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

Autechre – NTS Sessions

As a big Autechre fan I couldn’t resist buying the new physical release of their NTS radio sessions. At first the vinyl release was the most appealing , just I couldn’t justify the expense. So ordered the CD version. The sessions consist of 4 radio shows. Which I missed off course. And due to the intensity of listening to an Autechre recording nowadays I couldn’t have done it in one sitting of 2 hours each.

Autechre makes their music with an elaborate (I think never seen it) Cycling 74 MAX/MSP patch or patches. Which gives you endless possibilities. Luckily the tracks stay within some frame so they are dense but not out of theme. It’s a experiment in sounds and rhythmic structures which you probably love or hate.

I love it, the art of keeping experiments and not go all over the place and make it into just experiments is very well done. It’s very easy getting out of control.

For me the only downside is , it takes a lot of energy listening too it. I have too really focus and get into it and after a while it get’s to be a bit overwhelming. But that’s just because of my brain damage. If you can listen too one sessions at a time and do nothing else, it’s very rewarding. Even in smaller sittings I am highly enjoying it.

If you have never listened to Autechre this can be a bit too much, but I can only recommend starting at the beginning of their work and slowly making your way thru, it has a lot of beautiful musical art in store for you.

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

May 2018 – Dividend

A bit faster than the last dividend report. May is over again and the numbers are in. Bit lower compared to last year due too dividends being payed just outside of May in some occasions. In percentage -44% but in simple money still a nice number and a good confirmation of my strategy.
Now that the balance between handpicked and the ETF parts in the portfolio is almost complete I will go back and do some picking again. Lets’s see how that goes.

The overview:

DateStockCurrencyAmount
30-05-2018Bayer AGEUR14.00
30-05-2018Unibail-RodamcoEUR5,40
18-05-2018K+G AG EUR14.00
18-05-2018Porsche Automobil Holding EUR17,60
17-05-2018Apple IncEUR6,24
14-05-2018NSIEUR13,44
10-05-2018Amsterdam CommoditiesEUR42.00
09-05-2018ASML HoldingEUR5,60
TotalEUR118,28

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.

April 2018 – Dividend

Well late this, very late almost June again and I hadn’t yet published my April dividend numbers. Nothing special , a nice growth comparing with last year. Which is the idea behind it all. Percentage wise it’s a ridiculous number, 263%. Totally due to first time dividend paying positions.
So it looks awesome but’s it’s simply just new funds that were added after they payed dividends last year.

The dividend investing strategy is being debated more and more in favor of a more growth focus strategy (I.e Netflix, Amazon , Tesla and so on). But for me this dividend focused strategy works fine, it’s simple and straightforward. Exactly what I need.

The numbers:

DateStockCurrencyAmount
30-04-2018Munich ReEUR197,80
26-04-2018Ahold Delhaize KonEUR63,00
26-04-2018Cisco systemsEUR7,63
25-04-2018General Electric CompanyEUR2,81
21-04-2018Jungheinrich AGEUR5,00
17-04-2018Icahn Enterprises LPEUR1,21
17-04-2018WP Carey Inc. REITEUR8,38
16-04-2018NedapEUR50,00
05-04-2018Vanguard FTSE AWEUR16,74
03-04-2018Coca Cola CompanyEUR5,85
03-04-2018Vanguard Dividend appreciationEUR0,90
TotalEUR359,32