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.