Investor's Opinion

Portfolio Update: Long Over Due

Published: 2012-11-09 12:44:00 EST by Unknown

It has, once again, been too long since my last post. In the time that has passed there have been seven changes to my portfolio. I have made 5 purchases, 1 sale, and had an option position expire on me. The 4 of the 5 purchases and the one sale were strategic moves to my portfolio. The remaining 1 purchase and option expiration are my speculation plays.

To start I BTO additional shares in my ETP position. This purchase added to my dividend payout for the second phase of each quarter. This was done on the 3rd of October.

On the 8th of October, I BTO a SAND Nov 17 2012 $15 Call option position. This was done as my speculation play. Unfortunately, I have to admit that the decision to get in was poorly timed and selected. I should have waited for the pull back and then choose an expiration further out. As of this post, it is in the red but seems to be showing signs of improvement. I will be holding it until my profitable sale trigger is hit or it's expiration, which is a week away from this post.

On the 19th of October, my speculation play for FB Oct 20 2012 $15 Put options locked and expired. This was again an unfortunate speculation gone wrong. In hinds sight I should have taken my profits when I had them or probably should have chosen to purchase one option closer to the money instead of three so far out of the money. I still think FB is over-priced, but it seems that they are finally accepting that they have to make revenue in order to attract investors and are making changes that will actually create revenue even at the expense of loosing some of there ~1 billion users.

On the 31st of October, I STC my entire position of DE. I made this decision because DE did not fit the minimum yield requirement of my strategy of holding high dividend yielding stocks. Fortunately, I was able to get out with a very small profit.

On the 2nd of November, I BTO additional shares in two of my existing positions, T and VZ. These purchases added to my dividend payout for the second phase of each quarter. As a result I am almost 70% of my phase one dividend payouts, which are currently the largest.

Finally on the 7th of November, I BTO additional shares in my MCD position. This purchase added to my dividend payout for the third phase of each quarter. As a result I am almost 50% of my phase one dividend payouts.

Despite the fact that falling over the "Fiscal Cliff" will result in an increase of the dividend tax rate, I am not going to change my core strategy of building a portfolio of dividend paying stocks. My portfolio is not currently generating enough income to alter my effective tax rate significantly. I will, however, use the fear in the market to build up my positions.

That is my opinion, you can take it or leave it. Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

BTO - buy-to-open/bought-to-open
DE - Deere & Co.
ETP - Energy Transfer Partners LP
FB - Facebook CL A
MCD - McDonalds Corp
SAND - Sandstorm Gold LTD
STC - sell-to-close/sold-to-close
T - AT&T, Inc
VZ - Verizon Communications

Labels: call options, dividend, dividend yield, dividends, option picks, option strategies, put options, stock picks, stock strategies, trade terminology in use

Updated: 2012-11-09 12:44:18 EST