All About Interest

Wow, does time fly!  It’s literally been 3 months since I’ve written a post.  No, I haven’t disappeared from the earth or stopped investing towards FI.  I’ve just been so overwhelmed and busy starting up a restaurant that it’s consuming almost all my time.

I Bought:

May: ($2400)

$1000 of DEO
$1200 of TEVA
$200 of BP

June: ($-375)

$400 of WFC
$400 of DEO
$400 of UL
290 of BBVA ($1700)
Sold 100 WFM ($3275)

July: ($1400)

$900 of TIF (new position)
$300 of WFC
$100 of DEO
$100 of KMI

August: ($4224)

$400 of TD
$400 of DEO
$300 of TIF
$162 of WFC
$50 of ESV
50 shares of CSX – $1397
100 shares of FLO (new position) – $1515

Notes:

WFM was exited in June.  I think it’s a wonderful company but I just see too much competition so I just decided to sell shares near my break-even.

DEO is close to a full position so I’ll just nibble away until then.

I’m working on bringing up TD and WFC to full positions.

TIF is a new position, I love their history of paying dividends and how long the company has been in business.  I used the recent weakness to pick up some shares.

FLO is also a new position.  They own mainly bread brands including Wonder, Nature’s Own, TastyKake, Butter Krust and Sun Beam just to name a few.  They are relatively smaller at about a 3 billion market cap so they have lots of room to grow.  The stock was hammered recently as the company miss-classified some of it’s workers as temporary.  Working in the staffing business, I totally know that their has been a recent crack down on this.  I believe the company will pay it’s taxes and recover, I think the stock drop is overdone.  The dividend is currently around 4.2%.

In Recent News:

I’ve hired a great chef and sous chef and our restaurant is quickly beginning a really popular place for a small town.  I’ve hired a full-time waitress, dishwasher and another part-time waitress.  I’m currently trying to find another hostess and waitress.   I’m currently bartending myself until I get the other positions filled.  That’s another reason I don’t have much time.

My one rental property was re-leased for a $100 increase but it’s going to be up in October.  It was a short lease with the same tenant.  I’m hoping to buy another rental by the end of the year as soon as the restaurant expenses are gone.

I have worked out a deal with my last business venture and I’ll be exiting that over time while getting paid.  I can now focus my energy on stocks, real estate and the restaurant.

I hope to be able to write a little more often.  I do always keep my portfolio updated though even if I’m not able to blog.  Purchases have been a little slow but I hope that can start picking up soon.

The picture is one from earlier this year in Tokyo.

I Bought:

05/03

$200 of BP
$400 of DEO

I used $600 in new capital and added $24.35/year to my dividend income. This is an average yield of 4.06%.

Notes:

I’m still adding to DEO here.  It’s slowly building up to a full position.  If DEO stays under $110 , I plan to keep adding some shares.  They have a giant portfolio of alcoholic beverages with great international exposure, what’s not to like?

Two weeks in a row I added some BP, although this was a smaller purchase.  They are below my cost basis and I believe most negative news is already built in at this price.

In Recent News:

I’m meeting with a chef this weekend.  We’ve already talked over the phone and I hope I can work out a deal for him to start working by the end of June.   I am worried the chef wants to remodel the kitchen and that’s not an expense I’m looking forward to.  I have opened the bar with a temporary menu.  It’s been a success so far.  With very little advertising, I’m getting as many people as I can handle until I’m able to hire more staff.  It’s good practice and good to learn the POS system to work out any kinks.

The picture is from a trip last year to Costa Rica.

I Bought:

04/26

$200 of BP
$300 of WFC
$1000 of DEO

I used $1500 in new capital and added $46.28/year to my dividend income. This is an average yield of 3.09%.

Notes:

Two weeks in a row I’ve had larger purchases of over $1500.  This won’t continue though for a while.  I sold a few items on Ebay and put the proceeds into my Sharebuilder account.

Another fairly large purchase of DEO here.  It’s creeping up to a full position.  If DEO stays under $110 , I plan to keep adding some shares.  They have a giant portfolio of alcoholic beverages with great international exposure, what’s not to like?

