KMP and NNN pay day today.

My little homemade 401k is up 40% in one year. My Bank of America has almost doubled since I bought it. Wish i'd bought more but hindsight is always 20/20!

Your money for nothin' and your chick for free.....


Don't ya just love getting paid?!?!?!

I'm going to start listening to YOUR advice!!!



I'd be up more --- but I SPEND my dividends and bond income..... so they don't get rolled back into more shares. :RunninDog:

Kinder Morgan Partners (KMP)
 

Don't ya just love getting a RAISE!!!







HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 13, 2013-- Kinder Morgan today announced an increase in its 2013 projections for Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) primarily based on projected contributions from the Copano Energy acquisition, which closed on May 1, 2013. KMI now expects to declare dividends of $1.60 per share for 2013, up from its published annual budget of $1.57 per share, which represents an increase of approximately 14 percent over its 2012 declared distribution of $1.40 per share. KMP now expects to declare cash distributions of $5.33 per unit, up from its 2013 published annual budget of $5.28 per unit, which represents a 7 percent increase over its 2012 declared distribution of $4.98 per unit.

Nice!

I need to post an update on my account soon. Its been a nice run and I'd like to start adding to it. This weekend the wife and I will begin researching some stocks for her so I can get her moving along.

Excellent....The number one problem in marraiges is MONEY....So talking with your Wife about your plans for the future is critical..

Laying out 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year goals really keeps the bond tight between a Man and his Wife...

I have friends who won't talk about their financial futures with their spouses and they are always fighting...

Good Job Jose...

It's really fun watching the recent stratospheric rise of the market from the perspective of a 102 reader. Most of my previous "shoulda/coulda/woulda" day-trading anxiety is gone, and I feel much more secure knowing that the path I am choosing is the right way to proceed for long-term gains.

Actually, while most of the country is rooting for the market to keep rising, I'm ready for a correction because it's hurting my dollar-cost-averaging. :idea:

A good read this morning... shows some "numbers" on the whole timing the market question..

Obviously, buying during a crash is GREAT. but just getting in whenever you can for us long term holders, will still be great. Looks like about a 1% difference in "timing it" which isnt that big in the long run. and you may have never bought until weeks/months later when you finally gave in, and lost even more money..

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1441...before-a-crash

Ok, here's my yearly update. I only included the stocks I bought last year. The ones I purchased at the beginning of this year are doing fine but nothing worth mentioning since it's only been a couple months.

I did my calculations by hand because either Vanguard doesn't offer me that ability or I'm just not utilizing the website fully. All the same, in order to separate everything out to see how my money is being earned I did the following math.

For dividend gains, I simply divided the difference between my initial investment and total cost by the initial investment. Total cost being the sum of my initial investment plus any dividends earned since I reinvest them.

For capital gains, I divided the difference between current value and total cost by total cost.

For overall gains, I divided the difference between current value and initial investment by the initial investment.

Without further ado, here are the results from my first year.

KO Div 3.79% Cap 23.15% Total 27.8%
KMP Div 6.49% Cap 9.94% Total 17.1%
OXY Div 2.25% Cap -7.73% Total -5.65%
SO Div 4.44% Cap 3.85% Total 8.4%
WFM Div 3.38% Cap 23.3% Total 27.5%

Averages Div 4.07% Cap 10.5% Total 15.03%

I'm happy :D I'm also pleased to see my OXY starting to climb back towards the surface. My Fidelity managed 401k has an 11% IRR and that doesn't include the company match which is fantastically free money. My Vanguard managed mutual fund I'm honestly not sure on but it's going up. So yeah, I'm happy and dividend investing is clearly working for me. MY ESPP is flat out amazing right now too.

Aren't you glad you started this thread!!! LOL

Yes! :D Thanks again, Greg.

I've kept about 3MM in cash WAITING for "the pullback" to jump in and do some selective buying... Obviously that hasn't happened YET.... and may not. That's the stock market. It never does what you think or want it to do. We're actually just spectators along for the ride. Sometimes you're just sitting on your hands. So 3MM employees are currently on vacation.

