Why I Haven’t Purchased a Stock in 30 Days

30 days everyone.  It has been a long 30 days since I have purchased a stock.  An investment.  A bridge stone to financial freedom and it feels… well, there really isn’t one word for it.  It is weird, fast and unusual, to say the least.  As I sit and see the calendar continue to gain momentum towards, now, the end of March, I sit back and think, whoa, it’s been over 4 weeks since an investment move has been made.  Why?  Here is what I was able to come up with.

Tie

30 Days and No Purchase

Why have I gone an alarmingly high 30 days with no stock purchase?  It feels like 10 years ago and just yesterday at the same time that I made a whallop of an investment into T. Rowe Price (TROW) on the 24th of February.  What’s interesting is the price point was at $66.45 and is now at $72.15 as of 3/24 close before the Easter weekend.  That’s a $5.70 increase since the purchase date or a crazy 8.577% increase!  What the heck is going on here?  Hence, another reason why I haven’t really made a purchase.  However, as I go down the winding path of a never ending banter, let’s list out some reasons.

1. ) Appreciation/Crooked Graph of the Market – The market is showing “weird” signs of appreciation.  With T. Rowe price above appreciating almost 9%, the market is acting quite goofy lately.  Even ADM has increased over 10% since my last purchase.  A reason why I haven’t purchased then, in the last 30 days, has been the market itself has made it “not easy” to make individual purchases.  Actually, I just looked at the S&P over the last 30 days and the top 500 is up 5.5%:

S&P 500

2.) Given that stocks are back on the rise – couldn’t have come at a better time for me.  I have quite a bit of Federal & Local taxes to pay – love Uncle Sam, and this time – we are talking well, well over the 4 digit mark.  Additionally, you combine that with two bachelor parties, two weekends and a big vacation trip planned coming up – the cash that I’ve been able to “save” at this time being will likely be used – all for great things, but nonetheless, takes “away” from the investing pot, hands down.  Who knows – Bert’s been talking a big game of potentially selling his First Energy (FE) stock – maybe I could do the same and have capital to use for a dividend foundation stock?  Eh? 

3.) However – I am conservative in nature and I know I have budged quite high for these expenses listed above in #2.  With that, I think I’ll have cash suddenly and my plan is to have it ready for my new found 2016 goal.  That goal would be to staying committed on making larger investments into the stock market of $3,000+ each time, thus reducing trading costs and heavily increasing my dividend income and Dividend Reinvestment each time that newly acquired/added position pays out.  What’s interesting – I could always download and use Robinhood and have absolute no trading costs, hmm… thoughts?

4.) My watch list isn’t so “watch” anymore.  As you re-call – back in the early days of March I had a what was called a February stock watch list blog post.  What was on there?  The likes of – Pfizer (PFE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Aflac (AFL).  These were all already stocks I owned, however, the prices at the time of the article were – $29.70, $106.38 and $60.97, a more compelling case.  They all 3 are now trading, in order, $30.08 (Up 1.28%), $108.31 (Up 1.81%) and $62.70 (Up 2.83%).  Aka – they have all increased since then – not by too, too much, but all up nonetheless.  If PFE dips back below $30 – my eyes are locked in there.  But another reason – the stocks that I want, are more expensive and well, damn – no one wants that.

5.) Two words – Busy Season.  Nuff Said.

Overall Purchase-less Conclusion

Here I am.  Sitting on cash.  Cash that I really can’t use due to those expenses above.  However, the market has increased quite a bit that it has allured me away from being active into the market, but also busy season, has taken a toll on the free time of analyzing and staying in tune on the almost minute basis that I was on.  Therefore, the combination of life events, tax consequences an appreciating market – has pushed me away from being active over the last 30 days.  Can this be the first time that I don’t go out and buy an individual stock purchase in the month?  I say individual stock purchase, as through work I still have 5% of my pay going to the Roth 401K option, so an investment still does occur, just isn’t an active investment purchase.

What do you guys think?  Have you guys slowed down at all and/or feel the same way?  Would kill to hear your thoughts and what you are seeing.  Any big bargains that have been in/out lately?  Thanks again everyone, Happy Easter weekend, God bless and looking forward to talking with everyone.  Talk soon!

-Lanny

 

40 thoughts on “Why I Haven’t Purchased a Stock in 30 Days

  1. I haven’t bought any stocks since January. Things are kind of expensive right now. Won’t hurt to wait.

    We just spent a ton of cash on our basketball tickets and a pretty big vacation. Totally worth it.

    • CFW,

      It’s funny, most of us havent made a purchase – it seems like we are all in the same boat.

      BBall tickets – awesome – where at?? Also what type of vaca? Sounds like you are picking some R&R!

      -Lanny

  2. It’s been pretty crazy to see the rebound over the last month or so. Especially considering how the year started off. Holding cash seems like a pretty prudent move and when we finally get to switch back to regular investing our plan is to try and keep a bigger cash buffer to take advantage of opportunities more fruitfully. I’m thinking somewhere in the order of $10-15k cash in the brokerage account and then make regular investments with the dividends and fresh savings that bring the balance over whatever limit we set.

