2015 Winner & Loser (My Stock Picks)

My best 2015 pick is Starbucks (NASDAQ : SBUX) (+40%).
I hope the coffee/beverage business will continue to perform and make 2016 another "Grande" year !

My worst 2015 pick is Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL)  (-80% to date OUCH !).
I crossing all my fingers and toes that the energy sector improves somewhat in 2016 !? :)

Lead Contamination of Tea

What scheme !? (KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals files for bankruptcy in wake of Shkreli arrest (Reuters)

Oil Bottom (or Not)

Crude oil prices started falling since summer 2014 and it has been a long painful process.
Ouch, I caught some really sharp falling knives like (NYSE: KMI), (NYSE:BBL) and (NYSE: SDRL) just to name a few.

Today I'm hoping to see light at the end of the tunnel ? Is this the bottom ? ("double bottom" to be exact) I'm keeping my fingers crossed !@#$

Stock Purchase - NYCB (50 shares, $34 dividend income)

New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: NYCB) is a bank holding company serving New York and New Jersey area with branches in Florida, Arizona, and Ohio.

Stock Purchase - HCP (25 shares, $56 dividend income)

HCP, Inc. (NYSE: HCP) is a REIT that specializes in the healthcare sector such as senior housing, life science, medical office, hospital and skilled nursing. 

The much anticipated fed rate hike has been weighing heavily on the whole REIT sector and this is providing an excellent opportunity to buy some well run companies at discount prices. No one knows how low stock prices for these companies may go and I am not trying to time the bottom. I do know and am confident in the longer term, it will not matter much as the dividend income generated by this investment is worth the risks. 

HCP is a member of the coveted S&P 500 dividend aristocrates, companies that have increased their dividend payouts for 25 consecutive years. With the nation's population living longer and millions of the baby boomer generation retiring, the need for healthcare services will be strong for many years to come. HCP business will thrive in this future and I want to own a piece of it.

This purchase will add $56/yr to the dividend income portfolio

Basic info:

Market CAP: 15B   EPS: $0.50   Dividend: $2.26 (6.14%)

Debt to GDP Ratio %

2015 Southeast Asian haze

Buying Cheap Stuff - Walmart (10 shares, $19 dividend income)

Walmart is one of the world's largest chain of brick and mortar discount department stores with 2+ million employees. I do not know a state or any decent size town in the US which does not have a Walmart store in its vicinity and prices at all their stores are very competitive by most retail standards.

However in recent years especially with the popularity of online only stores and free shipping, it has been increasingly challenging for this retail giant to compete effectively. Their cost of doing business has increased especially with worker compensation increases and tighter profit margins from increased competition such as Target, Costco and Amazon.

I believe the retail sector is big enough to support a few major players in both the online and brick & mortar space and Walmart will slowly transition to find a balance in both medium. Currently it is at its 52-week low which makes it an attractive dividend payer of 3.4% with a good chance of appreciation. I'm adding some shares here and will wait for their company business to turn around while collecting decent steady dividends.

Related Market Commentary: Market still not giving Walmart enough credit (Morning Star)

This purchase will add $19/yr to the dividend income portfolio

Basic info:

Market CAP: 185B   EPS: $4.79   Dividend: $1.96 (3.41%)

 

October is Dangerous

Stock market in a picture...

Buying Insurance - ORI (80 shares, $59 dividend income)

The market volatility (Dow -470pts ) on this 1st. day in Sept provided a lower entry to buy another Dividend Aristocrate for my income portfolio.

Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE: ORI) is one of the nation's 50 largest publicly held insurance organizations serving commercial, industrial and financial sectors.

This purchase will add $59/yr to the dividend income portfolio

Basic info:

Market CAP: 4B   EPS: $1.24   Dividend: $0.74 (4.71%)

Buying Safe (Sleep Well At Night) Income - Procter & Gamble (20 shares, $53 dividend income)

Current worldwide stock market turmoil provided a nice opportunity to own a few shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) at discounted prices.

Procter & Gamble is a American multinational consumer goods company with brands in pet food, cleaning agents, and personal care products among many other household items. They own a big segment of household brands used daily by millions of consumers in the US and worldwide.

If China's economy is slowing down or if we go into a recession, consumers will still continue to use and need these products. Procter & Gamble will continue to thrive and return steady dividends to shareholders. This is a stable and safe (sleep-well-at-night) stock for long term investors.