I write this -- because a car dealer will tell you that the money is "made on the buy - not on the sale" side. Meaning that if he buys a car right --- that's probably where the best profit is. I'm sitting with the employees on vacation hoping that when they come back to work -- I will have a chance to make a little gain buying "right".

I DO NOT RECOMMEND this kind of practice for normal investors... and or EVER for 401's and IRA's etc. I'm basically a professional money manager (for my own funds) and have been doing this for some 30 years. I eat and sleep this on a daily basis. The reason for writing this post is to show just how wrong (so far) I've been. Remember too, that this is a very small portion of what I'm investing. It was cash that was parked in a couple cash cows but at least it WAS earning money even though it wasn't really "invested".

Still the best thread on Lat-g!!

Did anyone see that the US government seized assets of bitcoin??

I checked the price and it was trading at $125 and since I'm traveling back from
The V8 Supercar races in Austin I can't cut and paste the article
Using my phone.



http://www.cnbc.com/id/100750803

Article form 1959
 

This was recommended to me.. I am reading it now so I thought i would pass it on... Not positive its 100% relevant as its over 50... :twak:

http://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/filea...959_Gordon.pdf

DHS didn't seize any bitcoins, the just closed an exchange here in the US. This is like killing one ant and hoping the whole colony dies. As long as there is a need, it will be near impossible to stop it.

The price has stabilized with a slow steady increase... but still, they know what it takes to destabilize it. When central banks can create dollars out of thin air, a relatively small bitcoin market can easily be manipulated.

Since that bubble and crash didn't scare everyone off, they are using force to trying to close things down now, at least here in the states where they can.

Well personally I'd be worried about a couple of things.


#1 --- I never want to be in a pissing match with any government.


#2 --- They seized the assets of the exchange... to me that says they
may also have access to accounts - transactions - etc... which I'd be worried about if I wasn't paying income taxes on my gains. That's what they're really after.

You guys that looked around your neighborhoods and decided that Home Depot (HD) was someone you'd like to invest with.... certainly got it right. It's up what ?? Like $4 in the last two days?


I've missed two things that if I'd have followed my gut hunch --- I "wanted to" short the housing stocks just prior to the crash --- and I wanted to buy housing stocks last year (I have three buddies in the biz and they all saw good things coming). I did neither.

Home Depot and Lowes are both "housing proxies".... * Newbs * a "proxy" is a way of buying a company (stock) that is a direct beneficiary of an industry etc without actually picking a name (stock) in the industry. Think of it like buying Goodyear if you thought "car sales" were going up. You wouldn't have to pick Ford or Chevy.

HD is one of the stocks I purchased way back in Jan/12 when this thread inspired me to get off my butt. I purchased it in my Schwab account (that I opened because of this thread) and also in my 401k Brokerage Link account (that I also opened because of this thread). It is up 85% since my purchase. This thread is pure win. :thumbsup: Thanks Greg. Your advice to buy what you know and like was right on the mark.

Don

^^^^^^^^^ AWESOME!!!



Investing CORRECTLY -- really is pretty damn simple.


It's when someone tries to get fancy that it fails.

my ford "F" is up 49% since I bought a year ago this May.

This is the best thread on the internet.

Because this thread is read by many -- I MUST comment that this is not a good habit to get into. Remember to look at your "investments" as a whole... it is, after all, ALL your money in the end. Therefore.... a well diversified portfolio would/should be a sum of all those investments. It's better to buy DIFFERENT names for each account -- and then still use the "5% rule"... to make sure you're not loaded up on any one investment.

I know this is hard to do ---- and it's far too easy to ignore these simple rules when things are humming along nicely (as they have been) ---- but these rules are more to protect you when the shizzle isn't running in your favor. Trust me when I tell you -- THEN you will be a believer in diversity --- and in not loading up the truck with "what was" working.

When I'm buying shares -- I use a DOLLAR amount -- and then round off... but I take into account my total dollar amount invested...... Where I diverge from that is actual real estate. I treat real estate as separate investments and just put in what I'm comfortable with --- and in my case --- usually enough so that I have a controlling interest as an investor (the management group actually has 49% usually -- but I want to be the largest investor on the other side).

