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Showing posts from 2017

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Clearly, Not Everyone Is Getting Rich Off The Stock Market

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Well, the NY Fed was out today with its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit for Q4 2017. Clearly, Americans are in a lot of debt. Take a look. Just a couple of quick hits from the report. Total U.S. household debt rose $193 billion in the 4th quarter, to a new all-time peak of $13.15 trillion. That's 17.9% above the most recent trough in Q2 2013. Broken down by segment, what do you suppose was the largest gain in percentage terms? Credit cards, with a 3.2% increase. In the picture above, the widening gap represented by the red arrows reflects the fact that non-housing debt is rising at a faster pace than housing debt. Here's what's troubling about that. Below is a picture of the stock market, as represented by the S&P 500 index, over that same period; from the most recent credit trough in Q2 2013 to the end of 2017. And thus, the title of this article. Over that period, the S&P 500 index rose by 75%; from roughly 1,600 to 2,800. Apparently, ho

I Couldn't Care Less

Wanted to take just a minute to share one of my favorite examples of where what I can only attribute to mental laziness corrupts the proper use of the English language. I hear it, if not once a day, at least several times a week: "I could care less." "I could care less." If, indeed, it is possible to care less, whatever it is that you mean to dismiss by use of the phrase is, in fact, not dismissed at all. No, the phrase is: "I couldn't care less." As in: "You can talk to me all day long about (insert topic here) and it would literally be impossible for me to care any less than I do at this minute."

Added A Little Wells Fargo to The ETF Monkey Core Monthly Dividend Portfolio

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In February, 2017, I wrote an article for Seeking Alpha entitled A Dividend Portfolio Built From The World's Best Dividend ETFs . I later expanded on the work I did in a second article , entitled 20 Top Stocks For A Monthly Dividend Portfolio . In this article, I expanded the original portfolio of 12 stocks to 20, with the specific goal of adding companies that, together, generated at least some level of income for the portfolio each and every month. At the end of that second article, I revealed that I had "put my money where my mouth is," selling all my holdings in 4 dividend-focused ETFs and replacing them with the 20 stocks listed in the article, as well as two "bonus" stocks. I implemented all of this on July 20, 2017. I recently added a few additional shares of Wells Fargo ( WFC ) to the portfolio. My original position was purchased at $54.93 per share. Since that time, the share price has continued to decline, allowing me to pick up a

The Power Of A Diversified Portfolio

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Just a quick note for today. Just over a month ago, I wrote an article for Seeking Alpha in which I suggested 20 Top Stocks For A Monthly Dividend Portfolio along with 2 "bonus" suggestions. Today, Apple was hit by a Wall Street Journal article confirming rumors of iPhone 8 production delays. General Electric got trashed by a negative JP Morgan note . Speaking of JP Morgan, it too got hit by, from the best I can tell, a continuation of concerns over falling interest rates . And Starbucks appears to have another general case of the blues. Guess what? All of these stocks are in my portfolio. They are represented by the areas highlighted in red below. I also highlighted AT&T, falling solidly as well, for good measure. Ah, but go back up and take a look at AbbVie. Up 6.26%! Why? It turns out that they received a favorable decision with respect to patent protection for key drug Humira. You'll see AbbVie as one of the areas featured in green above. I also high

Traveling In Italy - Manarola

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One of my favorite destinations in Italy is the Cinque Terre. The phrase "Cinque Terre" literally means "five lands," and refers to 5 small towns (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare) that hug the western coastline of Northern Italy. If you are a fan of Rick Steves, you likely know that he feels many travelers make the mistake of viewing the Cinque Terre as an afterthought; descending on the region early one morning, blowing through all 5 towns and leaving the same evening. I agree with him that those who do so miss out on so much. I hope to share an overall post on the Cinque Terre at some future point. For this effort, however, I will focus on the town of Manarola. Manarola is believed to be the oldest of the five villages, with the cornerstone of San Lorenzo church dating back to 1338. Ultimately, the name traces to "magna roea," which means "large wheel," a reference to the mill wheel in the town. My wif

Added A Little General Electric To The ETF Monkey Core Monthly Dividend Portfolio

