Recent Stock Purchase November 2016

Well, the unexpected happened, and I’m not talking about the U.S. election results. I’m talking about the wrong, wrong, wrong headlines “predicting” a market meltdown should Donald Trump be elected president. Sure, all the pollsters have egg on their faces as their crystal balls all failed them at predicting a Hillary win and the “educated economists” with their failed crystal balls would foresee a huge correction should Donald Trump win which did not happen either.

 

Just look at these headlines from prominent news sources, “Mark Cuban: ‘Huge, huge’ losses for stocks if Trump wins,” “Could a Donald Trump Presidency Spark a Stock Market Crash?,” and “The stock market could crash if Donald Trump is elected president.” Maybe yes and maybe no but one thing is for sure, and that’s maybe. All I see when I read these headlines is mass media fear mongering at its best (or worst). There was a time when the news was simple reporting of events and facts that already happened. Today, “news” is all about asking ‘what if’ questions and sensationalism and fear. After all, predicting a major market meltdown gets a lot more attention than predicting a rosy all is well picture. That’s no fun.

 

Again, could the market crash 10%, 20%, 30% or more? Of course. But it’s of no concern to me as I cannot, nor pollsters, economists or anyone for that matter, predict when or how severe a meltdown will be. I have said it before, all you can do as an individual dividend investor is tune out the noise, stay diversified among your holdings and make sure the dividend remains covered. That’s it. Pretty simple. As many of us already know, diversifying is of utmost importance. Just look what happened in the last few days as financial and industrial names really shot to the moon while REITs (health REITs mostly) and even our coveted consumer staples took it on the chin.

 

If you are a real long term investor then you must accept the fact that the market will swing from highs to lows constantly. There will be periods of growth and recession. There will be wars, changes in government, politics and finance. The stock market has survived several crashes, World Wars, double digit inflation and interest rates as well as (near) zero percent interest rates. It has seen the dollar weaken and strengthen against world currencies and saw gold and silver shoot up from obscurity only to fall back to earth in recent years. The market has seen oil at $20 a barrel and at $150 a barrel and yet somehow continues to move on. In other words, during the best of times and the during the worst of times, there will always be a reason to buy or sell stocks, to fear or embrace the market. The question then becomes, which type of investor are you. OK. On to the reason you clicked on this post:

 

I have added to my ROTH account 12.0000 shares at $39.79 for a total investment of $477.48 in Unilever PLC (UL). With this recent purchase my ROTH account holdings in UL now totals 70.5645 shares for a value of $2,831.75.

 

UL was one of my picks in my November stock considerations and under $40 a share is a price I like. After seeing a lot of our favorite consumer staples drop significantly in recent days I would expect to see more buys coming in that sector and the REITs as well.

 

What do you think about my recent buy? Are you planning to rotate into the newly “hot” sectors or pick up some beaten down dividend stalwarts instead. Please let me know below.

 

Disclosure: Long UL

48 thoughts on “Recent Stock Purchase November 2016”

    • Hi DD,

      I have been reading about quite a few UL buys among our fellow dividend bloggers in recent days. It’s totally understandable as the consumer staples always seem to be expensive and now are trading at better prices and value. Why not nibble a bit here and there. Congrats on your TGT buy too. Thank you for commenting.

      Reply
    • Hi MDP,

      I’m a fan of most of the consumer staples out there and like most have been waiting a long, long time to find some better value in the space. When UL dipped below $40 I just said to myself, “Time to nibble.” Of course, DEO is another great long term dividend stock. Happy to be a fellow shareholder. As always, I appreciate your comment.

      Reply
  1. Hi Keith,

    nice purchase and you are right we need to stick to our strategy. I myself bought CVS on Monday at 69.74 USD and Abbvie the week before. Actually I wanted to wait until the election woul be over. But luckily I didn’t… Timing is anyway impossible.
    Div.Income recently posted…Portfolio Update OctoberMy Profile

    Reply
    • Hi DI,

      Nice to see that you are continuing to make buys yourself. I like the ABBV pick up. As you already know, it’s about buying, buying, buying, to build that dividend income stream and not waiting on the sidelines for the “best” possible time to invest. Stay diversified, buy safe dividend payers and long term, even with a major sell off occurring, we’ll all be alright. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.

      Reply
    • Hi DL,

      I felt the exact same way which is why I decided to nibble on some UL myself. It has steadily dropped in price over the last several weeks and that yield has become too juicy to ignore. As I commented above, it’s nice to see our fellow dividend bloggers continuing to make buys even when many others are totally liquidating their portfolios. Keep up the solid buys on your end too. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

      Reply
  2. Unilever is a great company that now you can buy for quite a good price. I also have it in my own portfolio.
    Now I’m also looking at some good buys in the sectors that were beaten these days, particularly thinking of NEE. Any thoughts on that?
    Roadrunner recently posted…Emotions and InvestingMy Profile

    Reply
    • Hi Roadrunner,

      As you can see from my portfolio allocation the consumer staples are my largest sector holdings and any time a great consumer staple goes on sale I’ll buy. I never once looked at NEE and really don’t know much about it. That being said, after a quick glance at the basic numbers it looks like a solid stock with a sustainable dividend. It may be a bit pricey at current levels though but I really would have to dig in further to offer a better opinion and see it’s worth considering for a long term dividend portfolio. Wish I could offer more information about this stock. Thank you for commenting.

