Review of Finances: 3rd Quarter 2018

As I set down to write this, the stock market has fallen precipitously in the last week.  Nevertheless these are the figures as of the end of September, 2018.

About 10% of our income automatically goes into our 401k accounts, and in the last three months, that's been about it.  On the spending side, my daughter and I went to New York City and ended up with extra expenses for the plane ride home when our original flight was cancelled due to weather.  I also took a weekend trip to Dallas with college friends.  The start of school and all those fees also hit our bank account.

Let's take a look at the investments:

Vanguard:

My husband and I have Roth IRAs and regular IRAs, and a taxable account.  We deposited money in each Roth IRA this quarter and the money was taken from Lending Club and Prosper.   These accounts consist of a variety of mutual funds purchased for us by our ex-financial advisor, along with Vanguard's International Bond Index Fund, Total Stock Market Index Fund, 500 Index Fund, Total Bond Market Index Fund, Dividend Appreciation Fund, Emerging Markets Fund (new this quarter) and REIT Index Fund. In the last year, our rate of return has been 6.3% overall, but year-to-date, our returns are negative as of this writing, but two weeks ago they were positive.  

MFS:
My 401k has a year to date positive return.   It is invested in Janus Triton,  Oppenheimer Int'L Small Mid Co A, MFS Government Securities Fund-A , Pioneer Fundamental Growth Fd-A,  and Delaware US Growth Fund-A.  My firm contributes 5% of my salary, and I contribute 6%. As of September 30, my year-to-date return was 7.36%.

AXA:

My husband's 401K is with AXA and it has increased in value, though not a lot.  He puts in the minimum necessary for employer match.

Motif:

I have some money invested in baskets of stocks, called "Motifs"; and some invested in individual stocks.  Our account totalled $10,367.76 at the end of September.

• Buyback Leaders:  A collection of companies that were buying back their stock.  Since 2014, it has increased 112%, mostly because of NVDIA which has increased from from $69.10 to $289.  
• Growing Dividends:  A collection of dividend paying stocks.  It is up about 41.0% since purchase, whereas the S&P is up 58.4%.  However, it yields over 2% in dividends yearly.
• High Yield Dividend:  Another collection of dividend paying stocks.  It is up 23% vs 46.8% for the S&P, but the average dividend yield is over 3% per  year.
• Online Gaming World:  This collection of gaming stocks such as Activision/Blizzard, Weibo, and Cheeta Mobile is up over 146.5% as opposed to the S&P's 48% gain.
• Things I Like:  I designed this basket, and a lot of it is retail stocks, which I bought at the wrong time.  It is up 21.6%, as opposed to the S&P being up 48.7%.  My winners were Alibaba and Alphabet and my losers are Lending Club and Ascena (Dress Barn/Ann Taylor etc)
• Online Video:  Includes Netflix and Adobe.  Up 148% as opposed to 47% for the S&P. 
• Low Beta:  These companies, including McDonalds, are supposed to have a low correlation to the market as a whole.  They pay really good dividends (average is probably close to 4%).  The Motif is up 21.1% whereas the S&P is up 47%
• NVDIA:  This is a chip maker whose stock increased tremendously in 2017.  When I sold a couple of motifs, I used some of the money to buy more stock in this company. It is now $281.02 per share, I bought at $235.13.    
• Adobe:  Another stock that was great last year, but is down since I bought it.
• CBL:  Down since I bought it.  This is a mall REIT and pays a dividend over 17% of current price.  
• Amazon:  Up 7.4% since I bought it.
• Energy Transfer Partners:  Owns natural gas pipeline etc.  Up over 20% since I bought it and the dividend yield is over 12%
• GOV is a REIT that owns buildings rented to government agencies.  Up 30% since I bought it.  Current dividend yield is over 9%
• Johnson & Johnson.  Down 2% since purchase.
• Realty Income:  REIT.  Up 2.52% since purchase. Dividend over 4%.
• Southern Company:  Power company.  Down but the dividend over 4%
• Starwood Propertiess (hotel and resort REIT).  Up 1.48% since purchase.  
• Visa.  Up. I'm dripping all my Motif dividends into Visa right now.  Current dividend 0.6%. 
• Weibo:  Chinese company that made me a lot of money last year in the online gaming Motif.  However, since I bought these shares they are down over 40%  Talk about a hit!
• Walgreens:  Down  but at least it pays a 1.87% dividend.  The company is making money so I'm hoping this turns around.  

