Review: 1st Quarter, 2018

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....where have I read that before?

The first quarter of 2018 was fast out of the blocks.  Our assets increased by almost four percent in January.  Unfortunately, January was followed by February, and then by March and by the end of March we were about equal to were we were at the end of December, except that we had deposited more money.  Let's take a look at the accounts:

Lending Club:

Lending Club in an on-line unsecured lender.  If you want a debt consolidation or vacation loan, give them a try.  They accept applications and underwrite and service loans, but they don't lend out their own money, they lend out the money of investors who invest in particular loans.  If the borrowers default, the lenders lose money.  The hope, of course, is that the interest collected from the borrowers who pay offsets the write-offs.  

According to figures published by Lending Club at the time I started investing, the overall return from which it was hard to stray was about 8%.  Now, that norm is about 5%, which to me is not high enough to make up for the expected drop should the overall economy drop.  Right now, my returns since I started on the platform are about 4.51% if you take into account my expected defaults. That number was 4.58% at the end of the year.  The good news is that for the first time in a long time, I earned more interest than I lost in defaults.  Still, I'm in the process of pulling my money from that account as notes are paid.  

Prosper:

Prosper is a platform similar to Lending Club.  In December I reported "Three months ago my annualized net returns were 5.41%, and my "seasoned" returns--the returns on notes that are more than ten months old were 4.82%. Those figures have dropped to 5.09% and 4.39%, ".  Now, the figures are 4.56% and 3.93%.  Again, this return is not high enough to compensate me for the possibility that defaults will increase due to declining economic conditions.  As I withdraw money from this account it is going into our Roth IRAs.

My 401k

My 401k is invested as follows:

• MFS Government Securities Fund-A 35.47% 
• Janus Henderson Triton A 20.24%
•  Oppenheimer Int'L Small Mid Co A 15.11% 
• Pioneer Fundamental Growth Fd-A 14.62% 
• Delaware US Growth Fund-A 14.56%

That's slightly off from my target, but surprisingly, given the last few weeks, it is the stock funds that are slightly overweight, not the bond fund.  Nevertheless, my 401K is worth less than it was when the year began.

Husband's 401k

My husband's 401k is invested about 50/50 in a bond fund and a small cap growth fund through AXA.  The fees are high and the funds mediocre, so he invests the minimum for the company match.  

Vanguard

Vanguard holds IRAs and Roth IRAs for me and my husband and a joint non-IRA account.  Each acccount holds a variety of funds purchased for us by our ex-financial advisor.  I check them quarterly and if any have been significantly underperforming compared to their index, I consider selling them.  Otherwise, I leave them be so as not to pay the sales cost.  Out of 14 funds, 2 are under consideration for sale (we've already sold five or six funds from each account).  

We own several Vanguard funds:

• VTSAX Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares
• VTABX Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund Admiral Shares 
• VFIAX Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares 
• VDADX Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund Admiral Shares 
• VGSLX Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund Admiral Shares 
• VBTLX Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Admiral Shares 
• VTIAX Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares 

We run our numbers through Personal Capital and it tells us that our allocation is just about right.  

Motif

Motif is an online broker that appears to be trying various pricing plans to see what works.  Originally, they were selling "motifs" or baskets of themed stocks.  You paid one commission and you could buy up to 30 different stocks.  Later, they introduced a yearly fee for accounts under $10,000 from whom they got no commissions.  Now, they have a bi-monthly fee on low accounts and they charge a fee per motif if they designed the motif.  On the other hand, if you are willing to accept tomorrow's opening price, you can now buy and sell stocks at no cost, and you can do so by share or by dollar, since you can buy fractional shares.  

With the new pricing model, I sold one motif that was not doing well as a whole.  I am adding money so as to get my account over $10,000 by the time the next bi-monthly fee is charged.  Like the stock market in general, my holdings at Motif have decreased in value, so it seems that I'll about hit $10,000 and then the market will drop.  If you want to invest via Motif, use my link, and you get a month of their premium service, which includes real-time trades for free, and so will I.  

Robinhood

Robinhood is an app-only online broker which allows you to buy and sell stock in real time without paying a commission.  You can also buy and sell options.  I first started investing via Robinhood when the stock market was rising rapidly.  Once a stock appreciated by a few dollars, I'd set a stop loss slightly below that so as to protect my earnings.  For example if I bought a stock for $10.00 and it rose to $12.00, I'd tell Robinhood to sell it if it dropped to $11.00.  As the market dropped, I had several companies end up selling that way, and some I decided to repurchase at a lower price.  Here is my portfolio:

AT&T:   9 shares purchased for a total of  $265.29.  Current price $35.87. .  No stop loss on this one; I bought it for the dividends.  The latest quarterly dividend was $.50 per share, so the current yield is just over 5%

Lending Club:  1 share purchased at $5.51.  Current price $3.41.  No dividends. No stop loss.

