Monthly Review: August 2015

In January 2014, I wrote a post on the balcony of our mini suite on the Norwegian Epic, en route to the Caribbean. My wife and I were celebrating our 28th anniversary by taking our first ever cruise as a married couple.

Last week we did our second cruise, this time an Alaskan cruise on the Norwegian Jewel. What an amazing experience! Alaska sure is a beautiful state! What made this cruise even more special is that we were accompanied by my parents and celebrating their 80th and 79th birthdays!

So, this post reflecting on August's portfolio performance is somewhat late...

Dividend income in August recovered a bit from last month's total, although projected monthly dividend income declined slightly because I closed a few positions during the month:


August Highlights

The stock market finally experienced a correction, dropping nearly 7% on increased volatility.

Dividend income increased to $560 from $394 received in July. In comparison, dividend income in August 2014 was $351. This represents a solid increase of 56% over the year-ago month.

I added 22 shares of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and 50 shares of Realty Income (NYSE:O). On the other hand, I sold all my shares of PartnerRe Ltd (NYSE:PRE), Baxter International Inc (NYSE:BAX) and Baxalta (NYSE:BXLT). Please see the linked article below for details.

Transactions:

• Purchases
• 2015-08-10: Buy 22 shares of AAPL @ $118.43
• 2015-08-10: Buy 50 shares of O @ $47.36
• Sales
• 2015-08-04: Sell 27 shares of PRE @ $139.03
• 2015-08-04: Sell 37 shares of BAX @ $40.55
• 2015-08-04: Sell 37 shares of BXLT @ $37.57
• Dividends
• 2015-08-03: Cash Dividend Receipt DE: $10.84
• 2015-08-03: Cash Dividend Receipt T: $70.50
• 2015-08-07: Cash Dividend Receipt GD: $35.00
• 2015-08-13: Cash Dividend Receipt AAPL: $11.44
• 2015-08-14: Return of Capital ETP: $103.50
• 2015-08-14: Cash Dividend Receipt VNR: $21.15
• 2015-08-17: Cash Dividend Receipt OHI: $77.00
• 2015-08-17: Cash Dividend Receipt O: $9.50
• 2015-08-18: Return of Capital APU: $110.40
• 2015-08-18: Cash Dividend Receipt MIC: $33.30
• 2015-08-20: Cash Dividend Receipt CAT: $46.20
• 2015-08-25: Cash Dividend Receipt TGH: $35.25
• Deposits
• 2015-08-18: Passive Income Cash Deposit: $323.98
• 2015-08-29: September Cash Deposit: $2,500.00

Changes in Projected Annual Dividend Income:

• The purchase of 22 AAPL shares added $45.76.
• The purchase of 50 O shares added $114.00.
• The sale of 27 PRE shares removed $-75.60
• The sale of 37 BAX shares removed $-76.96
• MIC's dividend increase added $4.80.
• Projected annual dividend income (31 August 2015): $6,675.06.

Dividend Summary:

• Dividend income last month: $393.54
• Dividend income this month: $560.39
• Total dividend income year-to-date: $4,072.29

Markets:

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Jul 31, 2015	DOW: 17,689.86 S&P 500: 2,103.84 10-YR BOND: 2.21%
Aug 31, 2015	DOW: 16,528.03 S&P 500: 1,972.18 10-YR BOND: 2.20%

In August, the Dow dropped 6.57% and the S&P 500 dropped 6.26%. In comparison, DivGro dropped 7.78% this month based on a time weighted return metric.

Portfolio: click on the triangle to see a snapshot of DivGro's state on 30 August 2015.

Goals Progress: Below is a chart showing the progress I'm making on my 2015 goals. I'm ahead of pace on 4 of my goals and slightly behind on 2 other goals. As far as the remaining 2 goals are concerned, I'm very far behind. Some significant catching-up will be needed!

August Posts

I wrote only 6 articles in August, linked here in order of popularity by page views:

1. Recent Sell: Baxter and Baxalta – explains why I sold this pair of stocks
2. 16 Dividend Increases, August 3 to August 14, 2015 – includes dividend raise by DivGro holding MIC
3. 6 Dividend Increases, July 27 to July 31, 2015 – no dividend raises by any DivGro holdings
4. Recent Buy: Stag Industrial Inc – a REIT with a nice yield of 7.29%
5. Recent Sell: PartnerRe Ltd – PRE agreed to be acquired, so I decided to move on
6. Monthly Review, July 2015 – projected monthly dividend income increased to $554

Looking Ahead: I have enough funds for at least 2 buys. Additionally, I'm expecting solid dividend income this month, as September is an end-of-quarter month. 

I've updated my Performance page with the latest results. It provides a central place for reviewing DivGro's status and performance relative to the markets and to prior months.

Thanks for reading and take care, everybody!