    I’m not paying too close attention to the markets since I know we’re on the sidelines for the next 6 months at a minimum but from looking at my own portfolio there’s nothing that looks especially intriguing here. But I’m sure the markets will roll over at some point in the future to give much better value opportunities.

    All the best and enjoy those 2 bachelor parties and the upcoming vacation.

    • JC,

      I can’t agree with you more. January and parts of February – made me think the buying spree on dividend aristocrats wouldn’t stop. Whoa – a $10K+ investment, HUGE. Dividend reinvestment/usage will be huge with that additional investment of that size – easily can add $300-$400 in dividends from there.

      The only few stocks I think are intriguing were those that I listed in my watch list in my eyes, it’s tough, but yeah – sidelines I’ll be sitting, right there with ya.

      Thanks again JC, appreciate it and talk soon!

      -Lanny

  3. Yes, totally slowed down. This past month I dipped into savings to put down three big purchases for LyondellBassel (purchased @ $74/share with yield of , now $85), Las Vegas Sands (bought @ $50 with yield of 5.7%, now $52), and the creation of a Roth account with a purchase of EPR (bought @ $63 with yield of 6.1% , now just under $65). Then I hopped on a plane to Las Vegas for March Madness. Also had a somewhat large tax bill that was owed. I am now in the process of planning an out of the country trip at the end of next month. Needless to say I don’t foresee myself in a position to make any future purchases again until May.

    The good news, dividends are flowing in as I cracked the $200 barrier for one month in March and should come close to $150 in April. So I am content to save and build up reserves and enjoy life outside the market in the meantime. The snowball appears to be taking care of itself just fine.

    • TDM,

      Thanks for the post. March Madness eh? How wild was that?? But yeah – with that trip, taxes and an abroad trip = cash usage which = limited cash for stock purchases.

      Congrats on the > $200 for dividends. I think I’ll be closing in over $900 potentially, so I can agree with that – definitely adds an “investment” almost on its own.

      Let the snowball build, even during the warmer months. Sounds like you have exciting times ahead – keep us posted!

      -Lanny

  4. Ha, same here. We have bought very little to none in the last month or so. However, with an impending real estate transaction, we can certainly use the cash!

    Good luck with Uncle Sam.

    • CF,

      With an impending RE transaction, that will be taking some sort of cash without a doubt. It appears the trend in March has been = sidelines with maybe a small purchase here or there to stay consistent, but no real alarmingly great deals are out there.

      Thanks for my luck with our favorite Uncle… we’ll see what my local taxation states, my federal crossed the 4 digit mark for amount owed, ouch!

      -Lanny

  5. Nothing wrong with taking a break. Its great having financial flexibility. Nothing says you have to invest all the time. Having the ability to pay extra bills and going on fun events is great, without taking up more debt.
    Great work,
    DM

  6. I have slowed down myself. My last purchase was AFL in Feb. And yes, beginning of year expenses, taxes, home repairs (roof,hvac) will take tha majority of my savings and more. Things should be better later in the year.
    D4s

    • D4S,

      Nice job with Aflac – been on my list for a bit now as well. But funny that we are all feeling the “pause” on the purchase button.

      Speaking of the roof – I may have to order up a gutter cleaning service here shortly to clean those out. Agh, thanks for the reminder!

      -Lanny

  7. I’m with you. I’ve made only 2 small buys this month (one of them PFE)… they were both less than ideal.

    I think we are in for some better deals in the next few months so I’m collecting cash.

    • Pig,

      Thanks for the comment. At least you made some purchases!! That’s still awesome, even if they weren’t as large as you typically do – you stayed consistent!

      I believe so too, I’m aiming/gearing towards May and the remainder of the year. Beginning 6/1 – things should look a whole lot clearer for me.

      -Lanny

  8. Lanny,
    Don’t feel so bad. I have 1 Bach Party this year and at least 1 next year. They can be super expensive, especially there are very grand designs on such an even. I also am going to Europe (though mainly on points).
    Personally, I feel the pain of the tax man and other things too – its just that time of year. Plus I’m trying to dismantle some debts. Stuff happens.
    If you want, though, a good idea is to start a Loyal3 account to build a few small positions to merge into your standard investment account. That is what I am doing now, and its pretty easy to go about adding small chunks of change.
    Good luck with it all,
    Gremlin

    • Gremlin –

      With Loyal3 – do you get DRIP and/or partial shares?

      Too funny, few bachelor parties lined up for you too eh? Should be fun and I’m excited to hear about the Euro trip as well – should be amazing, jealous!!

      Thanks for everything – good luck with you too Grem.

      -Lanny

      • Lanny,
        Loyal3 offers no DRIP, I just use the fee free service to selectively reinvest dividends.
        Got at least 2 bachelor parties on the calendar for sure. Though who knows if it will expand.
        – Gremlin

    • MMP,

      Thank you for coming by. I agree – hoping I was conservative on my estimates of cash usage for taxes, and other bills that are coming due. It’ll be interesting. I assume you’ve taken a sideline a well?