I lump BONDS and STOCKS as a total..... so I have "X" amount invested... and use that to control the diversity as well as the 5% rule.

HD is not a major portion of either of my accounts. I think it represents roughly 10% of each account since I also took your advice regarding diversification. However, even then it is nice to see these kinds of returns on one or two holdings. It has helped cover a couple of my purchases that have not done as well.

Don

As long as we're on this subject --- I'd add that what you buy in which type of account is really pretty important.

Some things to think about when selecting.


IRA/ROTH etc --- what you put in here DEPENDS on your timeframe til retirement. Obviously if you have a long time -- say more than 15 years til retirement... then I'd personally select things that are more GROWTH oriented.


If it's money in a regular account --- and it's money that may or may not be tapped in to from time to time..... THEN I'd buy more steady eddies for that account.... because I might need the money when things are down. So the Cokes --- and that sort of name would be in my normal accounts.


A couple reasons here.... again --- just some food for thought. DIVIDENDS are taxable.... and GAINS aren't UNTIL YOU TAKE THEM. So in a normal account -- your money might DOUBLE over 10 years -- but you haven't been paying tax on that and won't until you sell. YOU WILL pay tax on the dividends even if you're having them re-invested.... at 20%. So you get 2K in dividends in that normal account and you're out of pocket $400 come tax day.


Now -- all of this DEPENDS --- like most things -- because nobody is doing or should be doing - what someone else is. It all has to be tailored to what your needs and goals are and your tax and cash flow situation is. I have NOTHING in IRA/401's -- I sold them out years ago because I had no need for them. I do still own an apartment house inside of an IRA -- and it's nothing but a PITA and is taxed as well! But that's a mistake on my part and I now can't seem to get out of it so it is what it is.

WalMart (WMT)
 

I just have to do one more post today....



I was just poking around and noticed something that, personally, I think is incredibly important to "investing".


Check out WALMARTS (WMT) 5 year chart on Google Finance.....


Now -- What I want people to really pay attention to is at the end of 2008 -- 5 years ago -- WMT paid a .24 cent per quarter dividend.... Yeah - WMT sucked wind for 3 or 4 years (as share price goes).... but -- the BIG BUTT -- they now have almost doubled the dividend to .47 cents per share per quarter.

Think about that for just a minute --- have ANY OF YOU gotten a 100% increase in your pay in the last 5 years???

This is what I'm talking about when I say -- you get paid to wait.... and that you don't have to be some miracle stock picker to make money in the market LONG TERM.

Forget the share price growth --- you've doubled your cash flow even if the share price just stayed flat!!! What's wrong with that scenario??

Today is what I was waiting for. Not a big sell off but buying down a dollar here and there.... Adding to positions already established. Gotta love it!

Greg,

Re: Diversification, a google search reveals 10 'sectors' (investment sectors...).

Are there some sectors you might favor? Sectors to avoid? I'm about 15 years away from retirement if that factors in.

Is there a rule of thumb about spreading risk? One stock of each sector before 2 of any one sector?

Sorry if this has been covered, I'm up to about page 75 in the thread and
had not seen this question.

Battling 'analysis paralysis' but I just opened a Schwab account, so I'm close to making some moves,

Thanks for the info and the motivation!

Steve O

Excellent questions!!!



Okay -- I'll try to keep this simple (the market is anything but!)....

Diversification is based on how much you really have to invest -- time horizon -- adversity to loss of capital etc. It's pretty dang hard for a guy with 5 grand to invest - to get much diversification.... at 10 grand a guy could buy 10 stocks - 1 grand each. I personally don't see any need for more than 20 stocks - regardless of how much money you have... 20 stocks will keep you in the 5% rule. More than that is just kind of a waste of effort and you loose track of what you own.

SECTORS are a different story. Sectors tend to go in ROTATION.... one sector can be a looser in an up market -- as investors roll out of that sector and invest in another sector. So just to have every sector covered.... is probably not a good strategy.

