Recent Buy: Reynolds American Inc.

I talked about it and I wrote about it on my blog here just a few days ago. Just as a predicted, the price would be too good to pass up on Reynolds American Inc. That being the case, I had to pick up a few more shares for the Dividend Scythe portfolio. I was able to pick up a total of 17 more shares at $50.11/share which came to a total purchase price of $861.94.

This addition added a sizable amount of projected dividend income to the portfolio. At $1.68 per share in yield, this added a total of $28.56 to the projected annual dividend income. With this addition, the total projected annual dividend income moving forward is a solid $362.92. This should propel the portfolio much further as it will add further capital to future investments and further grow the snow ball.

This acquisition also helped me pass a major milestone. The portfolio is now officially over $10,000! It's taken a little while to get here but it's nice to see it finally hit five figures. I have my increased saving habits and better financial handling skills to thank for this milestone. Without them I would still very likely be in the four figure range and very likely still at the bottom or mid range at that!

I know this isn't a huge milestone compared to some who have been investing for a long time but for me this milestone is huge. It shows that I am capable of making the money add up. I look forward to the newer, bigger snow ball effect that will be seen in the future. Onward and upward is the way to go!

Chance to Buy More Sin Stock

As earnings were just released for Reynolds American, a cry was heard across the land as numbers missed for one of the first times in a very long time. Investors have started to run away from the golden pony that they once swore their allegiance to. This however is not the case for some that have their eyes on the longer game.

Yes, earnings were released for Reynolds American. Yes, they did miss what was expected of them. No, the stock is not suddenly a turn around in the wrong direction.

One must make sure to keep a level head in times such as these. It's easy to get caught up in the quick nightmares that the market decides to deal out. Many investors are keeping their eyes on single stocks and large caps, waiting for this so called recession to hit us. I do admit that I myself am in this boat but do I think that it has come and started with Reynolds American? Hardly.

The initial expectation for the stock was right in line for what they should have been expected to reach. However, they did have an acquisition that made their EPS drop just be a hair. Whenever this occurs, it is natural to assume that earnings would feel the hip check that is money moving from one to another to grow for the future. There is of course also talk about movement in the company with BAT - the Brits! This however I feel is a good thing. More heads in the game, more control, more money.

With that said, I feel that there is now another buying opportunity into the stock. As I have just moved my funds into the account to trade for the month of July, I may have to turn my eyes away from a new company acquisition and instead move to up my stake in Reynolds American so that I can profit more from the upswing that is almost certainly to come by either a take over or further expansion.

Savings Down, Spirits Up!

Some months are better than others. That month is not this month. I've just finalized the budget from June so I could see how much could be transferred to the various accounts that the wife and I hold and let's just say that this month was a little slim on the transfers. That's life though I suppose.

We can't go backwards in time currently so I have to simply accept that we had a bad month and analyze why and how we came to be where we are. Once the analysis is complete, we can attack the problem and hope to change some habits so that moving forward we do not find ourselves in such a position. That being said, there were quite a few problems this last month when it came to saving money.

First off, we were part of a wedding. Normally this doesn't mean too much but my wife was the matron of honor. This means taking the bride to be out on her bachelorette party (funded by us) and of course hosting the bridal shower, and not be forgotten is the task of buying the necessities such as a dress for each occasion and bringing food as well. Couple this fact with the fact that June was my birthday month where I bought an electric guitar (used - that way I could save money and get more for my purchase) and also that I was a groomsman for the very same wedding and you've got some money flowing out of the bank account.

Buying Useless S#$%

In our lives, we can find ourselves buying a lot of stuff. We buy groceries, gas for our cars, electricity for our homes, and yet a lot of us still find a lot of spare cash to buy things that are for all intents and purposes very expensive paper weights. In this case, I'm talking about big ticket items, small ticket items, and generally anything that we spend money on and only use a few times.  In my own case I'm talking specifically about things such as my Xbox One.

Where the purchase was initially made because I thought that it would provide a good hours of entertainment, it instead has become a $450 paper weight that is effectively used for the same purpose as a $100 Apple TV display unit. Granted, I thought initially that I would be using the Xbox One for a more gaming oriented goal but that has seldom been the case. 99% of the time that I have spent on that thing since I have purchased it has been streaming video or watching DVDs one it. It's hardly what I paid the difference in price for.

Watch List: Cal-Maine Foods Inc.

If you haven't heard of them, Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (CALM) is in the egg business. They produce, sell, and distribute the eggs in a variety of different forms. A company has to be able to do so in this day in age. That means distributing cage free, organic, brown, and other forms of eggs to make sure that all market points are hit for the different customers that desire eggs. They do so under the names of Egg-Land's Best, Land O Lake, Farmhouse, and 4-Grain. Although the most recent review by analysts suggests a hold on the stock, I instead believe that the stock is a hard buy. Here's why:

First off, the current price is right at the bottom of the 52-week low. It currently trades for $45.53/share which is right above the 52-week low of $39.60. The current price would yield a 3.86% dividend with a very good margin for safety as the beta is a comfortable 0.84. As this is the case, there should not be much movement coming from it. Couple this with the very safe 32.06% payout ratio and you've got a dividend payer that is hardly in trouble of cutting their dividend.

