Notable Dividend Increases – April 2016

Dividend increases – one major reason why we are in the dividend investing community, right?  The month of April is always a fun month for the Dividend Diplomat Portfolio, as there are a few DOW companies that increase their dividend through this wonderful month.  We wanted to write an article to bring forth those notable dividend increases this month of April and to see the impact on my portfolio and then to see how you and other investors benefited.  Don’t worry – I’ll keep it to 3 stocks!  Now… let’s dive on in! Continue reading

Bert’s Q1 2016 Goals Review

The first quarter behind us.  Boy did the stock market take us on a quite a ride for the first quarter.  Plenty of stocks to consider/grab in the first part of the quarter and….well…the stock market has not stopped climbing for months.  Regardless of how Mr. Market performed, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on the first three months and see how I am progressing towards the 2016 goals that I set back in December.  It is still early on, so I can easily tweak where necessary!  Now, lets dive into my Q1 2016 goals review.

Energie-Check-up-II1 Continue reading

Lanny’s Q1 2016 Goals Update

Now that Q1 is long and in the books and we are already more than 3 weeks into April – I thought it would be a great time to reflect on the last 3 months and see where I am in line with my goals.  There are 9 months to go and I’m curious if I am seeing any sort of light at the end of this tunnel.  Of course, doing a Q1 goals update, also means that another busy season (#5 for me) is in the books and the air becomes more apparent for me to breathe in – all of you accountants – you know what I’m talking about!  I set lofty goals back in December of 2015 for my 2016 year and this first quarter has been a blur.  With the blur – let’s see if I was able to make out anywhere to make progress.

Energie-Check-up-II1 Continue reading

2 Low Dividend Yield Stocks on My Watch List

I am getting the itch.  Man oh man am I getting the investing itch.  Lanny wrote about how it has been at least 30 days since he has purchased a stock and that article was written over a month ago!  Guess what, we still haven’t bought a stock since that article was published.  So while the market continues to rise, I have been collecting cash patiently waiting for the right moment to strike.   Q1 earnings are starting to be released and there may be a crack in the armor of a couple of low yielding companies I have been following.   Let’s see which two low dividend yield stocks I have on my radar.

Watch List

Continue reading

3 Ways to Simplify My Finances

Life is short, we all know that.  Over time, small tweaks to financial habits can build up into a bureaucratic nightmare.  That’s what I think happened to me and it caused an unnecessary burden.  At the time of my decision, I’m sure getting that bank bonus was a great idea.  I’m sure opening this new cash back credit card that is slightly different than my hotel points credit card appealed to me for some reason.  There is nothing wrong with adding layers, cards, rewards programs like Swagbucks, etc. and I don’t want that to be the takeaway here.  But for me, it has become too much. I want simplicity and efficiency with my financial habit.  In this article, I identified three pain points in my current finances and propose solutions and action items for each.

lead

Continue reading

Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) Stock Analysis

Banks.  BIG Banks.  This is one industry in 2016 that has not taken off/sky rocketed or have said – even with negative evidence troubling the world we are going to appreciate.  This is one of the industries that has looked in the mirror and said – oil, world crises, earnings, and other economic factors do play a toll on my business and our price will reflect that.  As the S&P is slightly up for the year, one company is down 13.39% year to date.  Let’s find out the Dividend Diplomat Stock Metrics over… Wells Fargo & Company (WFC).

Wells Fargo Continue reading