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In February, 2017, I wrote an article for Seeking Alpha entitled A Dividend Portfolio Built From The World's Best Dividend ETFs . I later expanded on the work I did in a second article , entitled 20 Top Stocks For A Monthly Dividend Portfolio . In this article, I expanded the original portfolio of 12 stocks to 20, with the specific goal of adding companies that, together, generated at least some level of income for the portfolio each and every month. At the end of that second article, I revealed that I had "put my money where my mouth is," selling all my holdings in 4 dividend-focused ETFs and replacing them with the 20 stocks listed in the article, as well as two "bonus" stocks. I implemented all of this on July 20, 2017. This morning, I added a few additional shares of General Electric ( GE ) to the portfolio. My original position was purchased at $26.77 per share. Since that time, the share price has continued to decline, allowing me to pi

Added A Little Starbucks to The ETF Monkey Core Monthly Dividend Portfolio

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In February, 2017, I wrote an article for Seeking Alpha entitled A Dividend Portfolio Built From The World's Best Dividend ETFs . I later expanded on the work I did in a second article , entitled 20 Top Stocks For A Monthly Dividend Portfolio . In this article, I expanded the original portfolio of 12 stocks to 20, with the specific goal of adding companies that, together, generated at least some level of income for the portfolio each and every month. At the end of that second article, I revealed that I had "put my money where my mouth is," selling all my holdings in 4 dividend-focused ETFs and replacing them with the 20 stocks listed in the article, as well as two "bonus" stocks. I implemented all of this on July 20, 2017. This morning, I added additional shares to one of the holdings for the first time. That holding is Starbucks ( SBUX ).   In brief, my original position was purchased at $58.12 per share. This price represented a decline of almost e

Synchrony Bank Raises Rates - A Great Day For Savers!

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Great news for online savers! Synchrony Bank , which at 1.05% already sported one of the most competitive interest rates for an online savings account, announced today that, effective 6/1/17, the rate is being raised to 1.15%. Now, this is nothing earthshaking. It's one-tenth of one percent. However, this is the first time in years that I have seen one of the online banks actually raise their interest rate. A little research appears to reveal that competitor Ally Bank has also raised their rates. Their website appears to show their rate as 1.05% effective 6/1/17, as opposed to the previous long-standing rate of 1.00%. Another major competitor, Capital One , appears to be falling further and further behind, with their rate remaining at a comparatively paltry .75%. Since the financial meltdown of 2007-2009, one of the groups that has suffered the most are small savers. While the stock market has soared, benefiting those fortunate enough to have both the money to invest as wel

ACTION ALERT: Added A Little T & VZ This Morning

Based on the principles I outline in this article , I added a small amount of AT&T and Verizon to the portfolio this morning. My personal portfolio hit a recent high on March 17. This morning, I ran my personal report and evaluated the respective weightings of T & VZ as of 3/17 vs. this morning. Due to some recent uncertainty in the case of both companies, and a soft quarterly report from Verizon, their prices have softened and their relative weightings had slipped compared to the overall markets. I just thought it was a nice opportunity to pick up some dividends in the 5% range.

Worried About A Market Downturn? Protect Yourself With This ETF

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Based on a recent investment outlook from Vanguard, I wrote an article offering some suggestions on how to position your portfolio for the remainder of 2017. In the article, I made the following observation:​ If you have been heavily invested in U.S. stocks, likely your portfolio has performed extremely well of late, particularly since Donald Trump's surprising win in the presidential election. Following an initial overnight drop in futures in the early-morning hours on November 9, the markets rocketed upwards once they opened and, more or less, have not stopped since. At their closing prices on March 31, the Dow was up 12.7%, the S&P 500 up 10.4% and the Nasdaq up a whopping 13.8% from their respective closing prices on November 8, 2016. However, I went on to note some of the reasons Vanguard offered to suggest that, at best, market returns will be muted for the foreseeable future. Along with that, I shared the view of several market commentators who believe valua