      Reply
    • Hi John,

      I think many of us were salivating on election night as we saw DOW futures pointing to a massive drop and the hope for a chance to buy high quality dividend stocks at a deep discount. As you said, “Oh well.” It didn’t quite work out that way but your plan to continue to invest consistently will serve you well in the long run. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.

      Reply
  3. The fallout from the election has been amazing to watch. I still can’t believe that there was an 1100+ pt swing in the DJIA from Tuesday night’s futures to Wednesday’s closing price. That’s absolutely crazy. There’s always the chance of another market crash and I can guarantee another one will come…eventually. Personally I’m still a bit cautious and since there isn’t a whole lot that I see that is just a screaming buy I’m taking a more measured approach by selling put options that have at least another 8%+ downside protection. CVS is one of the few large cap names that I think is on the verge of screaming buy, although it was much more attractive in the low $70’s than the mid $70’s.

    I like your UL buy and hope we see even more weakness in the consumer staples. I’m sitting on a huge chunk of cash due to my 401k rollover so I want to get it to work but I don’t want to sacrifice my value focus just to get it invested.
    JC recently posted…Recent Options Transactions: Part DeuxMy Profile

    Reply
    • Hi JC,

      No one saw the events of last week happening. That’s a straight fact. Just goes to show what could happen if you put too much stock in the media outlets’ “news reporting.” I totally agree with you that a crash will happen. That’s the nature of the stock market and investing. Nothing goes up or down in a straight line and quite frankly, I am not waiting for a crash to occur. I’ll keep making my monthly buys no matter where we are in the economic cycle. If you are a long term (dividend) investor you have to expect huge market declines to occur. Of course, being a long term dividend investor with that mindset allows you to dollar cost average into positions and continue to grow your passive income stream regardless of how your underlying stocks are performing. It also removes some of your ‘panic selling’ instinct and allows you to just stay the course. I am curious to see how the consumer staples will perform going forward. That is one sector that we’ve all been waiting for to come back down to earth. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and current actions during this wild market ride.

      Reply
    • Hi Charlie,

      Patience and consistency with investing is a secret to long term success. It enables one to dollar cost average into positions and always remain invested in the stock market allowing the compounding effects of dividends to take hold. Thank you for commenting.

      Reply
    • Hi DL,

      I like UL long term and I like PG long term. Both are in my portfolio and I am still waiting to add to my PG which I haven’t touched in a long time. It will be interesting to see if we start to get some relief in the consumer staples going forward. As you already know, it’s a sector that always seems to be trading at a premium. KMB is another name that has started to look good once again from a value and yield perspective. Thank you for your continued support.

      Reply
  4. Well, the stock is at the all time high level again. I’m posting pre-Trump buys of CAH, GILD and such. However, I did take advantage and short some of my banks position. The stocks are going wild, and this weekend unrest might do something to the market. I’m just sitting on the sideline now with a bunch of cash.

    Reply
    • Hi vivianne,

      As I mentioned in the post, no one predicted anything close to the outcome we witnessed last week. Election predictions were wrong, stock market predictions were wrong. This is just further proof that no one can know what will happen in the future even with analysis, polls and other data that would suggest a likelihood of a certain outcome. You are definitely not alone sitting on a stash of cash as the markets continue on their roller coaster ride. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

      Reply
    • Hi DD,

      How can you ignore a solid consumer staples player like UL? I have a feeling we’ll be reading about more UL buys in the coming days if it continues to stay at these depressed levels. Are the consumer staples finally going on sale? I sure hope so. As always, I appreciate your comment.

      Reply
  5. I couldn’t have said it better. Nice job giving a 1000 foot perspective.

    I usually say to nervous investors “If you are expecting the market to always go up, maybe long term stock investing isn’t for you”. You have to tolerate the up and down.

    Its like Groundhog day, it keeps happening where they predict armageddon and it goes up. As soon as they say the market is going to all time highs, thats when the crash will happen. Either way, I will be invested and collecting dividends. Thanks for sharing.

    -Brian
    Brian recently posted…Market volatility is your friend !My Profile

    Reply
    • Hi Brian,

      Well said. Being a long term dividend income investor means always being invested in the stock market no matter what’s going on in the world, at home, financially or otherwise. After going through 2008/09 with my dividend income portfolio and witnessing all of my positions dropping 30% to 50% I stayed cool, continued to invest and most importantly, as you stated, stayed invested to collect those dividends when the financial world was falling apart. Thank you for commenting.

