Around the New Year most of us reflect on what we accomplished over the past 12 months. In my personal life I renovated my house, battled a minor health problem, and navigated a struggling industrial market at work. From a financial standpoint, my portfolio increased by nearly 50% YOY. In January 2019, it was valued at roughly … [Read more...]
Recent Buy: Cracker Barrel
You’re tired and hungry after a long grueling road trip. There’s a McDonalds at every rest stop but you’re just not in the mood. After all, you already had McDonalds for breakfast and stopped at two others to use the bathroom. At the same time, you don’t want to go too far into town. The traffic on main roads right now feels … [Read more...]
Recession Fears Mitigated
For the time being, major media outlets are admitting a recession is no longer in site and that the U.S. economy remains strong. On Friday, the jobs data blew past expectations. The United States created 266,000 jobs in November versus 180,000 expected. The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5% with average pay rising 3.8%. … [Read more...]
Target is #1
In September 2016 I acquired Target’s stock in the upper 60s. This was shortly after the company went “political” and sparked a boycott from conservative groups. In addition, the company was facing stiff competition from Amazon and other retailers were failing everywhere. I watched the stock fall into the lower 50s. As it collapsed further, I … [Read more...]
Market Valuation Metrics
Last week the market continued to rise. Over the last quarter I began averaging in to Honeywell and even added on to my stake in Disney. Now I’m once again left scratching my head wondering what to buy next. The market appears overvalued, significantly so. The reason I don’t sell, however, is because we haven’t seen this … [Read more...]
401k Retirement Blues
If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I’m heavy into dividend growth investing. Most of these stocks are well-established blue chip companies and have been paying rising dividends for 25+ years. I follow this strategy because it has historically beaten the S&P, is favorable from a tax perspective, and it provides solid quarterly … [Read more...]