Week in Review

 Happy weekend everyone!

Good performance this week given all the risk in the market. An $OIL hedge from two weeks ago has helped performance. $KMI has finally caught up after bottoming out mid December, the extra yield pushing performance to 5.5% certainly helps. We should see an announcement on $KMI dividend increase in the few weeks. Given some of the global attention back to energy in the last few months I'm hopeful we may see a modest increase.

KMI Dividend Growth History

I missed out on some amazing growth this week from a $115 $WLK covered call I set in motion a few weeks ago. Certainly didn't anticipate this level of rocket growth for a materials company. Instead of buying back I'll keep my eye on the company and attempt to reacquire if there's a pull back.  

This week I have my eyes on $SBUX after a pullback can get me the stock at 2019 levels. Dividend yields of 2.24% vs. a 5 year average of 1.92% and forward P/E of 26. Sure the company has risk after talk of unionization, labor & commodity costs, etc., but it's a great brand and company that generates great free cash flow and is an excellent long-term hold.

Dividend Increases (Week of Mar 20th)

• Mar 22 XYLD Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF

  XYLD declares next variable dividend

  XYLD announced its next dividend of $0.5014 per share, bringing the fund's total payout over the last twelve months up 1.7%.  Your annual income increased $11.42 as a result.

Dividends & Income Received

A slow week, $50.84 in dividends. Next week is a hefty week estimated at $262.

• NVDA - $0.44
• LMT - $50.40

Trades

• Added back 200 shares of Verizon. 
• Added 15 shares of $GLD and $50 shares of $TLT. 

Options Activity

• Selling some $SBUX puts and keep having to reissue higher as the stock rerates. As Starbucks is below my buy-below target of of $92.50 I'll just buy outright Monday. 

Other Activity

• No other activity this week.

What's Next

• Continue to take time to learn more about macro investing. Given the volatility lately, I think there's some educated bets to be placed.
• Portfolio allocation is heavier in utilities, energy, gold and commodities than usual. 
• I think I can integrate into the portfolio via asset & sector allocation management. I'm not a fan of day trading, but I like the concept of smart swing trading when highs and lows are involved.
• I have another account where I'm working on swing trading and shorting some indexes as a hedge. Mixed results so far. My shorts have been offset by the $OIL gains. 

Week in Review

Hope everybody is having a great weekend. Had some solid dividend raises this week from Medifast, Dollar General and Williams-Sonoma. Overall Project Annual Dividend Income (PADI) has declined from last week primarily from to selling a high yield corporate bond fund and having WLK assigned via a covered call. 

Given record inflation and a dynamic war I'm a little more active on the trading side. While a solid allocation of money is dedicated to buy & hold, these volatility swings generate some interesting opportunities to reacquire shares at lower prices.

I continue to be overall bearish and focus on capital preservation in the foreseeable future and will keep a heavier allocation on energy, utilities, consumer defensive stocks and bonds. Portfolio beta is currently 0.62.

I'm keeping a fair amount of cash on the sidelines ($34K) and will likely tie it up with some cash secured puts on high quality dividend stocks I'd like to own.

Dividend Increases (Week of Mar 14th)

• Medifast raises dividend by 15%

  Medifast announced its next dividend of $1.64 per share, a 15% increase over the company's previous payout of $1.42.  Your annual income increased $22.88 as a result.

• Dollar General hikes dividend by 31%, extending growth streak to 6th consecutive year

  Dollar General announced its next dividend of $0.55 per share, a 31% increase over the company's previous payout of $0.42.

  While sales moderated in 2021 following pandemic highs, volumes remain well above 2019 levels and should remain strong as inflation creates more cost-conscious consumers. The dividend is well-positioned for more growth, buoyed by a very healthy payout ratio. Your annual income increased $20.28 as a result.

• Williams-Sonoma raises dividend by 9.9%, notching 12th straight year of increasing payouts

  Williams-Sonoma announced its next dividend of $0.78 per share, a 9.9% increase over the company's previous payout of $0.71.