      Reply
    • Hi OH,

      UL is one of those long term core positions every dividend investor should consider for their portfolio. Judging by the comments it looks like the stock will remain popular if it remains at these depressed levels or lower. I’m just excited at the prospect that super defensive consumer staples might be going on sale for the first time, in a long time. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

      Reply
  6. Well many are taking up on this stock lately, as are we. consumer staples is a sector that did show some decrease the last week (and showing nice opportonuties). Mr. Market will always be a bit fickle 😉

    Reply
    • Hi Divnomics,

      The way I see it there is a lot of pent up demand for stocks in the consumer staples sector and finally we got a little breather in the space last week. Should those stocks fall out of favor going forward I expect to see a lot of buys in the space. Names like KMB, UL, PG, PEP, KO, CL, CLX and many more. Happy to be a fellow shareholder with you. Thank you for commenting.

      Reply
  7. At what rate are UL dividends taxed here in the US? Is there a foreign withholding tax on the dividends just like Canadian bank stocks have?

    Reply
    • Hi tj,

      UL dividends are not taxed because it is the British listed corporation on NYSE. The Dutch listed stock UN would be taxed at 15% withholding. The only withholding taxes on British stocks are for REITs. Also, Canadian stocks have zero withholding taxes if the stocks are held in retirement accounts such as a ROTH or IRA. That’s why my Canadian banks are in my ROTH account. Hope this answers your question. Thanks for commenting.

      Reply
      • I had TD in my IRA a few years ago and the brokerage took a portion of the dividend for foreign tax withholding. I let it go because it was a negligible mount. I currently have TD in my non-IRA account and it takes a whopping 25% withholding on my dividends. It is supposed to take only 15%. I mailed my broker about it and they BS’ed an answer to me.

        Reply
          • The 15% tax that is supposed to be withheld on my TD dividend is not what I am experiencing. My broker is deducting 25%. The brokerage is folioinvesting.com.

            Reply
            • Hi TJ,

              I wish I had more insight as to why they are withholding 25%. There has to be some reason for it. I would communicate with them further till I got a real explanation. As you can read from the official IRS docs, Canadian stocks held in retirement accounts have zero withholding, in taxable accounts it’s 15%. British stocks have zero withholding in any account.

              Reply
    • Hi TSW,

      You said it. I think every long term dividend investor covets the consumer staples sector because of its stability and dividend reliability. It’s a space that rarely goes on sale and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more buys in the sector should weakness continue. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.

      Reply
    • Hi DG,

      Crazy is an understatement. The market the last two weeks or so have really gone topsy-turvy. What bothers me the most is the numerous articles and talking heads that all purport to “know” what is going on and what will happen down the road. Time and time again the financial media gets it wrong. I guess I still read stories online from the “experts” just for fun and I continue on my steady investment path, business as usual. Brexit or not, Democrat or Republican in the White House, interest rates at zero or double digits, weak dollar or strong, I just do my thing. I’ll still watch UL going forward and some other consumer staples like KMB that’s looking interesting too. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

      Reply
    • Hi DaC,

      The market shake up has really given us some great buying opportunities in many solid dividend payers that we have not seen a while. I hope to see continued weakness in the consumer staples as it’s a sector that I have not bought heavily in a long while. Thank you for commenting.

      Reply
  8. It seems UL has quite a bit of support at the $40 level by looking at the 5 year chart.

    The resistance level is around $45.

    Also, Unilever is a $100 Billion company in the Consumer Staples sector and pays 3.5% annual dividend.

    I think you are good. I am going to watch this one.

    I am currently in CAT and it had a nice boost since the election.

    Reply
    • Hi SS,

      $40 is the magic number for UL. As it dips below that figure it will garner more and more attention from our fellow dividend bloggers. I like CAT too. That’s a stock I have held since 2007 with no plans for it to leave my portfolio for the foreseeable future. Thank you for commenting.

      Reply
  9. I like your buy I did the same it was a new position added to my portfolio. Love reading all your guys posts it’s like a never ending book on dividend investing. I am always learning.keep up the great work

    Reply
    • Hi Wayne,

      Seems like everyone is buying UL these days. It’s for good reason. Lower prices, better value and yield in a giant in the consumer staples space. Happy to be a fellow shareholder with you. Thank you for your kind words regarding my blog and others as well. It’s fun to chronicle and share a real world dividend growth portfolio for better or worse and be able to show with real figures that dividend growth investing can work and provide an ever increasing passive income stream over time. Keep coming back and commenting! Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  10. hello,I’m posting pre-Trump buys of CAH, GILD and such. However, I did take advantage and short some of my banks position. The stocks are going wild, and this weekend unrest might do something to the market.

    Reply
    • Hi lily,

      CAH still looks like an interesting buy at current levels. There is so much uncertainty about the health sector these days which is giving us some interesting opportunities. Thank you for commenting.

      Reply

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