August was a rough month, but it had some interesting moments. Despite the generally downward direction of the market, Life Partners staged a very nice rally pulling out of a deep, deep trough. In fact, it rallied to the point where I was 10% up. Alas, I did not sell, so I'm back in the red for that holding at month end.
The depressed market of early August had me buying into the market very heavily. At one point I was nearly 100% invested. By the end of the month, I was down to about 91.5% invested because of new funds that I brought in as well as a single sale late in the month. Realized gains were modest and unrealized losses remain high at the end of the month, but are up from mid-month losses.
Sale this month:
- Universal Corp - 9% gain for three month holding.
Current holdings and unrealized gains/losses are as follows. Definitely took a step backwards, but the market seems to be rebounding in the last week of the month. I'm still a bit overbought in small caps for my taste.
The following dividends were collected. September stands to be a strong dividend month.
July brought lots of excitement. The political situation with the debt ceiling led to lots of political volatility. At one point, the value of my holdings skyrocketed to a new all-time high only to dive again after a change in the political winds. However, the end of the month found me advancing over June levels.
I sold a few holdings and decreased unrealized losses from June levels. I also increased my percent invested from 80% to 82.5%, so those percentage losses are smaller still in terms of percentage loss. So things are turning in a positive direction although the markets continue to be troubled by the debt ceiling issue.
Sales this month:
- iShares S&P 500 Index Fund - Sold more than half of my holdings in this index fund gaining 5% in the process, then bought back in to most of this position as the price dropped later in the month.
- SPDR S&P 500 Index Fund - I sold out of a small percentage of these shares. I had a sell order at a certain prices, but only a few shares sold as the price peaked at this level leaving much of the order unsold.
- Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. - I flipped a small position in this stock over three days late in the month. As noted in earlier posts, I'm trying to back off of small-caps, but this stock presented a very attractive price and I had to jump on it in a small way. Three days later it had gained 5%, so I liquidated. Small potatoes, but it yielded a few bucks.
Current holdings and unrealized gains/losses are as follows. This currently looks quite negative, but it looked much better at several points during the month. I'm very excited to see Exelon in the black for the first time in over a year. Note new holdings of Harris and Navios Maritime. Navios is another relatively small cap that I might normally avoid, but it is a small holding.
The following dividends were collected.
June was another interesting month that confirms that old adage "sell in May and go away." I realized no gains through stock sales and turned slightly more negative for unrealized gain. However, I had the most substantial dividend month to date.
I've continued to buy-in to the downward trend which might be good as thing have potentially bottomed out with Greece and the EU seeming to have put their house in order. This is evidenced by the four session bull run over the last week. But I remain only 80% invested, so I can buy in more if things continue their downward slide.
Sales this month:
Current holdings and unrealized gains/losses are as follows. Note new holdings of Universal Corporation and Intel Corporation.
The following dividends were collected. In dollar terms, this is the biggest dividend month to date.
- Entergy Corporation
- Intel Corporation (from previously sold holdings, not from new purchase)
- Harte-Hanks, Inc.
- Exelon Corporation
- Life Partners Holding, Inc
- Harleysville Group Inc.
- iShares S&P 500 Index Fund
June has been no better than late May. Unrealized losses continue to pile up, as the market finished the sixth down week in a row. But there is a ray of sunshine. I've been able to buy in on a few stocks at good prices. While these shares have continued to drop, I still feel good about my buy-in prices and am hopeful that I'll be able to profit from these in the near future. Another positive note is that June is a good dividend month for most of my holdings, so I should have something to show at the end of the month.
May has been the best month ever! I established several new high water marks, best gains for a month, best gains for a quarter and highest rolling 6 month average gain. And I also passed 6% earnings for the 2011 calendar year. So even if I don't earn another penny this year, I cleared the bar at over 6%.
May has been the worst month ever! Unrealized losses have reach near record heights and for a long period of time, seven of my nine holdings were in the hole. While I have been this far underwater before, this seems a bit more dire than in the past. Most of the losses are attributed to a single stock (Life Partner Holdings, Inc.) and it seems quite possible that it could go to zero and I could lose my entire investment. Realizing such losses could put a significant dent in my 2011 gains.
After selling some stocks, I'm now down to about 59% invested. I only collected one dividend this month although several holdings went ex-div.
Sales this month:
- FirstEnergy - 13% gain, some shares have been held for over a year, so it's nice to finally close out this position with a nice profit. In fact, In absolute term, this was one of my largest gains to date.
- Intel Corp - 15% gain, rather large holding acquired over two months, dipped on bad news allowing multiple buy ins, then nice run-up based on improving analyst reports culminating with announcement about new 3-D chip and I sold the next day.
- SYSCO Corp, 12% gain, sold on good earnings news. Held for only two months but also collected on dividend.
Current holdings and unrealized gains/losses are as follows. As noted above, LPHI represents a significant risk to the portfolio. Nokia also delivered a bad earnings report, so this is perhaps also a bit risky. Although there are other stocks in the red, I'm general confident that they will recover and/or hold their dividend payout.
The following dividends were collected:
- General Mills, Inc - went ex-div immediately before I sold near the end of April.