This purchase will add $53/yr to the dividend income portfolio

Basic info:
Market CAP:185B     EPS:$3.04    Div Yield:3.80% 

Sell or Buy !?

It’s Not a Crash, It’s a Market Correction

Stock Market Crash Coming ?

Why Are So Many People Freaking Out About A Stock Market Crash In The Fall Of 2015? (www.zerohedge.com)

Investing / Trading emerging market - VNM (50 shares, $22 dividend income)

As a foodie, I like Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup that is a popular street food and cuisine.

As an investor, I like the emerging Vietnamese economy. I actually like it enough to invest in it through the Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (NYSEARCA:VNM).

VNM is an Exchange Traded Fund closely matching before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Vietnam Index. This index is comprised of mostly publicly traded companies that are domiciled and primarily listed in Vietnam or that generate the majority of their revenues in Vietnam.

Vietnam has a relatively stable local currency, large young demographics (median age 29) and competitive labor costs. Inflation is lower compared to its regional neighbors so it will continue to attract foreign investments especially in the growing manufacturing sector from large foreign companies like Samsung and Foxconn.

Looking at the multi-year price chart history, VNM seems to be at a low point now and the risk reward for this investment / trade looks good. There are still downside risks due to regional political factors and a potential prolonged slow economic climate due to China's slowing economy. Nonetheless I think this is an investment that will slowly pay dividends while waiting for that recovery growth.

ETF Basic information: (src: Yahoo Finance)
Market CAP: 546M    Dividend: 2.75%   Annual Report Expense Ratio (net) 0.65%

Year to Date Return (Mkt): -4.42%

1-Year Total Return (Mkt): -9.81%
3-Year Total Return (Mkt): 4.08%

High Blood Pressure May Be a Choice

Have an Apple - (10 shares, $20 dividend income)

After a recent price pullback, I added a few shares of Apple (NYSE: AAPL).

Why did I add this high flying high tech company ? Well because I think Apple is maturing into a long term dividend paying stock especially with all that cash ($200+ B) on hand ! :)

Unless you have been living under a rock,, we are should all be familiar with Apple by now. Apple is a brand recognized worldwide with popular profitable products like the iPhone, iPad and family of Mac computers.

Their recent growth forecast still looks strong and if recent history is an indication of the future, they will continue to innovate into new areas and captured the hearts and wallet of millions of consumers worldwide for years to come. I'm betting on this.

This purchase will add $20/yr to my dividend income portfolio

Basic info:
Market CAP:660B     EPS:$8.60    Div & Yield:$2.08 (1.70% and growing)

Buying "Mickey Mouse" on sale - DIS (10 shares, $13 dividend income)

Today I added Disney (NYSE: DIS) on a ~10% stock price pullback due to a slight revenue miss according to Wall Street. This presented a good opportunity to own a piece of this iconic company.

Disney (NYSE: DIS) owns Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Pixar studios, Marvel Entertainment and recently bought rights to the lucratic Star Wars franchise. This is a 90+ yr old company that has been making the right moves for years and building a conglomerate of global brands. This has helped them maintain growing revenues streams for decades to come.

With earnings growing at average annual rate of 10+% and at least 5 consecutive years of increasing dividend, Disney continues to be a good consistent growth stock as well as paying out a humble income of 1.3% dividend yield.

This purchase will add $13/yr to my dividend income portfolio

Basic info:

Market CAP: 206B   EPS: $4.65  Dividend %: 1.3

Chasing yield - STAG (50 shares, $69 dividend income)

I like high dividend yields and REITs are a good way to get it.

To that purpose, I added STAG Industrial, Inc.(NYSE:STAG) on price weakness today.

STAG Industrial, Inc. is a REIT specializing in industrial properties nationwide. The Company owned 248 buildings in 36 states with approximately 47.0 million rentable square feet, consisting of 178 warehouse/distribution buildings, 50 light manufacturing buildings and 20 flex/office buildings. (src: Reuters)

The rumored fed rate hike scheduled for september is causing all kinds of volatility in the whole sector. I think this is a good opportunity to load up on a some decent income paying REITs at discounted prices like STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) or Starwood Property (NYSE: STWD) which I also added recently.