If you read this thread --- I'm personally more about owning the best of the breed in the field that you're going buy in -- and even more about owning names that you know and understand... by understand - what I'm saying is places you shop - places you eat - places that you buy from - in other words - something that you personally can look around and say -- I like this dump - and the parking lot is full - and the merchandise is good and these places seem to be well run. Whatever "these places" are...


The reason for that is because I believe that it's important to hold and invest more when things are crappy. If you can look around and trust the business you've invested in - then you'll tend not to panic and sell just because the share price isn't so hot for a year or two. And if you like the company - then you might feel comfortable adding to your position when things aren't so hot - and that's where real investors make their money.


SO -- make a list of places you'd like to own.... Just for fun - let's say
Home Depot
Ford
McDonalds
WalMart


Okay -- then we look and say -- you have THREE retailers --- but break it down more and you have FOOD -- General merchandise -- Home building supplies... and a manufacturer (Ford). I don't really see a problem in owning those stocks even though they're not diversified by "sector".

Now --- I like to own some OIL.... whether or not that's pipelines -- retailers - drillers - refiners.... there's so many kinds and types -- but again -- never buy something you know nothing about. I happen to always buy Chevron... I like their product - I see their stations -- I can sleep at night owning it. Maybe you're a Conoco guy... but you see where I'm going.

I don't own sectors I own COMPANIES that I like and can live with and understand -- and that pay me to own them (dividends) -- In other words -- they like to share their profits with me.


So the short answer is --- you don't want to be in all retail -- or all banking -- or all housing.... BUT -- you do want to be in great companies that pay you to own them and that you love.

Do that --- and you'll be happy and successful over time. Why own something in a "sector" you don't know a damn thing about -- just for the sake of being diversified.

So here's something else ------- I don't smoke or drink ------ But I love cigarette and booze stocks... because people buy them in an up economy or a down economy... even if a guy is laid off - he's still puffing away... While I might hate that and wish he'd quit.... he's not going to -- and I'm going to make money off that. Can't help him - might as well help myself. They're called SIN STOCKS.... don't overlook them.

I used to own AT&T and VERIZON -- then I said --- why bother -- AT&T is who I use - so that's the one I own. Nothing wrong with either one of them -- but I'm a customer of AT&T so they might as well pay me back once a quarter with a nice dividend.


Hope that helps.


Take you a few nights -- but go back and read from the beginning.....

Yesterday I said I was picking away at adding to some positions because I wanted to be buying down a buck or so if I could. That doesn't sound like much does it.... I mean really? Down a buck? Whoo hoo....

Here's the PROPER way to look at this though.


When you're buying 4 or 5 or 10 THOUSAND shares at a time like I do... Down a buck is 4 or 5 or 10 Thousand DOLLARS.

I also always look at PERCENTAGES... so if something is off 2 or 3 PERCENT... and I'm only trying to make 5 percent for the year - well (hopefully) I have a good leg up on that 5% when the market snaps back!


Here's a snap shot of one of the orders I placed yesterday. I placed two separate orders as the day went on -- one for 2000 shares and another one for another 2000 shares as the price fell a little more. I always do LIMIT orders -- so I pick a price I want to pay and when shares are for sale at that price - then the computers buy them. Thus the multiple fill of the orders.



300 $39.679 $11,903.70
Commission: $1.34
$11,905.04
1,700 $39.678 $67,452.60
Commission: $7.61
$67,460.21
159 $39.60 $6,296.40
Commission: $0.71
$6,297.11
1,241 $39.60 $49,143.60
Commission: $5.55
$49,149.15
100 $39.5994 $3,959.94
Commission: $0.45
$3,960.39
100 $39.5994 $3,959.94
Commission: $0.45
$3,960.39
400 $39.599 $15,839.60
Commission: $1.79
$15,841.39



Now --- here's why I'm writing about this today. BUYING ON THE DIPS --- makes you FEEL BETTER. When you buy a little here and there -- and the price a few days or weeks later is MORE than you paid -- YOU FEEL BETTER. Does it make a huge difference 10 years down the road? Probably not really... but for those 10 years... I'll think I was pretty dang smart.

Does this kind of investing make a difference in a portfolio where someone is buying 50 or 100 shares... Not really... BUT YOU'LL FEEL BETTER!!!

