Weekend Reading – August 21, 2011

The market had another rough week and I personally can’t wait to receive fresh capital. There are some dynamite dividend stocks out there trading for pretty decent discounts. I should have funds within the next couple weeks with which to participate in this crazy market. I don’t know where the market is heading, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to rebound quickly. On the other hand, the quicker I purchase dividend growth stocks, the quicker I receive dividends and allow that compounding machine to start working!

I wanted to let my readers know that I’m very proud to announce that one of my articles was highlighted over at The Daily Crux.

Here are some excellent articles from fellow dividend growth investors, frugalists and personal finance bloggers from the past week.

Warren Buffet Op-Ed and Weekend Reading 8/18/2011
Dividend Monk published a fantastic article on Warren Buffett’s recent Op-Ed piece on raising taxes for the rich. This is a great read that cuts through some of the opinions and gets to the facts on the matter. There are some people who think Buffett should just send the government a check, but the fact is that his additional tax burden alone won’t make much of a difference in the overall scheme of things. The tax code needs to be changed, and spending needs to be cut. Warren addresses one of these issues in his article. Great read, Monk!

5 Things You Must Know You Before You Invest
The Dividend Guy puts together a list of five things you must know before investing any of your hard-earned money. It’s always a good idea to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you have the stomach for the market. It’s truly not for the timid, and if it’s not for you…then that’s ok. I agree with all the points here. The only thing I would disagree with is that it’s boring. I tend to think dividend growth investing is fantastically exciting! My heart just flutters every time I see additional cash in the brokerage account and watching those totals climb every month. Yay!

Walmart Beats Q2 Estimates but US Stores Still A Drag
The Dividend Pig analyzes the recent Q2 earnings report from Wal-Mart, one of my holdings as well. I think WMT is a solid holding over the long haul, but there may be some short-term headwinds as consumer discretionary spending is harmed by the slow-moving economic recovery. I’ve stated before that the international growth is one of the main reasons I believe in Wal-Mart going forward. It has a wide economic moat in the retail space, and I don’t think it’s going to lose that crown anytime soon.

15 baby steps towards voluntary consumerism
Jacob posted a very funny and pointed article about consumerism and people’s natural gravitation towards it. I think his article is a little exaggerated, but it really gets the point across. People don’t like change, and consumerism is a hard habit to break.

Why I am a dividend growth investor?
DGI posted one of his best articles in a while here. I think this sums up very nicely why we are all dividend growth investors. Think of it this way: The market is a forest, your portfolio is a fruit tree, your stocks are the branches and the dividends are the fruit. How do you harvest that fruit? Do you cut down the branches and forgo any chance of future harvests? Or…do you pick the fruit from the branches and leave the tree intact for the future? The answer seems pretty easy to me!

July 2011 Pocket Change Portfolio Performance Update
D4L updates us on his pocket change portfolio. We get to see his recent purchases, which were INTC, PG and LMT. I really like all three at these levels, and PG is your rock-solid defensive play in this uncertain market.

Part 2 – My Favourite Takeaways from The Investment Zoo
MOA discusses a book he recently read – “The Investment Zoo”. I agree with some of the timeless advice which includes living below your means, being patient, staying on course with confidence and, of course, staying away from mutual funds. Sounds like a great book!

The 7 Links Project
Dividend Ninja highlights seven of his articles and was kind enough to nominate me to do the same. He’s had some tremendous progress and success in his blog and I only hope to emulate some of that! Thanks for nominating me Ninja and I’ll make sure to put this together soon.

Hewlett Packard Misses Mark Hurd
Buy Like Buffett shows why Hewlett Packard misses their former CEO, Mark Hurd. This article just shows why I’m not a big fan of the tech sector and why I’m also not a fan of companies that aren’t dividend growth oriented. Although HP gets their revenue from multiple sources, the tablet and PC portions are major components of their business model. I’m scratching my head on their recent decision to possibly divest their PC and tablet businesses to focus on software. In my comments, I stated “In other news…Coca-Cola is divesting their cola businesses.”

New Recent Buy…
Dividend Partisan shows us where his funds are going, and this case it was an investment with AT&T. I happen to think this is a pretty solid move. It’s got a pretty hefty yield, with decent dividend growth. It’s hard to tell what will happen if they acquire T-Mobile, as corporate synergy is important. I think that T will have consistent, but conservative growth going forward. This is a pretty saturated market here in America, but I don’t think people are going to stop using their phones anytime soon! Great yield and a solid blue-chip! Good move. It’s definitely on my buy list as well.

Dividend Income – August 2011
PIE recently purchased JNJ and KO in his dividend portfolio and received a total of $380.49 in dividends for the month of August. Fantastic numbers and something I aspire to. I hope to achieve numbers like this in a few years. Keep up the fantastic work! KO and JNJ are solid purchases, and I’m long on both. JNJ is actually my largest holding, as I feel it’s been a great value for a while now.

US Stocks On Sale
DSO has an article, published by Dividend Ninja, on U.S. stocks on sale. I agree with these picks. I’m long all but HD, and I think they are all great buys. I would argue that PG and PEP are the best of the five. SYY is trading near 52-week lows and WMT is solid as well. Great list!

How to Find Happiness in Life
Jet Set Citizen posts a relevant article on finding happiness in life. As the old saying goes: life is a journey, not a destination! Enjoy the ride! I need to heed this advice, because you should never sacrifice the present for an unknown future that is not guaranteed. Strive for balance.

Thanks for reading.

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3 Comments

  1. Mantra, first of all congrats on your post at The Daily Crux. Thanx also for the double mention, for both the 7-Links Project, and for the DSO Article! Well I think your blog already is successful, and I also think it’s going to become even more so sooner than you think 🙂

    More importantly I really like your determined and diligient approach to investing. You have a plan, you stick with it, and you’ll see the benefits on the next bull-market for sure 🙂

    Cheers
    The Dividend Ninja

  2. Ninja,

    No problem on the mentions. Thanks for nominating me on the 7 Link Project.

    I appreciate your kind words and support. It means a lot to me and I can only hope for continued success for both of us.

    Take care!

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