  The home goods retailer has generated record profitability despite consumers spending less time at home than earlier in the pandemic. With the firm's conservative payout ratio and ongoing solid demand, the dividend looks poised for continued growth. Your annual income increased $5.04 as a result.

Dividends & Income Received

A solid week, $107 in dividends. 

• O - $29.09
• WLK - $29.75
• MAIN - $21.72
• PII - $26.88

Trades

• Swing trading some GLD, and Treasury ETFs. Picked up some more OIL on the downswing as I'm bullish and think the dip is temporary. 

Options Activity

Good opportunity in rebalancing to acquire stocks using cash-secured puts. Selling cash-secured puts gives you the obligation to purchase a stock at a strike price if the underlying price goes below strike. You collect a premium for selling the put. If the strike price is under the price at time of expiration, you keep the premium, so it's a nice way to make a few bucks on a stock you were going to buy anyways.

• My Verizon shares were assigned at $54 a few weeks back. I'll continue to trade some cash secured puts on this ultimately acquiring before the 04/03 ex-dividend date.
• WLK was sold via a $115 Call this week. I may attempt to reacquire via cash-secured put. 

Other Activity

• No other activity this week.

What's Next

• Continue to take time to learn more about macro investing. Given the volatility lately, I think there's some educated bets to be placed.
• Portfolio allocation is heavier in utilities & energy.
• I think I can integrate into the portfolio via asset & sector allocation management. I'm not a fan of day trading, but I like the concept of smart swing trading when highs and lows are involved.
• I have another account where I'm working on swing trading and shorting some indexes as a hedge.

Week in Review

Happy Saturday everyone!  Quick update on activities this week (and a few I missed from the prior week). 

 Dividend Increases (Feb 25th)

• Sempra grows dividend by 4.1%, reaching 12th consecutive annual increase

  Sempra announced its next dividend of $1.145 per share, a 4.1% increase over the company's previous payout of $1.10.

  The multi-state utility generates steady cash flow and offers a well-covered dividend. The company's rate base has nearly tripled in the last four years, setting the stage for future payout growth. 

• Your annual income increased $5.58 as a result.

Dividends & Income Received

A great week, $237 in dividends.

• BKH - $59.50
• AFL - $40
• KR - $21
• V - $8.63
• XYLD - $67.69
• PFE - $40

Trades

Added 100 shares of $SCHQ this week as I continue the theme of defensive investing for the time being.

Options Activity

Good opportunity in rebalancing to acquire stocks using cash-secured puts. Selling cash-secured puts gives you the obligation to purchase a stock at a strike price if the underlying price goes below strike. You collect a premium for selling the put. If the strike price is under the price at time of expiration, you keep the premium, so it's a nice way to make a few bucks on a stock you were going to buy anyways.

• My Verizon shares were assigned at $54 a few weeks back. Made ~$83 this week through trading a few cash secured puts this week floating around the strike price. I'll continue to trade some cash secured puts on this ultimately acquiring before the 04/03 ex-dividend date.
• Got killed on my Kroger covered call, ultimately having having to buy back by $47 call for ~$500 more than I received. Fortunately the stock rose another 6% on Friday.  While I'm a big fan of Kroger, this type of growth in two days seems overblown, so I bought 6 $60 04/01 puts to hopefully capture some correction in the next few days.

Other Activity

• No other activity this week.

What's Next

• Continue to take time to learn more about macro investing. Given the volatility lately, I think there's some educated bets to be placed.
• I think I can integrate into the portfolio via asset & sector allocation management. I'm not a fan of day trading, but I like the concept of smart swing trading when highs and lows are involved. 
• Evaluate covered call opportunities. 
• The portfolio rebalance introduced a lot more positions of 100 shares or more, so I can take better advantage of covered calls.
• Slowly shrink number of positions to ~40 while maintaining a strategic sector breakdown focused on macro trends.