100 specially designed investment portfolios, what we call Ready-to-Go Folios to get you started. Each is built around a particular investing strategy — such as a market sector, investing style, geographic region, or retirement-focus — like our Target Date Folios. Every Ready-to-Go Folio has an overview of the securities in the investment portfolio as well as how they are selected and updated.

We revise and rebalance Ready-to-Go Folios periodically and we send you email alerts each time. You can act on these updates or not. When was the last time a mutual fund manager kept you in the loop? Compare Folios to mutual funds

Build Your Own Folios

We’ve made building your own Folios as simple as our Ready-to-Go Folios are to pick. Give each investment portfolio a name and add one stock or up to 100 stocks, ETFs or mutual funds to each. Build your own investment portfolio if you have your own stock picks, an investment strategy you like, or you're following a blog, newsletter, forum, investment club or anything else.

Customize Your Folio

With one click, you can allocate your dollars equally across all of the holdings in your investment portfolio, use market cap weightings, or customize each security weighting. We’ll make sure it all adds up.

What Else Do I Need to Know?

  • A Folio can contain up to 100 securities
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  • No commissions for buying, selling or modifying a Folio with our Folio Unlimited Plan


Sign up now and get the first 60 days for FREE! Click here to open a new account! They handle ira's and roth ira's. I have been using them since Sept. of 2008, my broker of choice.

Cat Declares $0.42 Quarterly Dividend Yeilding 5.75%

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.42 per share of common stock, payable May 20, 2009, to stockholders of record at the close of day April 20, 2009.

In order to receive the dividend, investors must own the stock at least one day prior to the ex-dividend date of April 16. The dividend yields 5.75%.

Cat is one of my top Industrial holdings in my industrial folio. Up 23.60% in the last month, down 55.26% in the last year. A perfect buying opportunity.

Payx Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.31 Yeilding 4.6%

The Board Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) declared a regular quarterly dividend of $.31 per share payable May 15, 2009 to shareholders of record May 1, 2009.

To receive the dividend, you must own the stock before the ex-dividend date of April 29, 2009.

At the time of this writing I do currently hold this stock in my dividend folio.

MVC Capital approves $0 .12 per share Quarterly Dividend

MVC Capital, Inc. (NYSE: MVC) has declared a dividend of $0.12 per share, or a total of approximately $2.9 million, to be distributed to shareholders for the second quarter of fiscal 2009. The dividend is payable on April 30, 2009 to shareholders of record on April 23, 2009. This distribution represents the sixteenth consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the Fund since implementing a dividend policy in July of 2005. Current annual dividend yield is 5.0%.

MVC Capital, Inc. is a non-diversified, closed-end management company.

Click here for further info on this closed end fund at this time i am not recommending this stock the expense ratio is 4.05% trades a average daily volume of 109,000. Does however trade at a 50.04% discount to nav.

Seagate Suspends Dividend

For the June quarter, the company expects the addressable market to be flat with the March quarter, with revenue of $1.9 billion to $2.2 billion, a bit ahead of Street expectations at $1.86 billion.

Seagate also said that to conserve cash it will no longer pay a quarterly dividend; the move will save $60 million a year.

The company also announced a private placement of $430 million of senior secured second-priority notes due 2014; proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including the pay down or all or some of its $300 million of floating rate senior notes due October 1 and other indebtedness.

STX today is down 68 cents, or 10.2%, to $5.97.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

1st Blog entry 04/12/2009

Hello all 1st blog entry new dividend rookie investor started investing in September of 2008. Going to use this blog to rattle of my thoughts and gather ideas in my new investing adventure. Currently i use Folioinvesting.com as my online discount broker of choice. I also use Principal Financial Group for my company sponsored 401k. I use a roth ira as my main investing choice in my self directed account. Currently put 6 percent of pay in 401k to get the full company match of 50% of the first 6 percent. I then do 100.00 a month in my roth ira. Thats all for now just warming up