Small addition to the speculative growth portfolio. This uranium play also complements the existing UEX position. I’ll keep these positions small so I bought just the initial 200 shares of Nexgen Energy for 2,07 CAD per share. Uranium is one of the sectors I’m focusing in the secondary portfolio as it’s providing one possible solution for the climate change actions but it’s also very interesting just because of the cyclical nature of it – when the cycle turns, it really turns.
Recent Buy: NEL ASA & Short Term Strategy Change
I’m repeating myself but I bought additional 200 NEL shares for 4,958 NOK per share. I’m nibbling away on a slow pace for now as I’m also considering alternative hydrogen stocks to spread the risk a little bit. Having said that, I’ll most likely postpone purchases in the main dividend portfolio to see how the most significant risks for global economy will play out. Those would be mainly the trade deal deadline between China and US but also the deadline for brexit deal. Meanwhile I’ll mainly deleverage and wait for possible market corrections.
Recent Buy: NEL ASA
Small maintenance purchase once again. Today I bought additional 130 shares of NEL ASA for 5,115 NOK per share. Slowly nibbling along towards the target position size of ten thousand shares. Then again I’ve been thinking about spreading the hydrogen play across multiple companies such as Hydrogenics, Powercell Sweden, Ballard Power Systems. Those four would cover the speculative growth aspect and could be accompanied by Air Products and Chemicals in the primary dividend portfolio.
Recent Buy: NEL ASA
Plans are made to be executed and this one is the monthly maintenance purchase for the secondary growth portfolio. I bought 100 shares of NEL ASA for 5,28 NOK per share. Tiny purchase but I’m hoping to get some below 5 NOK. Let’s see if that happens as the sector seems to be steaming ahead nicely.
Recent Swap: Diageo for Sampo Plc and Apple Hospitality REIT
Busy day today. Apple Inc. posted a revenue cut yesterday and dropped post market and today. I was tempted to add on it but decided to execute a swap with remaining Diageo shares. I sold all the remaining 30 shares for 138,53 USD per share. In retrospect I should have sold all of the shares back when I sold the first 20 shares but that’s not a big deal. I still consider the the valuation to be a bit stretched and yield is on the low side though growing. I deployed some of the money back to Sampo Plc and Apple Hospitality REIT – both equipped with seemingly much better valuations and yields. I bought additional 100 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT for 14,19 USD per share and 30 shares of Sampo Plc for 38,36 EUR per share.
Now that I’ve exited the whole Diageo position it’s time to check to results. I bought to original 50 shares for 5497,98 USD and sold the shares for the total of 7048,17 USD. Realized capital gains were therefore 1550,19 USD before taxes and commissions. Total dividends received came in at 435,01 USD before taxes. This is a result I’m very pleased with. I still like the company and it’s very likely that I’ll buy back these shares if the price comes down to 110 USD per share range.
Q4/2018 & FY2018 Results
Another year has passed and it’s time to take a look at the results. Sentiment really changed towards the end of the year and we saw quite dramatic volatility. The problems however are the same old ones: Trump presidency & trade war tensions, weak EU & brexit and possibly slowing global economy. There’s no doubt that we have been closer to the end of the cycle than to the start of it. Who knows when the real turn will happen – it could be happening already or it might still be years away. Looking back at the results, it’s clear that I got what I wanted and managed to follow the strategy I’ve set to myself.
- Fourth quarter dividend income was 1 514,51 EUR (992,23 EUR during Q4/2017)
- Dividend income for whole year was 5 373,07 EUR (4 450,93 EUR during FY2017)
- Primary portfolio performance was -0,36% during the whole year
- Debt ratio was maintained at or close to the planned 10% of the portfolio market value
What will happen in 2019 then? I don’t personally expect big changes going forward. We are likely to see even extreme volatility on index level but I don’t see strong reasons for changing the existing strategy. I will continue to buy and will aim to make at least one purchase per month for the main portfolio. For the secondary portfolio I’ll probably make one small purchase per month or one per quarter at the minimum. ETF portfolio will get a small buy each month and will be funded from the primary portfolio dividends.
I’ll keep an eye on few things: high yield companies with reasonable debt loads (as we might see mainly sideways movement for the next couple of years), quality companies with significant cash positions (which might be thrown overboard when the overall market tanks and which are in great position to deploy cash during a downturn) and advanced technologies such as brain-machine-interfacing, fuel cells & hydrogen economy. High yielding candidate could be e.g. Apple Hospitality REIT or Nordea Bank. Quality companies with significant cash positions would be the likes of Apple Inc. or Berkshire Hathaway. Advanced technologies will be much more difficult to cover. NEL is obvious candidate and it might be accompanied by PowerCell Sweden. Brain-machine-interfacing will require extensive analysis if I intend to find a suitable for addition for the secondary portfolio.
Recent Buy: Loudspring Plc
Minimal maintenance purchase for secondary growth/risk portfolio with a purchase of 100 Loudspring shares for 0,33 EUR per share. There has been some small insider activity lately but other than that not much has changed. This is a make it or break it position for which the results will be judged in 10-20 years.
Recent Buy: AT&T, Philip Morris Inc & Apple Inc.
Last weeks have been intense in various markets. FED increased rates yesterday and sent stock lower. Same trend continued today I we are seeing unusually high yields here and there. I decided to deploy some money and subsequently returned to the exposure level I had before selling the Norwegian dividend holdings. AT&T is an existing core holding covering US telecom sector and also streaming & content. Current valuation comes with an usually high yield and recent raise as a cherry on top. Philip Morris is bit more problematic. Original thesis was the exposure to lucrative vice business and possibilities for weed additions. We haven’t seen the latter yet but maybe we’ll get there. There are some possibilities with iQOS and co-operation with other companies in the sector. At least the business should be very recession resistant and comes with unusually high yield. Apple on the other hand is a core holding covering technology, services and especially high margin consumer products. The stock has dropped lately due to trade war tensions, slowing sales and patent disputes. I chose to take all that as a short term noise – long term case is still there.
- bought 50 shares of AT&T for 28,50 USD per share
- bought 20 shares of Philip Morris Inc. for 69,80 USD per share
- bought 10 shares of Apple Inc. for 159,99 USD per share
Recent Buy: Apple Inc.
Apple has been dropping lately. Sure they might not grow ever again, sure the iPhone market could be fully saturated and all that. Let’s see in a decade or so. I bought additional 10 shares for 169,51 USD per share. They must hate this down trend with the buybacks and all…
Recent Buy: Nordea Bank
Everything has been trading in red lately. Everything includes Nordea Bank among others. Sure there are risks everywhere at the moment but I decided to buy additional 100 shares for 7,683 EUR per share. I still expect a significant dividend increase next spring which would bring the yield close to 10%. Re-location to Finland is probably affecting the valuation as well during the ongoing and next quarter as indexes are re-balanced.