STAG's 5 straight years higher dividends and fast growing revenues makes it a rising star in any income portfolio. This purchase will add $69/yr to my dividend income portfolio

Basic info:
Market CAP: 1.3B  Dividend %: ~7

Buying "garbage" - WM (15 shares, $23 dividend income)

Waste Management, Inc., (NYSE: WM) does what the name sounds, it provide waste management services. The company does garbage and recycling services for nearly 27 million residential, industrial, municipal and commercial customers in North America.

If there is one type of business that any investor can understand, it's the garbage and recycling business. Developed nations like the United States and Canada generate increasingly enormous amount of garbage and Waste Management is one of a few big companies that operate in this segment of the market. They have a big share of the recycling business and long term garbage handling contracts with local governments and cities.

Waste Management has 12+ straight years of higher dividends, positive earnings and a majority (80+%) of company shares are owned by institutions which makes it a good long term income stock.

This purchase will add $23/yr to my dividend income portfolio

Basic info:
Market CAP: 23B    EPS $2.18   Dividend: 3.2%

A falling "copper" knife - Freeport-McMoRan (FCX)

"Buy When There's Blood In The Streets" - Baron Rothschild. 

Ouch, the current turmoil in commodities (i.e. oil, gas, gold, copper, etc) is painful to watch. My holdings in this sector is down 30-70% and the bottom is nowhere in sight.

One of the biggest loser so far is Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE: FCX), a natural resource company primarily in copper.

Recent slowdown and worries in China's economy has contributed to lower copper prices because they are the main consumer (~40% global demand).

Unless we see some some stability in China and global energy prices, this will continue to be a painful commodity stock holding.

Basic info:

Market CAP: 12.9B   EPS: -$6.38   Dividend %: 0.05 <== dividend cut!

Stock Purchase - added more CVX (15 shares, $64 dividend income)

“Never let a good crisis go to waste” - Winston Churchill (?)

The current world oil price situation is a good example.

Today, pricing volatility pushed Chevron (NYSE: CVX) stock price to another 52 week low and I'm almost giddy because who among us does not like a big sale. Amazon had a big sale yesterday with their Amazon Prime Day so it's only appropriate that fans of dividend stocks like myself get a chance to go discount shopping too :)

The key difference between these two shopping spree is that I'm buying an asset that will slowly appreciate and pay dividends (S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrates) for a long time while almost all the products sold on Amazon yesterday will probably be obsolete, worthless and forgotten in less than 6 months time.

Chevron's dividend yield now stand at 4.5% and that is just fantastic !
This purchase will add $64/yr to my dividend income portfolio

Basic info:
Market CAP: 184B Dividend %: 4.5

Stock Purchase - added more WPC (20 shares, $76 dividend income)

More market volatility caused by never ending Greek debt crisis and China's new Macao (namely their stock market) provided an opportunity to add to my REIT holding in W.P. Carey (NYSE: WPC).

I first bought W.P Carey in June (above $61 per share) so averaging lower below $60 makes it even better. I believe this company will continue to be profitable long term regardless of what world markets do. 18 consecutive yrs of increasing dividend (Dividend Contender on David Fish's list) is also a nice vote of confidence.

At current prices, dividend yield is approaching 6.4% so this is too good of a deal to pass up !
This purchase will add another $76/yr passive income to my dividend income portfolio

Basic info:
Market CAP: 6.6B EPS: $1.20 Dividend: 6.4%

Humans Need Not Apply

China's "E*trade Babies" Wiped Out In Market Crash

Stock Purchase - CVX (15 shares, $64 dividend income)

The never ending Greece debt crisis is pulling down stock markets worldwide today and has allowed me to get a piece of Chevron (NYSE: CVX) almost at 52 week low prices.

Chevron is a huge profitable multi-national energy corporation involved every aspect of the oil and gas energy sector with a consistent history of 25 or more straight years of higher dividends (namely a member of the exclusive S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrates). This latest purchase will add $64/yr to my dividend income portfolio

I'm sure the stock market will continue to be volatile next few weeks & months and I am eagerly saving up to buy more beaten down companies like (NYSE:OKE) and (NYSE:WPC) among others. 

Come on Greece, please keep flushing markets down and give us a big correction sale ! :)

Basic info:
Market CAP: 184B Dividend %: 4.4 EPS: $9.14

A World Without Work

Buy the Dip ?

