Investing 102

[MPM IV]

Thanks for looking Greg. I believe that the A shares pay a 15% tax to the Netherlands where the B shares don't, which is why I chose B from the start. Due to my lack of experience I didn't even consider that they might pay in a different share than what the buyer owned.
I was hoping that someone that owned the stock might know if there's a way to correct that or if I end up paying tax to two countries, which would make me far less happy with my selection. Part of the learning curve I guess.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by MPM IV

Thanks for looking Greg. I believe that the A shares pay a 15% tax to the Netherlands where the B shares don't, which is why I chose B from the start. Due to my lack of experience I didn't even consider that they might pay in a different share than what the buyer owned.
I was hoping that someone that owned the stock might know if there's a way to correct that or if I end up paying tax to two countries, which would make me far less happy with my selection. Part of the learning curve I guess.

I did find this little "nugget" in an article just published discussing RDS's ability to continue to pay it's dividend!!



Market is concerned that higher dividend yield at the expense of low share prices will mean that the dividend is not sustainable and company may cut its dividend payment in the future. However, Shell has not cut its dividends over the past 70 years. Even at oil below $10 per barrel, it maintained its dividend payments and has always given priority to its shareholders.

The Anglo-Dutch company is in a good position to finance its future projects while satisfying its investors. At the end of second quarter 2015, Shell’s gearing ratio was 12.7%, much better than other oil giants. Although the completion of the Shell-BG would require the oil company to raise its debt financing, it seems that the company would still be in a strong position to finance its dividends.

[MPM IV]

Thanks again. I had not seen that article and it definitely put a smile on my face.

[GregWeld]

In this "crappy" market -- which I have long warned all about WILL happen during your investing horizons.... and I've reminded many times to remember how easy it was to look "brilliant" during an up market. I wanted to just check the pulse on some names we've talked about. Remember that I'm just using these as examples and nothing more.


I pulled up a chart of the ONE YEAR price performance of Altria (MO) - Alibaba (BABA) - GoPro (GPRO) and AT&T (T) and Philip Morris (PM)... just to plot them in my mind. Remember that PM, T, and MO pay dividends - which is the MAIN REASON to own them long term... because they keep paying while the share price is poop....


MO - is UP 20.5%

PM - is DOWN 3.8%

T - is DOWN 8.6%

BABA - is DOWN 30.3%

GPRO - is DOWN 55%

So.... if you owned the three on the top of the list - your account would be positive overall... and you'd be collecting 5% (just rounding off here) dividend... If you owned the last two -- OUCH... and you get nothing while you're waiting for them to come back to even.


Staying in the game in the down market periods is about 99% of the battle... getting PAID while you play the game is even better. Yeah - you're buddy at the office was making a killing the first few weeks or months on his IPO buys... but I'll bet he hasn't mentioned them for awhile... LOL

[WSSix]

I'm swimming in a sea of red personally. It's a little uncomfortable right now honestly. I'm glad I'm in this for the long haul though. If I had to make money on trading, I'd be so screwed. I can see why traders might have high stress levels.

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by WSSix

I'm swimming in a sea of red personally. It's a little uncomfortable right now honestly. I'm glad I'm in this for the long haul though. If I had to make money on trading, I'd be so screwed. I can see why traders might have high stress levels.

Relax......the tide goes in and out, some storms are bigger than others, and major Tsunamis are infrequent.

I hoping there's going to be a reason to go on a little 'average down' shopping spree soon....

[CRCRFT78]

So I have been trying to catch back up with this thread (on page 461) after not reading it for awhile and wanted to skip ahead and get some of your opinions on the Volkswagen debacle. I haven't had a chance to dig deep into whats going on but I did look up the stock to sort of get an idea of whats going on with it. Volkswagen AG (ADR) OTCMKTS:VLKAY the share price is at $27.10, P/E 5.64 and a Div/Yield 1.09/4.01. Now my thinking is that it has the ability to recover and have some decent growth along with the dividend payment over time and be a winner. What could I be missing or not thinking about as an investment consideration?

P.S. I hope I have the right symbol. This was just a spur of the moment look up to see what the stock was doing (besides falling).

[Vegas69]

I bet Greg will say not to catch the falling knife. It's awful early in the cycle.

I started this deal two years ago and I'm still very happy I did. I have 8.5% more dinero than I would if I left it in the bank before dividends. I got lucky with some good companies that are doing well.

I recently listened to a cd that claimed that 97% of mutual funds are outperformed by the S & P 500. Mutual funds are glorified savings accounts. I see the value of a Roth IRA or a match 401k, but mutual funds are to safe to hit a home run with.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by CRCRFT78

So I have been trying to catch back up with this thread (on page 461) after not reading it for awhile and wanted to skip ahead and get some of your opinions on the Volkswagen debacle. I haven't had a chance to dig deep into whats going on but I did look up the stock to sort of get an idea of whats going on with it. Volkswagen AG (ADR) OTCMKTS:VLKAY the share price is at $27.10, P/E 5.64 and a Div/Yield 1.09/4.01. Now my thinking is that it has the ability to recover and have some decent growth along with the dividend payment over time and be a winner. What could I be missing or not thinking about as an investment consideration?

P.S. I hope I have the right symbol. This was just a spur of the moment look up to see what the stock was doing (besides falling).

Volkswagon (VLKAY) is much more than just Volkswagen... it's Porsche - it's Bentley - Audi - Lamborghini - Bugatti - Ducati.

The 4% dividend rate is a direct result of the falling share price... My bet is that after a few heads roll -- and some fines are paid... and some fixes are done... This will have been a very good time to buy a good company. In the meantime you might feel like a dart board in a bar... but when the dust settles and things quiet down... the share price should rebound.

[JKnight]

I agree with Todd on this one, falling knife analogy and all. I personally like the idea of trying to buy low during this scandal, but it's probably too early given the size of this mess. If you are going to get in on this, you're going to have to make monitoring this situation your new hobby and even then it's still a gamble.