October represented another good month. I was able to realize a few gains to make it my fifth best month to date in terms of dollar gains. But I was also able to buy into a few new positions at the end of the month.
I've rolled over several CDs over the last few months and had a few callable CDs called, so I'm only 58% invested and a bit more cash heavy than at the first of the month. So I'm pretty well positioned for any post election change. If the market heads downward, I'll be able to buy in in a big way. If it goes up, I should be able to do a lot of profit taking. So I'm looking forward to Tuesday!
There were three sales this month. Each realized 12-13%:
- Universal Corporation - Held two months, but I held on long enough to be eligible for a dividend payable in November.
- The Buckle, Inc. - Held 4 months
- Nokia Corporation (ADR) - Held 4 months
Current holdings and unrealized gains/losses are as follows. Note that I also included the gain/loss from recent months to demonstrate trends. Although down from mid-month peaks, things are still positive.
- Exxon Mobil Corporation - Down 0.6% (7.6% in Sept, -11.6% in Aug, -10.7 in July and -14.7 in June)
- Exelon Corporation - Down 9.3% (-5.4% in Sept, -9.6% in Aug, -7.1 in July and -15.7 in June). It actually went positive earlier in the month!
- FirstEnergy Corp. - Down 2.7% (+1.8% in Sept, -3.5% in Aug, -0.4 in July and -6.9 in June)
- TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. - Up 21.9% (-12.1% in Sept, -30.7% in Aug, -26.4 in July and -31.5 in June). I almost took profits on this one this month. If I would have, this would have broken all my monthly records. Hopefully I'll be able to do this in the coming months.
- Harsco Corporation - Down 0.3% (+5.7 in Sept, -14.3% in Aug, -10.0 in July and -8.7 in June)
- EnCana Corporation (USA) - Up 2.2% (+9.4% in Sept, -0.6% in Aug)
- Lockheed Martin Corporation - Up 2.0% (+2.0 in Sept, -1.3% in Aug)
- National Grid plc (ADR) - Up 6.4% (-4.2% in Sept, -5.5% in Aug, -9.0 in July and -17.4 in June)
- Kellog Company - Up 2.0% - New acquisition.
No dividends, But will collect Harsco and Universal divs in November. Also several holdings going ex-div in November for collection in Nov/Dec.
Almost 6 months ago in April, I was contemplating contemplating the purchase of three telecom stocks; Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo (TSP), Telecommunications Systems (TSYS) and Nokia (NOK). I eventually bought into all three stocks. In each case, I suffered months in the red, but I'm happy to say that I'm now above water with all three.
I found Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo to be the least comfortable holding of the three. I held a standard size lot, but got out of this position as soon as I was able to show a reasonable 6.5% profit in June. I did not collect the annual dividend and did not wish to hold long enough to do so.
At the time of my initial writing, I had not bought in on Nokia, but the price continued to drop and I soon found the temptation too great. I bought in with a half sized lot in May, then watch it drop some more and bought in with another half in June. Although the price dropped even further, I resisted the urge to throw good money after bad. After holding until October, I was finally able to discard for a tidy 12% gain. As with TSP, I had no desire to hold long enough to collect the annual dividend.
Telecommunications Systems has proven to be the scariest ride of all. I have bought in with a total of eight lots of increasing size to date. I was significantly underwater with these until earlier this week despite an absence of news that should justify the continued low price. On Wednesday and Friday, there were announcements of military contracts that have significantly buoyed the stock price and have left me with a current 16% unrealized gain. But I still am significantly below my initial buy-in price, so I feel that there is still a lot of upside to this holding. So I'm now faced with the best strategy for vacating my position. The next quarterly report is at the end of October, so I'd like to close out before then....but then again, I don't want to leave money on the table if it can be helped.
So the TSYS story and the overall success of my telecom ventures remains undetermined at this time.
September was a drastic improvement over recent months. Although realized gain was not anything epic, we've managed to eliminate almost all the unrealized gains and most stocks are in the black for a nice change of pace.
There were two sales this month. One sale for both the first and last days of the month:
- Sempra Energy - I closed out this position for a 10.7% gain.
- TOTAL S.A. (ADR) - I sold out my full position in this stock for the second month in a row. The return this month was only 9.5% and the position was half the size of the previous month, but the holding period was only half the size also.
Current holdings and unrealized gains/losses are as follows. Note that I also included the gain/loss from recent months to demonstrate trends. Things have taken a drastically positive move in the last month.