Visa:  2 shares purchased at $78.00.  Current price $117.00. Latest quarterly dividend was $.21 per share, up from $0.195 in 2017.  I have a stop loss order placed at $100.00.

Hormel:  3 shares purchased at 33.91.  Sold at $34.00 via stop-loss order.  Repurchased at $31.80. Current price $36.39.  Purchased June 21, 2017.  Quarterly dividend in 2017 was $.17; in February it paid $0.1875.  

Hanesbrands: 2 shares purchased at $21.93 on January 13, 2017. Current price $18.75,  Stop loss set at $18.00.  Dividends in 2017 were $0.15 per share per quarter.  2018 has been the same.  Additional shares purchased February 7 for $21.60 and February 9 for $19.  Stop loss sell of two shares on April 2 for $18 each, repurchased at $17.95. Now my average cost per share is $19.53. 

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CVS:  1 share purchased July 3 for $80.77, one share on February 9 for $70 and one on March 13 for $68.66.  Current value $63.49.  $1.00 in dividends in 2017. No stop loss. Quarterly dividends are $0.50 per share.   

Qualcomm: 1 share purchased October 9 for $52.68. Stop loss sell on March 13 for $59.65.  Collected two dividend payments of $0.57.    Current price:  $53.30. 

Mattel: 1 share purchased October 30 for $13.87. Current price $13.15. $15.00 stop loss sale on January 18.  

  

Ford: 3 shares purchased November 7 for $12.33.  Stop loss sale on January 25 for $11.50.  Repurchased February 1 for $11.00.  Another share purchsed April 5 for $11.37.  No dividends.

Cardinal Healthcare.  1 share purchased November 27 for $56.42.  Stop loss sell February 5  for $64.98 and repurchase for $64.70.   Current value $62.73.  Quarterly dividends are $.46 per share.  

Omega Healthcare Investors.  1 share purchased December 6 for $26.75.  Stop loss sale February 2 for $26.00.    Current value $26.59.  Collected $0.66 in dividends.  

         

Ascena Retail Group. 3 shares purchased December 11 for $2.00. Stop loss sale of 2 shares on January 9 for $2.05.  Current value $2.18.  

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Macquarie Infrastructure. 1 share purchased December 26 for $64.18. Stop loss sale February 6 for $61.85.   Current value $38.39.  

Pfizer.  1 share purchased December 26 for $36.17,  Stop loss sell February 5 for $34.15.  Current value $35.03.  Collected $0.34 in dividends

Gilead Sciences.  Purchased 1 share January 19 for $81.30. Stop loss sell on February 5 for $80, repurchase February 5 for $79,  dividend of $0.57.  

ProAssurance:  Purchased 1 share January 12 for $54.98.  Current value $46.15.

Viacomm:  Purchased  2 shares on January 19 for $33.31.  Current value $30.91

General Electric:  Purchased 3 shares on February 2 for $15.90 each.  Current value $13.08.

Altaba:  Purchased 1 share at $80 on January 29.  Current value:  $67.55.

CBL and Associates Properties:  10 shares purchased between January 29 and April 6 for an average cost of $4.84.  Current price:  $4.59.  Will receive a dividend of $0.20 per share on April 17. 

Game Stop:  Accidentally purchased on January 29 for $17.05.  $0.38 dividend on 3/20.  Current value $13.43.

Sprint:  Awarded one share because someone used my link.  Current value:  $5.15.

Macy's:  Purchased 2/5/18 for $24.00.  Dividend of $0.38 on April 6. Current value: $29.86.  

Government Properties Income Trust: 6 Shares purchased between March 1 and April 4 at average cost of $13.32.  Current value:  $12.50.  

Liberty All-Star Equity Fund:  Ten shares purchased March 13 for $6.40 each; four shares purchased April 2 for $6.00 each.  Current value:  $6.09.  

Most of these stocks were things I read about on various blogs or on Seeking Alpha.  I did not do extensive research,no did I invest a pile of money in any one stock.  I have decided that I have enough now.  If I want to put more money in the stock market, I am either going to buy more shares of what I have, or sell something I have and buy shares in a new company.  If you would like to invest via Robinhood, please use my link.  You'll get a free share of stock, and so will I.  Last time someone used my link I got a share of Sprint.  

How was the first quarter of 2018 for you?