Saving Saving Saving

The other day I was reading an article on my blogging pal, DivHut's site about money and savings hacks and it got me to thinking about how I haven't talked a lot about saving in the last few months. I used to be so efficient about posting in a good cyclical manner about saving, investing, and life but I've strayed a little further away from that trend lately. Lucky for you, I'm not too far away from it where I can't go right back to the trend! Today I want to talk about some tips on saving that I myself try to use in my everyday life that weren't mentioned in DivHut's article.

Number One: 
The number one way that Mrs. Dividend Reaper and I save money is by watching for deals on eating out at various restaurants. I know that many frugal investors say that you should avoid eating out as it can very easily destroy a budget but I would argue that the long term effects have not eating out a fair amount can sometimes be a bigger detriment on the budget than finding smarter ways to eat out. As it is an important part of the wife and I's social life, we make it a point to simply eat out but do it through deals that are found.

Holdings in a Bear Market

In a bull market most investors find wins in every shape, size, and sector. That’s just the way it goes when the economy is up and the market is running on highs. In a bear market however, the gains are far fewer and far between. At those times, it becomes increasingly harder for investors to find value and protect their equities. Some sell short, some trade options, others such as myself build a portfolio that has built in stocks that weather bear markets better than others.

There a few qualities that I look for in stocks that I feel can bolster themselves against a bear market. First off, I want to aim for stocks that have a history of weathering bear conditions. Secondly, I want to choose companies that I feel fit that mold but that also have a product that couldn’t just as easily be wiped away. We are still aiming for longevity of course. Lastly, I aim for stocks that are talked about are debated a lot on message boards.

Las Vegas on a Budget

I feel that most of the posts that I make on this blog are dedicated towards the stock market and the inner workings of my portfolio but I want to remind myself that the blog wasn’t just meant for that purpose. It was also made to discuss topics of personal finance that can lead to better money handling which then translates to more to invest with. That being said, there was a post on Mr. Money Mustache’s message boards today that was discussing frugal people’s views on Las Vegas.

Most of the replies were centered around “oh my God, I hate Vegas! (insert silly reasoning about how expensive it is or how bad some of the people can be there)”. On the other hand, there were a few who replied that saw it in a different light – a much more positive one. I myself am of the positive stand point on Vegas. In fact, in the last year, the wife and I have been several times (me three times and her twice).

Where some have found the city to be a money pit and the land of bad decisions (the capital?), I have found Vegas to be one of the most unique cities in the United States and I think that it would be a crime for anyone to not experience it at least once. I write this post today then to describe how one can go about visiting and enjoying Las Vegas without dropping thousands of dollars on the trip.

Investor's Code: Buying and Selling

Having a code is important in life. A personal code can help you determine what you yourself view as an easy moral choice and what you will help you sleep better at night. Whether this be a moral code that acts when you have to stand up to a bully who is taking advantage of you or someone you know or maybe it’s just returning a lost wallet that has a huge amount of cash inside, a moral code is a requirement in life.

Now, investing may not require as much of a moral code. I myself have a few investments in “sin stocks” that may be a little more against a moral code than others but my moral code isn’t what we’re talking about here. The reason I bring up having a code is that I believe that investors must have their own code that corresponds just with investing. It’s a code that defines what stocks are worthy of a buy and which are worthy of a sell. Without a code an investor can find himself in an awkward spot and without a direction.

Dividend Income: June

Dividends, dividends everywhere! That’s how I feel looking back at my dividend income for the month of June. Wow, what an incredible turn out for the stocks that I own. It’s really great when all the chips come down at almost the exact same time. Pair this month’s huge amount of payouts with the current upward trend of all my stocks now that everything is rebounding from the Brexit news and my week has been nothing short of incredible to watch.

Months like these remind me just how far I’ve come from the start of the portfolio. When I first started I was barely getting anything out of each month’s dividend payments. My eyes would get tired just thinking about how long I thought it might take to finally see some noticeable movement in my portfolio with dividend payments alone. I was seeing the good capital gains in the portfolio (unrealized) but I wasn’t seeing the true power of the dividend payments. I was simply believing that one day they would start to roll in at a more noticeable rate.

That month has finally come even though the total payment is still only just barely a drop in the bucket when you think about it. Regardless, it makes me feel so much better to see months like this when everything happens all at once. It gives support to the future vision of what the payments will be in the future when I collect even more companies that I love and invest even more in those that I already own that I wish to hold more of. With that being said, let’s compile them together and show what has come in for the month of June.

American Railcar – ARII - $6.80

GameStop – GME - $7.40

L Brands – LB - $4.80

STAG Industrial – STAG - $1.74

Emerson Electric – EMR - $7.60

Walmart – WMT - $8.00

Total Dividends Paid in June 2016: $36.34

What a year I’ve had so far in 2016. It’s completely crushing the previous year of 2015 and we’re only barely over halfway through the year! This month’s dividend payments have come together to equal the highest monthly pay out that the Dividend Scythe has seen to date. It also serves to breach the $100 total dividend income for the year which helps to shatter the goal this year of breaching $100 total in dividend payments. I can’t wait to see where it will be at the very end of the year when all the payments are in. I know that I shouldn’t wish for time to go by quickly because time is valuable but it’s so hard not to wish to be there already when you’re seeing progress and growth.

Anyways, onto bigger and better things in the future! Hope to continue to see all of you in the comments section of my various posts through the next month. Let me know how your own portfolios did this last month in the comments section of this post. I’d love to see where my readers are with their own goals.