A decent article this morning on Seeking Alpha --



http://seekingalpha.com/article/1330...g_income&ifp=0




which brings up a couple things for me...


#1 -- I read stuff like this just to learn something/anything.... WE don't operate in a vacuum.. and I'm constantly trying to learn and listen to someone else's perspective on the world.

#2 -- Usually the writer has an agenda.... which I try to ignore - opting instead to search for the little nugget I might glean from the "larger picture" in the piece.


This article attracted me because it's discussing TOTAL RETURN --- a couple words you've heard here more than once. :rolleyes: :hello:

Early and throughout this thread we've discussed the trade offs of high dividend vs share price - and that we should try to blend (diversify) using some higher yields but to be more mindful of that longer term Total Return. That's how you grow rich.

In real estate -- you might trade off a monthly negative cash flow -- for the longer term price appreciation of the property - coupled with the current tax benefits (write offs etc) that you get.

In stocks -- we want to get paid while we wait -- using the dividend to constantly and automatically "average in" -- but also getting the price appreciation. For me --- most people lack another important factor in the selection process... which is -- feeling confident in owning the stock through good markets and bad. Most people SELL in a down market -- and thus loose money -- because they lack the confidence to hold --- or better yet -- to buy more! So to me that's a really really critical component to ownership!

+++++++++


Which brings me to this post and it's beginning ----- I went through the list this writer uses -- and to me -- the problem with it is --- I don't recognize most of the names! And while it might prove to be (in hindsight) a really good list of stock performance based on his criteria.... I'd dare to say that in a down market -- any of us would have the confidence to hold these let alone add to our positions. To me this is the big mistake "newbs" make. They just can't hold when they should.


++++++++++


So the article is good because it discusses "total return".... I just discount the details of the actual picks. I know this was a long winded way to say that - but it's just how my mind works. I just write what I'm thinking. Thank god I type as fast as I think!


:RunninDog:

where's the link!? lol

PICKY PICKY PICKY!!!





http://seekingalpha.com/article/1330...g_income&ifp=0

HAHA...

That was a good read. If anything, it also gave me some suggestions on what to help use to "screen" for possible purchases in the future.

I "clipped" it to Evernote for future reference. :)

04-09-2012, 09:36 AM
I entered the Market and posted here on that date and time. On page 129.
Taking what Greg has preached on this thread. INVESTING and not gambling.
I have made a gain of 15.5% in one year.
I'd like to thank Greg and Everyone that has filled this thread with great valuable information.
By the time I'm 70 years I can retire and travel around with Greg in our Hot Rods, I'll be pushing him around in his wheel chair when that happens though.

Although I am older than the guys targeted in this thread I have also learned some valuable lessons here that will not only enable my wife and I to retire with a larger nest egg but also make that nest egg go a lot further when we do retire. Sincere thanks to Greg and the other contributors. You got me off my complacent butt and really thinking about investing and generating a decent return. Of course the market over the past year and a half has made this easy but I am determined to stay the course.

Thanks again,
Don

Did I just read that Bitcoin went from 266 to 150 in one day ???

I don't follow or own it, but man that is a crash for sure..

No --- It was actually WORSE than that... it hit a high of $266 -- crashed to $105 before bouncing back to $145.


Now - let's put it into perspective..... the 30 day range on Bitcoin is a low of $36.65 ---- with todays high of $266.00

It's currently trading at $170ish

Don and Bob....


Don't thank ME --- thank yourselves for being interested enough to read and take action.

As Don said.... you could have thrown darts at a Wall Street Journal and made a gain in this market.... BUT that is the way the market works! You have to learn to take easy with the hard. BUT if you're not in at all -- you don't get doodle. Up 15% for a couple years in a row -- then you might go sideways for awhile - then you might go down for awhile - and then bang you're up 20% again.... ALL THE WHILE GETTING PAID.

Work is like that -- super busy - then fearing a layoff.... if you stick to it work hard - next thing you know - all is okay again. But even when you're fearing getting laid off -- you're getting paid. If you hate your job you might be inclined to look for other opportunities.

The stock market is like that! I do my best research and shopping etc when the market SUCKS! It forces me to get my act together and really be wise in my choices - really think about what I'm buying... So sometimes it's actually kind of a good thing.

Right now it's all fun and games. I can go play in the shop - come back and see I've made "X" while goofing off. It won't always be like that.... But let's say the market sells off 10% (a real correction) --- do I care.... sure... but then the dividend comes in - and one company is paying me 6% -- and another is paying 5% -- and another is paying me something else.... And if I've been in the market long enough -- I might have a 15% gain -- so the sell off only reduced my "gain" temporarily. And now the dividends are buying shares at that reduced entry point... and therefore buying me MORE shares than if the market was full tilt boogie... so there's some offset for the pain I'm suffering.

BY THE WAY -- you don't loose anything if you don't sell. Just as could be said that you don't have a gain until you sell and take it... but long term -- eventually you'll sell -- or sell part -- or use the collateral to have cheap borrowing (cash on cash borrowing is always cheap!).

It sure has been an "easy" market... Glad you other guys got in on it too!

i re-calculated my Investing 102 stocks. My "total return" since starting this is at 21.8% :trophy-1302: :trophy-1302: Learned quite a bit here, and in the process of teaching the same general concepts to a few others in my life. One being my parents. Who basically threw darts to pick their 401k (followed what i picked, which, i generally just guessed by looking at the overall return numbers of the 1,3,5,10 year values. knowing nothing of the underlying stocks, dividends, etc, etc.).

On a side note, the guys at work have been talking about Bitcoin the past couple days too. watching it sway up and down wildly. One buddy had like 100 "coins" from over the last couple years mining, he sold some, took the $5k he made from them, and build a kick ass "mining" computer to mine more coins. Not bad, but I dont have the $ to "gamble" that.

I'll leave that one to the gamblers. Right now all my spare $ goes to rebuilding my emergency fund an my ROTH IRA. :)