Play Defense With This 7-ETF Portfolio

The U.S stock market has had a great run. Let me give you just a couple of numbers to ponder. On March 1, 2017, the S&P 500 index closed at an all-time high of 2,395.96. That represented a 254% gain from its close of 676.53 at the low point of the bear market on March 9, 2009. Alternatively, viewed from a more recent perspective, it also represented a 31% gain from its most recent low close of 1,829.08 back on February 11, 2016. Given all of this, investors may rightly be concerned with finding a good balance between maintaining some exposure to the possibility for gains while at the same time ensuring at least a reasonable level of capital preservation. After all, if the markets experience a sudden, sharp selloff, paying attention to this now may help to allay investors’ fears while also preserving capital to take advantage of subsequent market recoveries. With all of this in mind, I decided to write a brief post for my friends over at Whotrades.com featuring a 7-E

3 Best High Dividend Yield ETFs

Once you have established the core of your portfolio with a world-class total U.S. market or S&P 500 ETF, you may wish to add one or more ETFs that focus on dividend-paying stocks. Broadly speaking, these fall into two categories: 1). High Dividend Yield and, 2). Dividend Growth. As can quickly be surmised, the priority for the first type is to select stocks that pay a high current dividend yield while the second type focuses on stocks that, while perhaps not currently paying as high a yield, are judged to have excellent prospects of growing that yield over time. In this article I wrote for Seeking Alpha, I review what I consider to be your 3 best choices for high dividend yield . Enjoy! ----------- Authors Note: If you like my work, I would be profoundly grateful if you would take a minute to follow me on Twitter , Facebook , and/or Google+ , as well as feature my work to friends, colleagues and/or relatives who may be interested in the subject matter. Gr

3 Best Dividend Growth ETFs

Once you have established the core of your portfolio with a world-class total U.S. market or S&P 500 ETF, you may wish to add one or more ETFs that focus on dividend-paying stocks. Broadly speaking, these fall into two categories: 1). High Dividend Yield and, 2). Dividend Growth. As can quickly be surmised, the priority for the first type is to select stocks that pay a high current dividend yield while the second type focuses on stocks that, while perhaps not currently paying as high a yield, are judged to have excellent prospects of growing that yield over time. In this article I wrote for Seeking Alpha, I review what I consider to be your 3 best choices for dividend growth . Enjoy! ----------- Authors Note: If you like my work, I would be profoundly grateful if you would take a minute to follow me on Twitter , Facebook , and/or Google+ , as well as feature my work to friends, colleagues and/or relatives who may be interested in the subject matter. Growin

3 Best S&P 500 ETFs

The S&P 500 index holds a special place in stock market lore and history. It is widely regarded as the most accurate gauge of the performance of large-cap American equities. While it focuses on the large-cap sector, it includes a significant portion of the total value of the market. It is perceived as more representative of the market than the Dow Jones Industrial Average because it is made up of 500 companies, compared to the DJIA's 30.  In this article I wrote for Seeking Alpha, I review what I consider to be your 3 best choices in this sector. What makes this article a little special is that one of these is the very first ETF. Enjoy! ----------- Authors Note: If you like my work, I would be profoundly grateful if you would take a minute to follow me on Twitter , Facebook , and/or Google+ , as well as feature my work to friends, colleagues and/or relatives who may be interested in the subject matter. Growing one's readership base is critical to any

3 Best International Emerging Market ETFs

In a previous 'ETF Monkey Focus' article, I explained why there are good reasons to include exposure to foreign, or international, markets in your portfolio. Two key reasons are potential for growth and diversification . That article featured 3 international total market ETFs , which basically package exposure to all markets outside the U.S in a single ETF. However, countries outside the U.S. are actually broken down into two categories; developed markets and emerging markets.  In this article I wrote for Seeking Alpha, I review what I consider to be your 3 best choices for investing in emerging markets. Enjoy! ----------- Authors Note: If you like my work, I would be profoundly grateful if you would take a minute to follow me on Twitter , Facebook , and/or Google+ , as well as feature my work to friends, colleagues and/or relatives who may be interested in the subject matter. Growing one's readership base is critical to any author and I am no exceptio

3 Best International Developed Market ETFs

In a previous 'ETF Monkey Focus' article, I explained why there are good reasons to include exposure to foreign, or international, markets in your portfolio. Two key reasons are potential for growth and diversification . That article featured 3 international total market ETFs , which basically package exposure to all markets outside the U.S in a single ETF. However, countries outside the U.S. are actually broken down into two categories; developed markets and emerging markets.  In this article I wrote for Seeking Alpha, I review what I consider to be your 3 best choices for investing in developed markets. Enjoy! ----------- Authors Note: If you like my work, I would be profoundly grateful if you would take a minute to follow me on Twitter , Facebook , and/or Google+ , as well as feature my work to friends, colleagues and/or relatives who may be interested in the subject matter. Growing one's readership base is critical to any author and I am no excepti