Note that I was ADDING to an already established position. I've been asked a zillion times about "should I wait to get in"? The usual answer is no. While you're waiting -- you're losing time -- and will probably wait until just after the "X" date of a dividend payment -- and then will have to go for 3 more months before you get paid a dividend etc. And maybe you missed the 3 day selloff -- and now the shares have not only rebounded but they've jumped 4%. In the long run -- 3 - 5 - 10 - 15 years -- just buy when you have the money ready and are ready to make a pick. TIME is your friend.... not the .50 per share dip you waited for.

If you're pretty sophisticated and are aware of all the little nuances of the market - you know the X date - and on and on - and you're placing orders for 500 shares at a time etc -- okay -- then maybe you can wait a couple weeks or a month or two for a dip like I do.

Looks like I should have waited another day or two!!! LOL


You can never pick the bottom -- or sell at the top... Just get over it. :smiley_smack:

This is a good article and everyone should read it -- it's short - but long on ideas and values to be remembered. The values are that it really doesn't take that much per year or that long - to accumulate some meaningful funds.

The strategy is that investing is not about getting rich quick - but rather - time is the wealth creator... the sooner someone gets started the better. The author uses 12 years to show money growth. If money doubles every 10 years - then the 167K is going to be 330K and the author is assuming that you quit saving after just 12 years. Of course he's not writing about that - but I'm taking his example just a bit further.

Now imagine - that if a person really said to themselves... RETIREMENT should be fun - and fun costs money. And then saved accordingly. To me - I think if someone is making 100K a year... they should easily be putting away 1K PER MONTH... which would double all the authors results.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1460...g_income&ifp=0

I thought you smoke'd tires and drank gas? goodyear and chevron lol

But seriously, Greg you've said so much just right there. That is why i keep refering friends and family to this thread, the old sales motto, kiss=keep it simple stupid!!

Steve, i'm kinda in the same boat as you, mid 40's, and about 15 years left.

Think about that, its halftime in our careers, 3rd quarter, hows your game doin?

Have a great Memorial Day everybody!!! AND REMEMBER TO THANK OR HUG A VET!!!! (not a corvette, you can hug that some other time,,,)

sorry, i missed this last page, was referring to right after Steve's post....

Hey Guys..

My thought for the day is just remember that health is a HUGE factor in your Numbers..

You can plan and then wham....You are not working anymore due to Health..

My numbers had me working 10 more years, but due to major health issues I can no longer work..

So overestimate what you will need and shoot for that.. Also have the Will/Trust in place...I don't think you want your Family in probate after you are gone...Keep the Government out of your pockets...

Life Insurance ? It depends...

Long Term Care....Another question...

Not things we like to talk about, but all your planning can go out the window in a flash

The old saying goes "if you've got your health, you've got your wealth"

I have many disabled clients, some from sickness, some from age, none of them can "spend"....

Any of you newbs to investing making any money??:poke:

No complaints here!!

ED Dropped back some over the past week. Seems the news article about them charging the highest rate for Electricity in the US didnt help me any. lol.



Here's a question however...

back long before my Investing 102 days I made a decent purchase ($ wise, not "smart" wise. lol)... (compared to what i have in my ROTH Investing 102 account that went belly up. Now its a "fraction of a penny" stock. lol. What's your thoughts on this one? My thought, is that its so low, it will cost me more to sell it than what its worth (ouch). So holding it is costing me nothing, other than seeing the lower overal % growth being true for my account. I figured since it doesnt cost me, perhaps i should just hold onto it, and maybe one day in the far far future they come back.. lol. The stock was Storm Cat Energy, who went bankrupt not to long after my purchase (relatively speaking. It now goes by the ticket SCUEF, and is no longer listed on the normal stock exchange (which not sure if i could even sell it if i wanted). The original $ amount makes up about 4% of my total "ROTH" account. So that obviously takes a hit on my Gains/Losses column.

This is in a ROTH Account. So no tax benefits either way...

Well with the Roth you dont get taxed as earned income when you take it out, course there has to be something there to take out lol, dont get me started on the entitlements.....