      -Lanny

  9. You are not alone. My last stock purchase was 8th of February with an ADM buy. I will make a March buy with another week to go before the month is up. I want to stay consistent with my buys as I have been buying something every month since I became a dedicated dividend growth investor.

    • Hut,

      Thank you and whoa – didn’t realize it was that long ago for you – that’s 45+ days on your end. This market, tough to break at this point. I agree – I can’t think of many months where I haven’t made an individual stock investment. We do still have a few business days to go, 4, but this could be a month that no movement is made. Best of luck!

      -Lanny

  10. I dont blame you for not buying. The markets are well oversold at the moment. Might as well wait for the next dip…but you could look at doing something with the upcoming allergan/pfizer valspar/sherwin mergers possibly.

    • I think you mean overbought. The markets are very pricey overall right now. I’m holding on to cash as well. I don’t believe in “sitting on the sidelines” as a DGI but I’m not going to buy something at a premium just so I can say I bought something.

  11. I use Robinhood and love it. Clearly its not useful for any research, but you can’t really beat free trades. Have you considered Loyal3? I use those two to make purchases, and have not had to pay commissions in a long time. Makes it easy to buy a few shares at a time and hoping for it to add up over time!

    -The Dividend Mogul

    • DM,

      Nice on the robinhood app. Does Loyal3 do dividend reinvestment and/or partial shares??

      Obviously saving money via trading costs is what I’ve learned over the last few years, my caveat to that is larger investments now. Hmm..

      -Lanny

  12. When the stock was down in February, I was in the buying spree. Now that’s it’s up again, I build up my cash position. But an opportunity came up on a Park front, water front rental, potential for a duplex rental. I couldn’t pass it up. It could be the house where Mr. and I can retire at. We’d move back to the Midwest to live for six months, then six months in Puerto Rico should we acquire a beach front property there, it would be ideal. Beside the house will be paid in cash, I’d have to rake my stock account to fund the closing. Yup, that’s the reason I haven’t been buying of late.

    Of course, Uncle Sam does have some say. 🙂

    • Vivianne,

      Thank you for coming by here. Interesting and exciting I would say – high market = no purchases; potential duplex rental for retirement = more enticing and exciting, life taking over that’s for sure. Have you made any movement?

      Ah.. Uncle Sam…Nooo!!! hahah.

      -Lanny

  13. There’s nothing wrong with holding (and hoarding up cash), you aren’t planning on sitting on it forever, just biding your time. As a famous investor said, you don’t have to swing at every pitch.

    Good luck for when you do deploy your cash next, I’m sure it will be a good one 🙂

    Tristan

    • Tristan,

      Thank you. I know that’s making a move in itself – not buying an over priced stock, right? I like the swing quote – taking that one with me if you don’t mind!

      Thank you very much T – much appreciated. Hope you enjoy your Easter Sunday!

      -Lanny

  14. We’ve been relatively quite these past two months as well. With the combination of the second installment of property taxes due and the recent recovery in the market, the market just doesn’t look as attractive as it did at the beginning of the year. There are still a few good buys out there so we hope to get back into the swing of things in April. Another small market correction couldn’t hurt though. 🙂 AFFJ

    • AFFJ,

      As T stated above – not swinging is making a decision each day when the pitch is thrown, eh? It doesn’t look attractive in my eyes, and it’s funny – it actually is unattractive at the right time for me as well.

      Let’s hope that the dividend income and increases keep coming and when the corrections arise – we will hopefully be ready! Happy Easter!

      -Lanny

  15. I finally had to average down into PNC – only purchase for March. Like Captain said, no values currently in the market short of Energy – and I’ll add Financials.

    No harm in sitting on cash as you’ll probably have unforeseen expenses on the horizon.

    To answer your prior question re: Loyal3 – No DRIP (there are rumors of one company but I haven’t found it); Fractional shares Yes; Minimum transaction $10, Dividends credited to your account generally the morning of the pay date.

    • Charlie,

      Congrats on the purchase though into PNC, by the way! Big bank.

      No value at all, it’s nice. But Loyal3 – it is enticing; no DRIP isn’t the biggest deal for everyone, but for some reason I like it! Kills me, eh!?

      -Lanny

  16. I have started using Robin Hood to build small positions and have no complaints. The only negative is waiting 4 to 5 days for funding to clear. The positive of commission free trades is worth the wait. I have been able to build a nice dividend portfolio with no cost. That is awesome. I also have accounts with TD Ameritrade. They are not commission free but offer a great dividend reinvestment program. I just enrolled all of my dividend paying stocks into the program. Super easy and TD Ameritrade does not charge anything for the reinvestment.

    • Kevin,

      Interesting – how much is TD Ameritrade per trade? What’s the big thing you like about them?

      I have a few co-workers that are big on Robinhood, love the technology, no commission and ease of access. But I have heard my buddy grimace at the wait time for funding, tough call and do you know if they have plans to revamp that?

      -Lanny

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