3 Best International Total Market ETFs

As I feature in this educational article from my personal blog, there are good reasons to include exposure to foreign, or international, markets in your portfolio. Two key reasons are potential for growth and diversification . In this article I wrote for Seeking Alpha, I review what I consider to be your 3 best choices in this sector. Enjoy! ----------- Authors Note: If you like my work, I would be profoundly grateful if you would take a minute to follow me on Twitter , Facebook , and/or Google+ , as well as feature my work to friends, colleagues and/or relatives who may be interested in the subject matter. Growing one's readership base is critical to any author and I am no exception. Your support will enable me to continue my efforts.

4 Best Total U.S. Bond Market ETFs

Since the two broadest asset classes are stocks and bonds, a well-diversified portfolio does well to add as one of its core ETFs a first-rate U.S. Total Bond Market ETF. In this article I wrote for Seeking Alpha, I review what I consider to be your 4 best choices in this sector. I pick 3 winners, and one runner-up. Enjoy! ----------- Authors Note: If you like my work, I would be profoundly grateful if you would take a minute to follow me on Twitter , Facebook , and/or Google+ , as well as feature my work to friends, colleagues and/or relatives who may be interested in the subject matter. Growing one's readership base is critical to any author and I am no exception. Your support will enable me to continue my efforts.

3 Best Total U.S. Market ETFs

For most U.S. investors, the first ETF you add to your portfolio should be a top-quality U.S. total stock market ETF . As opposed to the S&P 500, which is comprised solely of large companies (large-cap), the landscape covered by these ETFs also encompasses many smaller companies (mid-cap, small-cap, and even micro-cap). Such companies, while offering a higher level of risk than their larger brethren, also offer greater opportunities for growth . In this article I wrote for Seeking Alpha, I review what I consider to be your 3 best choices in this sector, with comments on 2 additional ETFs as a bonus. Enjoy! ----------- Authors Note: If you like my work, I would be profoundly grateful if you would take a minute to follow me on Twitter , Facebook , and/or Google+ , as well as feature my work to friends, colleagues and/or relatives who may be interested in the subject matter. Growing one's readership base is critical to any author and I am no exception. Your suppor

Position Your Portfolio For The Remainder Of 2017

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If you have been heavily invested in U.S. stocks, likely your portfolio has performed extremely well of late, particularly since Donald Trump's surprising win in the presidential election. Following an initial overnight drop in futures in the early-morning hours on November 9, the markets rocketed upwards once they opened and, more or less, have not stopped since. At their closing prices on March 31, the Dow was up 12.7%, the S&P 500 up 10.4% and the Nasdaq up a whopping 13.8% from their respective closing prices on November 8, 2016. At the same time, while the Nasdaq managed a small gain in March, both the Dow and S&P 500 actually declined slightly for the month. Several market commentators have discussed the stretched valuations in U.S. stocks. Additionally, a combination of increased utilization of technology, aging populations in the developed world, and the rise of globalization point to a high probability of muted returns for the remainder of the year, and indeed po

On Warren Buffett, ETFs, And The Democratization Of Investing

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I’m an average guy. When I travel to New York City, I stay at the Affinia Shelburne in Murray Hill. I usually pick up breakfast at the bagel shop just down the street, or the Pret A Manger at 41 st and Lex. Maybe I’ll grab a little lunch at the original Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. And the last time I visited, I had a great $12 bowl of Tokyo Chicken at Momosan Ramen & Sake, Chef Morimoto’s cool ramen bar at 342 Lexington. I’ve never been able to stay at the Plaza Hotel, nor dine at Per Se or Masa. As I say, I’m an average guy. Not poor, by any means. But not wealthy enough to engage in pursuits where money is no object. Perhaps that is why a particular point that Warren Buffett made in his 2016 Shareholder Letter , and the way he explained it, really caught my attention. You see, for about two years now, I have been writing on the topic of ETFs. As I have done so, I have focused on the issue of cost; of keeping your expenses low and putting as much as possible of