Lanny’s Recent Purchase – HCP

May has been a very fun month, to say the least!  I’ve been a more active investor, I feel, and have made a few purchases actually.  The market has been interesting lately, finally a little correction (as it so seems) is taking place and amazing bargain stocks are shedding their heads on the horizon, and damn – do I wish I had more cash sitting around!  I made a purchase this month, come and check it out.

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Bert’s April Savings Rate Summary

This has been the busiest month for me, by far, since Lanny and I began the Dividend Diplomats’ Savings Challenge last year.  I found myself having many new inflows and outflows this month, which can be both a good and a bad thing.  The question is, with all of this new activity, was I still able to achieve a savings rate of 60% of this month?

Savings Rate

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Expected Dividend Increases in June 2015

I alluded to this fact in my article last month, but I have now officially completed a 12 month cycle in my expected dividends increases article!  This has been one of our more consistent articles in our one year of blogging and I have enjoyed summarizing Dividend Aristocrats that are expected to announce dividend increases in the upcoming month.  Why?  Because it has introduced me to many new dividend paying stocks that I never considered before because either the yield is too low or they do not receive the same coverage as your Walmarts, PGs, JNJs, etc.   So now that we completed one 12-month cycle, let’s begin a new chapter and review Dividend Aristocrats that are expected to announce a dividend increase in June 2015!

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Lanny’s April Income and Expense Summary

As you have come to see from us Diplomats – each month we share our savings from the income and expense we have endured during the previous month.  Our goal is to achieve 60% savings rate in an ever inflationary lifestyle from advertisers, television, peers and co workers.  Though it is difficult, we know the combination of being frugal, saving and investing allows us to achieve our financial freedom goals faster, by still enjoying the benefits of life itself.  Was I able to hit 60% this month?  Let’s check out my income and expense summary from April!

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Bert’s Recent Purchase – NSC

When I changed jobs recently, I received a nice pay increase and I could not wait to deploy the extra cash into the market.  I figured that living off of my old salary and investing the extra capital would provide a much-needed jolt to my investing portfolio to help me reach my goal of investing $15,000 in fresh capital this year.   To help automate this process, I began direct depositing $400 of my paycheck into my Capital One bank account, which means the funds are available to use in my portfolio instantly.   While the $400 may seem small, a series of $400 purchases in a stock adds up quickly and you can establish a strong position in a stock before you know it.   Why am I bringing all of this up?  Because I was paid last week and had $400 to invest, which was perfect timing for one of the stocks I own and have been building a solid position in to continue to decrease.   I think you all see where I am going with this….with my most recent purchase, I added to my growing position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC).

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Dividend Diplomats May Watch List

Okay everyone, we are almost 5 months into the year and how are we doing with our goals?  Any stocks on the radar?  Well, us Dividend Diplomats have a few stocks on our watch list and we are ready to dive into what we are seeing in the market, what undervalued dividend investing stocks are worth taking a peak at.  Maybe some we already own or some we don’t even have a position yet.  OR maybe a stock or two the other diplomat owns and we jealous and want a piece of the action!  Whatever it may be – lets go take a look at what is on our May Dividend Stock Watch List!

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Lanny’s Recent Purchase – DOW

It’s been a few weeks since my last purchase in April, as I’ve been much more selective with what I’m deploying out there.  I have officially received capital on Monday the 18th and was excited to see what the opening day was going to bring me.  One stock I had a look out for was increasing around $1 per share and I just wasn’t feeling the additional market value appreciation and thought I’d grab them again at some point soon.  However, this company below was also on my list.  I set in a price for a limit order and I kid you not – it dipped down to just a cent over it without triggering the purchase!  BUT… the end of the day occurred and the stock dipped to the price (actually did hit a penny below it) and my limit order triggered and boom, we now have a new purchase… and it’s a familiar one.

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