With Stocks 3% Off Record Highs, Investor Confidence Crashes To "Extreme Fear" (www.zerohedge.com)

Chasing High Yields - WPC, STWD, TWO, NLY

Have you looked at the interest rate in your bank account lately ?
If you are like me, it's nothing much to look at.

One way I'm trying to boost interest return is to buy high yielders like these 4 REITs with yields ranging from 6% to 12%.

The REIT sector is widely expected to perform poorly with the possibility of Fed Rate rise soon. I think this is the case too in the short term due to market price volatility. Long term, I think good quality companies whether it be REITs or Utilities will continue to grow increasing strong revenues and pay out consistent dividends. Therefore I do not mind the short term downside risks because I think in longer term, the high returns will be worth it.

This is just my opinion. Please do your own research and due diligence.

W.P. Carey Inc (NYSE:WPC)
Yield: 6% Market Cap: 6B   52-week range: $61-73

Starwood Property Trust, Inc.(NYSE:STWD)
Yield: 8%    Market Cap: 5.5B   52-week range: $21-24  

Two Harbors Investment Corp(NYSE:TWO)
Yield: 10% Market Cap: 3.8B   52-week range: $9-12

Annaly Capital Management, Inc.(NYSE:NLY)
Yield: 12%   Market Cap: 9B   52-week range: $9-12

Stock Purchase - WPC (20 shares, $76 dividend income)

Volatility in the fixed income sector has gotten me into bargain shopping mode and chasing yield. After some scanning, waiting and $aving, I finally bought some shares of W.P. Carey Inc (NYSE:WPC)

W. P. Carey Inc. is a REIT that invests in a mixture of commercial properties like office, warehouse, industrial, logistics, retail, hotel, R&D, & self-storage properties. It currently has an impressive yield of almost 6% plus a long history (18 consecutive years yrs of increasing dividend - Dividend Contender on David Fish's list) and revenue growth of 20+% over past 5 years.

I'm sure U.S. and other global stock markets will continue to be volatile heading into an eventual fed rate increase. Despite predictions and news talk of a pending stock market correction, I will still slowly continue to invest in this market and hopefully one day live off its dividends.

This stock purchase will add $76/yr passive income to my dividend income portfolio :)

Basic info:
Market CAP: 6.6B EPS: $1.20 Dividend: ~6%

What Bill Gates is afraid of

Psychology of Trading

(src: http://stockcharts.com/articles/dancing/2015/01/know-thyself.html)

Quaker Oats for breakfast & Pepsi for dividends

My longest buy & hold stock is PepsiCo, Inc (NYSE: PEP).

I bought my first share of Pepsi 10+ yrs ago after reading One up on Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market by Peter Lynch. That book inspired me to invest in mundane products normal people use and consume daily. The soda beverage is simple to understand and consumed daily worldwide.

PepsiCo owns iconic sodas Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7Up, Gatorade along with a host of food snacks Quaker Oats,  Lay's / Doritos chips, Tostitos, Cheetos and many other $1B+ brands. Recently with increasing popularity in organics and a more health conscious public, PepsiCo has begun to convert their products from the so-called empty calorie or junk food to a less processed and more whole foods category.

This move into more nutritious and healthy food ingredients has been a challenging business undertaking as indicated by PepsiCo CEO, Indra Nooyi where she talks about the challenge of brand perception and consumer's ever changing tastes.

PepsiCo is also making their factories more sustainable and leading corporate social responsibility in water usage and renewable energy. In the long term, I think this will be beneficial to both consumers and investors alike.

I continue to own this stock, collect the dividends and also consume their products.

(Disclosure - I've consumed 100% whole grain Quaker Oats 2-3 times a week for breakfast for at least 10 yrs now, how's that for a loyal company investor ! :)

Basic info:
Market CAP: 144B  EPS:$4.29  Dividend %: 2.8 <= 25+ Years Higher Dividends

Check out my Dividend & Growth Stock Portfolio Watchlist 

Chasing yield - bought more STWD (50 shares, $96 dividend income)

This week, I added more shares of Starwood Property (NYSE:STWD) on price weakness in the REIT sector. For long term income investors, Starwood's 5 year average yield of over 6% and a reasonable payout ratio (~88%) looks really attractive. Their growing revenue and earnings also inspires confidence that they will be around for a while.