- Exxon Mobil Corporation - Down 7.6% (-11.6% in Aug, -10.7 in July and -14.7 in June)
- Exelon Corporation - Down 5.4% (-9.6% in Aug, -7.1 in July and -15.7 in June)
- FirstEnergy Corp. - Up 1.8% (-3.5% in Aug, -0.4 in July and -6.9 in June)
- TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. - Down 12.1% (-30.7% in Aug, -26.4 in July and -31.5 in June)
- Harsco Corporation - Up 5.7% (-14.3% in Aug, -10.0 in July and -8.7 in June)
- Universal Corporation - Up 9.7% (-2.4% in Aug)
- The Buckle, Inc. - Up 1.0% (-9.2% in Aug)
- EnCana Corporation (USA) - Up 9.4% (-0.6% in Aug)
- Lockheed Martin Corporation - Up 2.0% (-1.3% in Aug)
- Nokia Corporation (ADR) - Up 6.6% (-9.0% in Aug, +1.1 in July and -13.4 in June)
- National Grid plc (ADR) - Down 4.2% (-5.5% in Aug, -9.0 in July and -17.4 in June)
Good month for Dividends:
- FirstEnergy Corp
- Exxon Mobil Corporation
- Exelon Corporation
- Lockheed Martin Corporation
- EnCana Corporation (USA)
Another month, another 31 days of disappointment. Actually it wasn’t that bad. The market was slow, but I still managed to receive positive realized income. In fact, I had 0.90% return on total cash available. That‘s 11% annually, which is not too bad. But there are lots of unrealized losses to go with it, so this must also be considered.
Only one sale again this month:
- TOTAL S.A. (ADR) - I closed out this position with a 10% gain, then bought back in later in the month.
Current holdings and unrealized gains/losses are as follows. Note that I also included the gain/loss from June, July and August to demonstrate trends. Those trends were not always positive. The numbers represent cumulative movement since buy in, not monthly movement.
- Exxon Mobil Corporation - Down 11.6% (-10.7 in July and -14.7 in June)
- Exelon Corporation - Down 9.6% (-7.1 in July and -15.7 in June)
- FirstEnergy Corp. - Down 3.5% (-0.4 in July and -6.9 in June)
- TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. - Down 30.7% (-26.4 in July and -31.5 in June)
- Sempra Energy - Up 8.2% (+5.7 in July and -0.6 in June)
- Harsco Corporation - Down 14.3% (-10.0 in July and -8.7 in June)
- Universal Corporation - Down 2.4% - New acquisition in August
- The Buckle, Inc. - Down 9.2% - New acquisition in August
- EnCana Corporation (USA) -Down 0.6% - New acquisition in August
- Lockheed Martin Corporation - Down 1.3% - New acquisition in August
- Nokia Corporation (ADR) -Down 9.0% (+1.1 in July and -13.4 in June)
- National Grid plc (ADR) - Down 5.5% (-9.0 in July and -17.4 in June)
- TOTAL S.A. (ADR) -Down 2.6% - New re-acquisition in August
Dividends were collected on the following:
- Harsco Corporation
- National Grid plc (ADR)
The following stocks wend ex-div in Aug with payments expected in September:
- FirstEnergy Corp
- Exxon Mobil Corporation
- Exelon Corporation
- Lockheed Martin Corporation
July was yet another slow month. Good upward movement until the last few days of the month, but gave back a lot at the end. Good progress was made, but still very little turnover.
Only one sale:
- Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo - I was happy to close out this position. Although I received my desired gains, this always seemed a bit riskier than my usual holding
My current holdings and unrealized gains/losses are as follows. Note that I also included the gain/loss from both June and July to demonstrate the generally positive progress over the last month.
- Exxon Mobil - Down 10.7% (June 30: Down 14.7%) - Ex-Div in Aug, Div in Sept
- Exelon Corp - Down 7.1% (June 30: Down 15.7%) - Ex-Div in Aug, Div in Sept
- FirstEnergy Corp - Down 0.4% (June 30: Down 6.9%) - Ex-Div in Aug, Div in Sept
- Telecommunications Systems - Down 26.4% (June 30: Down 31.5%) - July was looking like a very good month for TCS until they took a big hit after a disappointing earnings announcement this week.
- National Grid PLC - Down 9.0% (June 30: Down 17.4%) - Ex-Div in July, Div in Aug
- Total SA - Up 6.4% (June 30: Down 6.2%)
- Sempra Energy - Up 5.7% (June 30: Down 0.6%)
- Harsco Corp - Down 10.0% (June 30: Down 8.7%) - Also a victim of bad news, the only holding to move downward over the last month. Ex-Div in July, Div in Aug
- Nokia - Up 1.1% (June 30: Down 13.4%)
Dividends were collected on the following:
