Category: Lifestyle

Portfolio news – Summer 2018

Finally after all the buying of ETF’s too balance the portfolio out in a better way, it’s now time too add a few handpicked stocks to the portfolio. Buying ETF’s isn’t anything really interesting too talk about. Hence not many portfolio updates over the last few months.

Now that everything is balanced out a bit more, I have added a few stocks to the portfolio. Europe is pretty much still lagging behind because of all the political themes , Brexit, Italian budget concerns and trade wars. Timing for me is like magic and I am not a licensed magician. So I just went down my what to buy when I have the money list and came up with a few good ones. The new positions are :

BMW

BMW is in a tight corner, diesel gate , trade wars, currency problems and the omission of a decent electric vehicle have made a considerable dent in the image of not only BMW but the whole German car industry. There is not a lot of music in the stocks , and there hasn’t been for some time.

On the other hand, every car the ensemble , sell with a pretty decent profit. Enough too get their heads around building a decent electric vehicle too get into competition with the established electric car makers. It’s a bit of a waiting game lately with all the political and economical turmoil at the moment. Surely in the short term they will hurt a bit. But with the brand still having a status symbol status and quality cars they have all the potential for being just that in the future. And in the meantime they will still be paying out dividends.

Reasons enough for me too buy BMW, just not the car itself.

Starbucks

Wish list item for a while now. Now with the funds available I finally added Starbucks to my portfolio.
Since 2010 they are paying a steady stream of dividend and their goal is growing the dividend stream.

Starbuck’s stock price has been under pressure for most of the year and is now finally seeing some upward potential. So buying in the summer has been a unexpected bonus. The position of the company is still very solid with nice growth numbers in Europe , The US part is falling behind a bit , but that’s a work in progress in getting things sorted again.

All in all one I had my eye on for some time and finally made an entry in the portfolio.

Nike

Last but not least, Nike. A lot of hustle and bustle around Kaepernick and sales figures. After having their main rival Adidas in the portfolio which had reached a very nice profit margin where the dividend percentage didn’t make sense anymore I simple sold it and banked the profit. Now it’s time to own Nike. The other power in sports and leisure branding.

And same as Adidas , not for any numbers and other boring date. Just looked at the brand and seeing lots of people still growing up with Nike as a brand people wanting too own stuff from, especially sneakers , but also other stuff. Everybody has that one pair of sneakers they wanted and saved up for. And not being able getting the other pair. In later life , they still buy these models. And every generation has them. Same with Adidas.

They still have a large following , limited edition runs, collabs and a lot of sub cultures have in some way shape or form incorporated Nike in their style.

They keep up marketing wise and make bold statements. Which still resonate with young and older crowds. And I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Experiments , traveling by plane

Last month I did another experiment if you like, on how far I can go travel wise. It had been time for a good old fashioned holiday for some time. After successful small trips and lessons learned it was decided , flying with destination Tenerife, Canary Islands.

The B&B and the small town we stayed in were both familiar from previous visits , so the adjustment period should be minimal. Normally this was just the start of the trip or the end right after or before flying in or out. Now we would stay the week and see how things unfold.

The weeks before I was very nervous and anxious about the whole enterprise. What if I was forced too stay in bed the whole week. Things just didn’t sit well with me. Went anyway.

We booked a hotel near the Airport to cut the traveling in little bites so I could rest a bit more. Early morning flight so we took a cab to the airport, dropped our luggage and took our time. After boarding we had the furthest possible runway , the first few hours went pretty well, in the last hour my mind couldn’t keep up and I could not free myself out of the noise, movement and pressure.

Luckily we landed and the sun was shining, took a taxi towards the B&B and our room was almost ready. My initial expectation was that this was a crash moment. Luckily my afternoon sleeping breaks covered the fatigue and mental problems pretty well. So we enjoyed the village , food and sun and relaxed.

The first half of the week the afternoon naps proved too be sufficient enough , added we didn’t do much besides them anyway and all went well, the second half of the week sleeping wasn’t enough anymore. So the crash moment came later then expected.

In the second half we enjoyed a public transport trip to the capital of Tenerife and with a final meal at our favorite restaurant it was time for the flight home.

It was very good to be out of the country and having a ‘real’ holiday. Simply being abroad just adds to the overall holiday feeling.

It was a mixed bag in terms of my condition, before the trip I anticipated the first half to be a problem, which turned out to be the second half, and compared too out previous holiday’s we didn’t do a lot. It’s an adjustment I need to get my head around. One week of not doing much and just enjoying food sun and relaxation I can manage but after that I would like too see more of the place I am visiting.

After coming home I had troubles I finding my rhythm again , being tired and not committing enough time to rest. All in all a lot of lessons learned and perhaps I’ll have another go in the future. Never stop trying, and exploring , as they say at a famous outdoor brand.

September 2018 – Dividend

Another month gone by rather quickly, time again for the dividend update. This month has seen a new increase comparing with last year. The figure is around 43%, again mainly due to positions who are paying dividends for the first time since being in the portfolio.

Exactly the effect I am after. Let’s see how this is going to work in the future.

The numbers :

DateStockCurrencyAmount
05-09-2018UnileverEUR3,87
10-09-2018Emerson ElectricEUR4,18
13-09-2018Microsoft CorpEUR7,24
14-09-2018DowDuPont INCEUR3,28
17-09-2018Royal Dutch ShellEUR40,48
18-09-2018Icahn EnterprisesEUR1,51
TotalEUR60,56

August 2018 – Dividend

August is almost over , dividend wise for it’s over already in my case. Another great month in dividend streams. Some new positions payed dividends for the first time, which has the traditionally weak month of August catching up too the rest. Percentage wise an increase of 150% , but as already stated this has to do with the new additions to the portfolio.

The exchange rate between the Euro and the American dollar pulls it all a bit downwards. Despite of Apple increasing it’s dividend percentage it’s result is pretty much the same.

all in all a nice improvement which I can only be happy with, other things in life might not be as upbeat , this is. Which hopefully makes me less dependent on others in the future, that’s the broader goal. For now the numbers :

DateStockCurrencyAmount
24-08-2018StarbucksEUR4,66
16-08-2018AppleEUR6,46
13-08-2018NSI N.V.EUR12,48
13-08-2018Flow tradersEUR67,50
03-08-2018Amsterdam CommodotiesEUR24,00
TotalEUR115,1

July 2018 – Dividend

A new dividend update, the compounding kicks in. This month it’s a 104% increase compared with July last year. Mostly from the growing portfolio and some small dividend increases, largely offset by currency rates which are still a bit negative relative too last year. All in all nice progress in this ever evolving experiment.

The numbers :

DateStockCurrencyAmount
27-07-2018Walt Disney CompanyEUR0,72
26-07-2018Cisco SystemsEUR7,97
25-07-2018General Electric CompanyEUR2,28
17-07-2018W.P. Carey IncEUR8,79
05-07-2018Vanguard FTSE all world UCITS ETFEUR39,23
04-07-2018Vanguard dividend appreciation ETFEUR1,47
03-07-2018Coca-Cola CompanyEUR5,04
TotalEUR65,50

June 2018 – Dividend

Another month gone by quickly. And thus a new dividend update. It’s up about 3,2% compared to June 2017. Which is exactly what is supposed too happen. No big differences with the positions and just a steady growth.

It’s funny, this strategy is very easy too follow and doesn’t require a lot. Just one thing perseverance , that’s it.

In combination with debt reduction and other savings the power of compounding over time becomes very apparent. It’s a no brainer really.

The numbers :

DateStockCurrencyAmount
26-06-2018Deutsche PfandfabriekEUR107,00
21-06-2018Icahn EnterprisesEUR1,51
19-06-2018HAL TrustEUR31,00
17-06-2018DowDupont EUR3,28
14-06-2018Microsoft EUR7,24
12-06-2018Emerson Electric CompanyEUR4,18
07-06-2018ASM InternationalEUR8,00
06-06-2018UnileverEUR3,87
TotalEUR166,08

The ups and downs

Mostly I try and write about all the positive stuff that’s been happening in my recovery and life. Sometimes however the tides go against me. In those periods I don’t have the energy too write about it nor do I want too look like I am complaining in any way shape or form.

But as with everything on the good ol’ interwebz painting a positive picture and not talk about the downsides is misleading and for others in the same situation and not much of a realistic picture. So I am going to try and write more about everything I my life related too my brain damage and the consequences.

In the past weeks I have done many fun things , all nicely planned and most of them went well. I let the planning slip and took less and less rest. And I didn’t listen too my girlfriend’s advice on taking it easy and going slow.

That in itself should have been enough of a warning. Just ignored it basically. Well that didn’t last long. Talking for example slowly went from bad to worse and concentration went downhill fast. So at the end last week I was stopped and my brain had had enough.

Which means everything gets hard. The basics of day to day life is suddenly more complex than complex algebra. It basically means getting out of bed is hard and getting off the couch is even harder. You simply need too take a lot of rest.

So a lot of rest later and some running again got me back up. Still it’s a bit fuzzy but all in all I am back, and I really need to get back to planning.

Dusseldorf citytrip

Another experiment in my never-ending quest in how far can I take it without failing miserably. A citytrip to lovely Dusseldorf. And as with a lot of citytrips over the years , another marathon. My third Dusseldorf marathon. Preparations were not ideal. I could not escape the flu and I hurt my left leg during a random walking down the stairs, resulting in a bruised left calf. Hopefully I recovered just enough.

Combined with the anticipation of a long travel and hustle and bustle of a big city I was pretty nervous. But we were prepared, planned a full day for both the journeys , Saturdays an empty day , so staying sharp en fit for the marathon should be doable.

the outward journey didn’t go with the fast ICE due to maintenance , so we went with the regular train services. First off to Venlo, then a simple stop at every stop you can find train towards Dusseldorf. The trip went well and we arrived at noon. Luckily the room was ready and we just took it easy the rest of the afternoon.

We went for a walk and a lunch in the city , got my racing number and just walked around a bit. We ended up passing a truly giant supermarket just around the corner from our hotel. Got some breakfast stuff once we found it and took a break at the hotel. Late in the afternoon we went to our favorite Burger restaurant in Medienhafen.

Saturday morning after breakfast we went to Niederkassel for some relaxing and to visit the Japanese garden. Unfortunately it openend hours later so we went on a walk around the neighborhood. With a bit of coffee and cake on the way. A very beautiful place too live indeed. Lot’s of green , parks and cool houses. And very close to the city centre. Happy few only I’m afraid. After the nice walk we went back towards the city, grabbing lunch at our favorite breakfast lunch spot. It’s still there !

Back to the hotel after getting some supplies from the mega Edeka. Taking the afternoon to catch some sleep and make sure I get enough rest. Even dinner at the hotel with fresh salads bread and deserts and getting a nice early rest. Tomorrow is marathon day !

Sunday morning, marathon d-day, nerves are definitely at their post. Early breakfast and preparation time. Main question of the day is , do I have enough endurance to get to the finish line without breaking down at some point. Only one way to find out.

We walk towards the start , which is at 9:00 in the morning, via Altstadt where the last remaining people are kindly swept out of the bars. There was a bit of a celebration in the city due to the promotion of Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday.

This being a relatively small marathon, about 4000 runners, there is plenty of space to do a nice warm up at the start and my girlfriend is able to be at the starting grid. I did a few test sprints to see how well my left leg felt. It felt good which added to the confidence a bit

About 10 minutes before the start I get in my starting position and it starts to rain a bit. Because of the course spectators can actually see the runners a lot , the course returns in a small part of town a couple of times so they can easily walk and be on time at different points in the race. Fun and good for moral.

Een 10 minuten voor de start zoek ik mijn startvak op en begint het wat te regenen. Mijn vriendin kan gezellig naast het vak staan en gaat even later naar het eerste punt, door de opzet waarbij je steeds weer terugkomt in een klein deel van de stad is het ideaal voor toeschouwers en kunnen ze de lopers vaak voorbij zien komen. Leuk en goed voor de moraal.

It’s there start , and the running can begin, all nerves went away immediately , which always happens when I start running. I am in a group with pacers who have 3:14 as a goal. I know that is a bit of a stretch for me but for now the pace is good and being in a group provides some heat. Which is great because of the increasing rain. My liquid intake isn’t great apparently because I have to take 4 restroom breaks along the way. First 2 times I got back with the group but I gave up on that because it took too much of my energy.

I am in a good pace and feel good, I take a drink at every stop and some gels and bananas. While running thru Niederkassel and Oberkassel the rain really starts pouring and I am soaked and a bit cold. Mainly on the return trip over the bridge. I still maintain a nice pace, After 30 K my legs het heavy and I can’t keep the pace. Which is fine by me and I decide not too force anything and stay in one piece. Just maintaining pace as much as possible which works great. In my mind I reached the giant 40 K sticker on the road pretty fast and the sun has started drying me and warming me up. Which is nice. The final stretch downhill towards the finish line and I am there. As usual my muscles immediately stop working after crossing the finish line, which is always a bit of a strange feeling. As is the time my watch tells me 3:21:11, en new course record. For me that is. I am extremely pleased , not one moment of pain or troubles along the way. Race seemed over before I knew it. Another milestone , in experience and running.

After the finish we find each other again and go for a curryworst lunch. Getting some food in is always great. Afterwards we walk back to the hotel and the sun is still shining. At the end of the afternoon we go to Medienhafen and get a drink and some sunshine. It’s hot by now. We walk back to the hotel via an unknown part of the city which has nice shops and restaurants. A new discovery for future visits.

Dinner is at a Thai restaurant near the hotel and an early bed , travel time tomorrow. Weather the next day is bad , well luckily travel time which went well as well and we are back home in the afternoon.

This citytrip went well and has given me a lot of insight in how to plan a trip. Running a great marathon was a very nice bonus. This learning experience has given me a lot of hope in getting on with our main hobby. Traveling.

March 2018 – Dividend

And another month quickly went by, so another update on the dividend stream, less dividend in Euro’s because of the dollar/euro rates. So -16% comparing to March 2017. Turmoil on the currency markets will always be there and since I only have a very small portfolio hedging against currency fluctuations is a bit expensive. Simply take it as it is.

March numbers :

DateStockCurrencyAmount
29-03-2018Unibail-RodamcoEUR5,40
26-03-2018Royal Dutch ShellEUR38,18
21-03-2018Unilever EUR3,59
16-03-2018
DowDupont incEUR3,09
10-03-2018Emerson Electric CompanyEUR3,94
09-03-2018MicrosoftEUR6,83
TotalEUR61,03

2 years on

2 years on, seems like an eternity since my encephalitis, but today marks the two year anniversary of my hospital discharge. Could be a day sooner or later but that can’t dampen the spirit.

On this blog I have written about my recovery and the strange road I have been traveling ever since. A very short recap, 1 year of revalidation, a move too calmer surroundings, a new work experience place at Utrecht University , lot’s of learning and luckily lots of running. With the Amsterdam marathon as the cherry on the cake.

Has it all been happy days then ? Not quite , my short term memory regularly abandons me , and my operational speed isn’t very speedy anymore. Speech wise word juggling happens, as in random words in sentences, Yoda like sentences and just plain gibberish also occur. I can manage around this pretty well and every time I meet someone new I try and find an opening quickly explaining the reason behind possible errors in conversation.

That’s the practical side of things , it’s still very strange not to have a ‘real job’ , as in some sort of control over your career , future and possibilities. It makes me feel very dependent of other people and policies. Maybe control has always been an illusion in a way but at the moment I feel powerless sometimes. It’s also not a position I have chosen to be in, like when you take a year of for a trip around the world.

I have enough time behind recovering behind me that I understand that this is as good as it gets. I will have recovery periodes for every daily or not so daily activity in my life.

I sometimes compare it with pro sports, you have to keep training and take into account very parameter in order too stay sharp and fit. Slacking for a few days and forgetting about the balance between activity and recovery and it takes its toll.

Ik ben nu ver genoeg in mijn herstel om te beseffen dat het niet heel veel beter gaat worden dan dat het nu is.
Ik zal altijd rekening moeten houden met herstelperiodes voor allerlei dagelijkse en niet alledaagse zaken.

It kind of takes the spontaneity out of life a little. Just take a short unplanned weekend trip is out of the question. Getting something you forgot during shopping, not that smart. It forces you planning everything you don’t want to plan.

I am fully aware of the fact I’m very lucky and privileged in simply being alive and in the shape I am in.
I just need too accept the fact the old ways of doing things is no longer available.

It’s also taught me time is only there in an unknown quantity enjoy it while you can.