I first bought shares in Starwood in March after a price pullback. That's when I also found out Starwood has had at least 5 straight years of higher dividends (see Dividend Challenger on David Fish's list). This is a good sign of things to come for this company.

With long term US economy improving and short term interest rates rising gradually, I think Starwood's business (Commercial Loans and Real Estate) will continue to do well and hence their dividend will keep on rolling regardless of current volatile stock market conditions.

Basic info:
Market CAP: 5.8B EPS: $2.12 Dividend %: 8

Are the Benefits of Organic Food Underrated or Overrated?

The most valuable products each state sells to the rest of the world

Future 5 to10x bagger - Twitter ?

Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) is a real-time social and messaging platform that has been around for several years now but unlike Facebook which found a lucrative way to monetize millions of mobile users, Twitter is still struggling to figure out its own active users and how to make money from them.

Market CAP: 25B  EPS: -0.98 <= losing money

Twitter is one of the names I have in my dividend and growth stock portfolio watchlist and I believe they have the potential to become a 5-10x bagger if (and that's a big if) they can figure out a decent monetization strategy. Until that happens, it is a highly speculative stock only for gamblers and people who can stomach a 20+% move down in a single day.

The stock chart shows a 20+% drop after Twitter missed its earnings recently, Ouch !

Future of Bike Commuter ?

On a nice sunny calm day, I can do my 13 miles round trip bike commute to work in 60 mins. I wonder how much time I can save using this technology :)

Trade or Investment - 3D Systems

3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) makes three-dimensional (3D) printers.

I stumbled onto 3D Systems from investor site fool.com and is a company with huge potential. 3D printing is expected to revolutionize global manufacturing and this company is a key player in the market. I bought shares in this company as the share price began to rise and plan for an opportunity to exit this trade with a good gain.

By 2014, DDD was up already big (6-8x bagger) but I still have not sold. I was getting greedy. I wanted more. I wanted at least a 10x bagger so I held on. However since then its performance has not been pretty as you can see from the chart below.

I'm hoping DDD will follow the volatile performances of my 2 biggest mistakes - selling TSLA and NFLX (hindsight examples of Buy and Hold stocks).

This trade turned => investment is not over yet.

I'm still holding DDD on to this day and still aiming for that 10x bagger exit one day! :)

Market CAP: 3.3B  EPS: 0.11

These Are the Happiest Countries in the World

My 2 biggest mistakes - selling TSLA and NFLX

Hindsight is 20/20 and usually a good teacher.

I am a better long term investor than trader.

A few years ago, I bought NFLX (Netflix) and TSLA (Tesla) aiming for long term aggressive growth targets. I was aiming for a 5-10x bagger before I would even sell a single share. Those targets were admirable but I did not follow through with my actions. I sold both for short term gains. Because of itchy trading fingers, I changed from investor to trader and I f*cked up my longer term plan. I hope not to repeat that mistake again.

My 3 Biggest Energy Sector Losers (ESV -33%, FCX -40%, SDRL -65%)

Ouch, talk about catching falling knives - I bought these 3 stocks in 2014 when oil price started falling but since the start of 2015, all them have dropped even lower.

- ESV is down over 33%, dividend cut
- FCX is down over 40%, dividend cut
- SDRL is down over 65%, dividend suspended!

When I bought these 3 energy sector stocks in 2014 after a sharp selloff, I was betting they would bounce back strong this year. Looking back I way too early to buy into the energy sector and also too confident in their ability to maintain dividends. I'm paying the price now for those mistakes. The oil and energy sector selloff continues this year and no end is in sight yet.

Yes, I'm still holding these 3 companies and may be even add more shares if I see real signs of oil price bottoming and recovering. As the saying goes "Buy When There's Blood In The Streets" - Baron Rothschild. Unfortunately some of that blood currently is mine. :((

ENSCO PLC  (NYSE:ESV) is a United Kingdom-based offshore oil drilling company.

Market CAP: 5.5B Dividend %: 2.4 (dividend cut recently)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) is a mining company for mineral assets, oil and natural gas.

Market CAP: 19B Dividend %: 1  (dividend cut 90% recently)

Seadrill Ltd (NYSE:SDRL) provides offshore drilling services to the oil and gas industry. 

Market CAP: 5B Dividend %: 0 (dividend suspended!)