Weekend Reading – August 6, 2011

What a week it was! What can I say that hasn’t already been said? The markets plunged into the abyss this week, with the biggest drop in three years occurring this past Thursday. These are the times when you decide what type of investor you are. It isn’t challenging to buy equities when markets are rising daily. It’s much more difficult to stick to your guns when the markets are in the toilet. If you’re a long-term value investor who focuses on dividend growth this could be an interesting time to lock in great values with attractive yields.

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

Keep Calm and Steady
The Dividend Ninja tells us why it’s important to stick to the plan. If you have a long-term plan in place, this is an opportune time to increase your holdings with equities that are on sale. If you panic, you will suffer. Keep steady.

How to Build a $150,000 Portfolio by Age 30
Dividend Monk shows us how you can build an inflation-indexed $150,000 portfolio by age 30. It takes hard work and the kind of dedication and foresight that few people have. You have to make an above-average salary and live on little, saving and investing the difference. I wish I would have read this 10 years ago!

Dividend Income Progress Update – July 2011
D4L updates us on his dividend income and recent purchases. As always, these are some of my favorite articles as they serve for inspiration. This just shows you the power of regular investing and how quickly dividends can provide the type of income one could live off of. Good stuff.

While I Was Out…!
Dividend Partisan updates on his summer and shows us how busy he was in his absence. He got a promotion, vacationed in Mexico and skydives as part of his service. Sounds like a much better summer than I have had. Congrats on the promotion!

Portfolio Update: Why I Sold Just Energy
The Passive Income Earner updates us on his portfolio. He recently initiated positions with Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola. Fantastic moves! Coke is a small position for me, but I do plan on one day making it much larger.

Medtronic (MDT) Dividend Stock Analysis
Dividend Growth Investor analyzes Medtronic, a company that has been on my watchlist for some time now. He’s bullish on it and it meets his entry criteria. This is just one of many attractively priced equities right now. So many opportunities, so little capital. I need another job!

Changing habits or changing the habits
Jacob compares changing habits to changing lifestyles. I tend to agree that it’s less emotionally taxing and results in greater cost savings to change one’s lifestyle. The only thing I wouldn’t consider is giving up my red meat. I do love a good cheeseburger or a good rib eye.

Canadian Dividend Stock Selection Made Easy
My Own Advisor provides a great way to select solid dividend stocks. Although this article is about Canadian equities, the message easily translates to the U.S. market. That message is to buy the major holdings of a mutual fund, rather than the mutual fund itself. Why pay fees to a mutual company when you could own the companies directly? Another strategy is to own shares of the mutual fund companies. That way you are making money from the people who are paying fees into the mutual fund.

The Dow Dropped 512 Points Yesterday So What?
Buy Like Buffett espouses why this is an opportune time to purchase equities at depressed levels. I wholeheartedly agree here. If the DOW drops even further I’ll keep buying. I’m even secretly hoping the DOW drops below 10K. We’ll see if my wish comes true…and if it’s true when they say “be careful what you wish for”.

Review of my Asset Allocation
The Dividend Guy provides us with a review of his asset allocation. It’s interesting to note how heavy he is in financial stocks. I think this is a product of Canadian banks being in much better shape than many of the large U.S. banks. Before the financial meltdown, many large U.S. banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America made up large parts of dividend investors’ portfolios. I am looking forward to the day that large banks become profitable again and start paying out hefty dividends.

A Market Correction is a Great Time to Buy
The Dividend Pig tells us why this market correction is a great time to buy. Notice a trend here? I hope so. If you’re a long-term investor you welcome market correction with open arms, much like a sale at your local grocery store. Equities were something you were going to buy anyway, you may as well pay less for them!

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for reading.

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3 Comments

  1. Thanks for the mention! “Equities on sale now!”, as my friend Dividend Ninja says.

    Hope the buying goes well for you, we’ll see what this week has in store for us customers 🙂

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