Wow! We are halfway through November already. I can’t believe it; 2015 is quickly approaching. Each month we have been putting a watch list together to help us and the readers find that next investment. Sometimes the list leads to a purchase and sometimes the stock appreciates so quickly it flies off of our watch list. So which companies are we watching over the next few weeks? Let’s find out!
What is the one thing that dividend growth investors love more than receiving a dividend check? A company announcing a dividend increase! Judging by my excitement and the fact that I am writing this article in the first place, it is a pretty safe to assume I just received a double-digit dividend hike! Recently, Dow Chemical announced a pretty nice dividend increase for its shareholders. However, the value did not stop at the dividend increase. This article will review both actions taken by Dow Chemical to increase their shareholder’s value in their investment.
As you all have come to know – I usually try to throw a little spin to the titles of articles that I write. First it was Toys & Alcohol, then it was locked, cocked & ready to unload or even CRUSHING $4,000 in dividend income. I hope that this title doesn’t let you down – Tech & Toys. It just has a ring to it, doesn’t it? On November 11, 2014 I had two purchases that went into “play”.
With the weight of my portfolio being fairly little in technology or technological infrastructure, outside of Intel (INTC), I ended up purchasing a legacy tech stock in International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) back in October. Given that it has remain unchanged and that I have little presence in this arena – in regards to information technology services, as that is a different ball game, I chose to do a detailed IBM stock analysis this week! We shall see if it comes through our metrics we like to see and could be up for a potential purchase.
Another month down in the dividend income books. Monthly I will evaluate and show the results of which companies paid dividends, progress towards the year and comparison to the past. This is a great way to track my dividends to see if I’m on pace for financial freedom. We are changing it up going forward to have both Bert & Lanny’s dividend income summary into one post – to save on postings/focus for the month. This hopefully allows readers to also track and compare Lanny vs. Bert and who is dominating who in the dividend income playing field, isn’t that right BERT?! Now onto our October dividend income results! Time to step up to the plate
ARCP always seems to find a way to be in the news. Whether the company is acquiring a large amount of properties, selling assets, possibly spinning-off a segment of its business, etc., it always seemed the management team was pushing the flooring the pedal trying to improve the company. Until recently (2nd quarter of 2014), this aggressive strategy kept the share price climbing and allowed ARCP to quickly ascend and compete with the large, established competition (O) in the industry. And quite frankly, the success of the company, management’s aggressive nature, and the dividend were major factors in my decision to invest in the company. However, as all ARCP shareholders know, the company has had a very difficult two-week stretch. In this article, I will summarize what has transpired recently for ARCP and share what I have learned about dividend growth investing from this experience.
Another month has passed, another month where I ask myself… Did I hit the 60% savings goal with my income and expense tracker? Did I hit the big mark that I set for myself back in August when I was discussing why I am aiming to save 60% of my income? I know Bert did extremely well, saving almost 63% of his income for October. Straight cruising now Bert! I know he is doing and tweaking a few things to increase that even further/higher going forward. Let’s dive into the analysis. Continue reading