I’m a little light on WFC and I believe the banks stand to benefit as rates eventually rise again.  WFC is in my opinion the safest and most conservative American bank.  I plan to build up a full position by continually dollar-cost-averaging

I haven’t added any BP in a while.  I sold 100 shares late last year for tax loss harvesting.  I’d like to build those shares back up to where they were since it’s below my sales price and well below my cost basis currently.  Will BP cut their dividend? It’s highly likely if we see oil prices this low for a continued period.  However, it’s a cyclical company and still generates lots of free cash flow.  At current prices, I think all risks are already build in.  Heck, a dividend cut might raise the share price.

In Recent News:

I’ve literally never seen this much rain.  It has rained like crazy in Texas and even Louisiana has made national news with record flooding.  They had the Interstate shut down at one point a few weeks ago.  We’re supposed to get hit hard again this weekend.  My grandfather always told me to never invest in a business that relied on the weather.  He was a farmer.  Besides being bored without much to do outside, I’ve still been working hard on the restaurant.  The opening has been delayed as we work on menu items and figure out employees.  Progress is still being made in small steps.

As promised, here’s a sneak peak of what part of the bar looks like.  Yes, I have a moose head hanging on the wall.  No, I didn’t kill it, lol.

This is a catch-up post for my last four weeks of purchases.

I Bought:

03/29

None

04/05

$200 of TD

04/12

$200 of TD

04/19

$250 of DE
$250 of WFC
$1000 of DEO

I used $1900 in new capital and added $52.55/year to my dividend income. This is an average yield of 2.77%.

Notes:

I’d like to build up my weight in financials to nearly 10%.  I plan to slowly add more to both TD and WFC until they are a full weight (currently 2.5% of my portfolio).  Both stocks have risen recently but I think they still offer some value here.

I’m still really liking DEO here.  I wish it would stop going back up so fast though until I can build a full position.  I think they are at fair value and as soon as currency weaknesses subside, their price will rise even more.  They have a giant portfolio of alcoholic beverages with great international exposure.  Even during a recession, there will be plenty of people still buying alcohol.  I plan to keep averaging into more shares.

I’m nibbling at some De and CAT lately since they were below my cost basis.  I enjoy averaging down and dollar-cost-averaging into positions. DE is still just a a half position for me along with CAT.  At 40 positions, that means they should have a weight of near 1.25%, so they are a little below weight.  I’ll continue adding CAT and DE on any weaknesses.

What are you buying?

In Recent News:

It’s been raining like crazy here and I haven’t been able to get a lot done outside.  I’m working on the last of the furniture for the bar and still trying to finish menus.

The picture is from a plantation in a recent trip to New Orleans, LA.  Those are 300 year old trees.

This is a catch-up post for my purchases in March.  I’m currently contributing just $300 weekly into my Sharebuilder accounts.  I was making purchases every two weeks but now I’m making smaller purchases every week.  I hope to pick up the purchases a lot in a few months after taxes are paid and my new business is making money.

I Bought:

03/01

$200 of DEO
$200 of CAT

03/08

$300 of TEVA

03/15

$300 of TEVA

03/21

$300 of TEVA

I used $1300 in new capital and added $35.62/year to my dividend income. This is an average yield of 2.74%.

Notes:

I love TEVA here.  They are near 52-week lows and this allows me to build up to a full position.  Their business is mainly in generic medicines that are sold all over the world. I love the healthcare sector in general and this gives me a chance to  build up my position a little.  I’m nearly done with this position in the short-term.  They are off a lot of investors radars because of currency exchanges that make it look like the dividends have been going up and down.  I give credit to a company that increases their dividends in their own currencies.

I’m still really liking DEO here.  They have a giant portfolio of alcoholic beverages with great international exposure.  Even during a recession, there will be plenty of people still buying alcohol.  I plan to continue averaging into more shares while slowly building up my position.  I’m seeing their brands much more now that I own a bar.

I’m nibbling at some CAT since they were below my cost basis.  I enjoy averaging down and dollar-cost-averaging into positions. CAT is still just a a half position for me along with DE.  At 40 positions, that means they should have a weight of near 1.25%, so they are a little below weight.  I’ll continue adding CAT and DE on any weaknesses.

What are you buying?

In Recent News:

I’m trying to catch up on posts since I took about a month off to work on the bar.  Things have come along nicely and I’ve got all licenses and insurances in place to start business.  Now I have to work on training staff and perfecting the menus before opening.

The picture is from the Robot Restaurant in Tokyo.  I saw it on an Anthony Bourdain episode and had to check it out.  It was a reall cool and unusual experience.