Happy New Year 2024 ❄️
Welcome to this month’s report.
There have been impressive gains in the stock market the last couple months after the Fed commented on beginning to lower interest rates this year after all the rapid increases.
This led to above average returns for the market to close out the year.
Maybe there’s some value yet in the Russell small caps index if rates are indeed lowered.
Oil has fallen from the end of summer highs and plays an important part in the monthly and YoY values in the CPI reports, transportation costs, and many other sectors.
I have a feeling the current market (up) and inflation (down) trends will depend on this chart not exceeding its values from last year by too much.
Inflation appears to have cooled from previous years with higher than average inflation, but the hidden tax on the working-class remains elevated as the higher prices of goods still remain.
Prices on average are just rising not as fast as they were before. And unfortunately if one’s wages aren’t also increasing enough to offset the higher costs, it’s possible to feel left behind.
Below are some ideas on how to try and avoid this:
- Continue to invest in oneself with education and training in growing fields.
- Try not to become too loyal to one’s employer and keep job hopping or one can bring a better compensation/benefits offer to their current employer to match.
- Save and invest as much as possible to have your money work for you, instead of the other way around.
After doing this for about a decade, monthly dividend totals really start to add up, and combined with the power of compounding, the total market returns begin to replace one’s normal income.
The passive income that investing in the stock market provides can truly be amazing.
Let’s see how things end up in 2024.
The plan is still to try to keep a long term view, and continue dollar cost averaging into positions which helps avoid timing the market.
December Dividends:
Below is the dividend income received during December: (Values are in USD)
ADM – 29.25
AVGO – 78.75
AWK – 70.75
AWK* – 38.91
AWR – 23.65
CEG* – 7.05
CHD – 28.61
DFS – 35.00
ESGV – 130.08
HWKN* – 3.20
JNJ – 59.50
KLAC – 23.20
KNSL* – 0.42
LAND* – 6.97
MCD – 35.07
MSFT – 37.50
NDAQ – 22.00
NEE – 14.96
NEE* – 46.75
NSSC – 8.00
QCOM* – 21.75
ROST – 9.38
SO – 45.50
SWKS – 23.80
TGT – 71.50
TROW* – 36.60
UNP – 32.50
V – 17.68
VTI* – 286.23
WM – 50.40
WTRG – 30.71
WTRG* – 15.36
ZTS – 15.00
_______________________
December Dividend Totals: $1356.04
Total Payouts: 33 (positions marked “*” are held in a retirement account)
Month Increase YoY: 47.2%
_______________________
Another record total was reached in monthly dividends. The higher than average growth % was mainly driven by funds held in a retirement account being available and put to work.
Recent Purchases:
Here are the recent buys made over the last few months. They are mostly adding shares for specific portfolio allocation. Lots of factors go into investing, including one’s own personal timeline, risk tolerances, goals, and other assets, etc.
AAPL
CMI
SWKS
NEE
AWK
Some total market index fund purchases have also been made in the accounts to further diversify holdings.
Portfolio Top 13 individual Holdings:
- Microsoft (MSFT)
- Broadcom Inc (AVGO)
- Apple (AAPL)
- American Water Works (AWK)
- Waste Management (WM)
- Church & Dwight (CHD)
- Alphabet Inc (GOOGL)
- Arista Networks (ANET)
- Target (TGT)
- Visa Inc (V)
- KLA Corp (KLAC)
- Accenture (ACN)
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Not too many changes with the order of the holdings. The top end of the weightings are beginning to look like a large cap tech-focused index fund. Interesting – it has been fun fine-tuning the portfolio.
Here’s to another month closer to reaching financial independence. The light at the end of the tunnel is approaching.
Thank you for reading and happy investing.
❄️🌲☃️
-Divcome
•
AD DISCLAIMER: Any ads displayed on this site are posted by WordPress.com (unable to turn off since this is the free version) and are not endorsed by this blog.
Divcome 