Lending Club:

While my returns have been steadily dropping for  months, accounting for expected defaults, Lending Club estimates my return since I began the account at about 4.75%   whereas three months ago I wrote that it was 4.66%.  However, so far this year, I've lost more money to defaults than I've made in interest.  Definitely not what I had in mind.

 As my notes mature I'm moving the money to our Roth IRAs. . The economy on the whole is fine now; if I can't make money with Lending Club under this economy, I'm going to lose it big time if things go downhill.  The profits today do not justify the risk.

Prosper:

My returns here have dropped as well.  Three months ago my annualized net returns were 4.08%, and my "seasoned" returns--the returns on notes that are more than ten months old were 3.93%. Since all my notes are now "seasoned" those figures have merged and my estimated return is 3.55%.  As I receive payments from Prosper, they are going to our Roth IRAs.

Robinhood:

I play with this account.  If I read an article about a stock that catches my eye, I'm likely to buy $50-100 worth for this account.  So far, I've invested a little under $2,000.  I usually set stop losses to I don't lose too much if the market goes down (and a couple of times I've repurchased for less after a stop-loss sell.  I ran the account through an XIRR calculator and I'm beating the S&P though not by much.  The "current value" below is as of 9/28/18,

• AT&T:  10 shares, average price $35.82,  Current price 33.58.  Dividend is $0.50 per share per quarter . No stop loss on this one; I bought it for the dividends.
• Lending Club:  1 share purchased at $5.51.  Current price $3.88.  No dividends. No stop loss. 
• Visa:  2 shares purchased at $78.00.  Current price $150.70.  $1.38 in dividends in 2017 and $1.26 so far this year. . I have a stop loss order placed at $130.00.
• Hormel: 3 shares purchased at $31.80.  Current price 39.40.  2017 dividend was $0,51 per share; current quarterly dividend $0.56 per share.
• Hanesbrands: 7 shares, average cost $19.20.  Current price $18.43 but sold August 1 via stop loss for $19.13,   Dividend is $0.15 per share per quarter. 
• CVS:  4 shares, average cost 70.64.  Current value $78.72.  Dividend is $0.50 per share  per quarter.  Stop loss at 73.95 
• Cardinal Healthcare.  1 share purchased November 27 for $56.42. Sold 2/5/18 for 64.98.  Repurchased on 2/5 for $64.70.  Stop loss sold again on 3/20 for $67.00, and repurchased for $66.50.  Quarterly dividend is $0.48.  Current price $51.53.       .       
• Giliad Sciences.  1 share purchased 1/19 for $81.30.  Stop loss sell 2/5 for $80.00. Repurchase for $79.00.  Quarterly dividend is $0.57.  Current value 77.21
• ProAssurance.  1 Share purchased for $54.98.  Pays a quarterly dividend of $0.31 but its value has fallen to $46.95, which is higher than three months ago.  Maybe it will recover after all.  .  
• Viacom:  2 shares purchased for $33.31 each.  Current value $33.76.  Quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.  
• GE:  Another dog.  Purchased 3 shares at average cost of $15.90. Current value $12.00.  Quarterly dividend of $0.12.
• Altababa:  Purchased 1 share for $80.00.  Current price $67.24.
• CBL:  Purchased 13 shares for average price of $4.60.  Sold via stop loss at $5.50 on 6/21.  Repurchased at $5.48 (and added two more shares). 5 more shares on August 6 for $4.90.  Stop loss sell of 15 shares on August 6 for 4.73.  10 shares re-purchased on August 7 for $4.56 Current price $3.99.  Quarterly dividend is $0.20 per share.
• Gamestop:  Purchased 1 share accidentally.  Decided to see what happened.  Cost was $17.05.  Current price  $15.27. Quarterly dividend is $0.38. 
• Sprint:  I earned two shares via Robinhood's referral program.  Average value when awarded was $5.37.  Current value is $6.54.  
• Macys: One share purchased for $24.00.  Sold via stop loss for $36.00 on Jul 11, 2018. Quarterly dividend is $0.38.
• GOV:  10 shares, average cost $10.08. This is one that I've bought and sold several times.  Current value $11.29.  Quarterly dividend is $0.43.  Stop loss set at $15.00.   
• USA. 25 shares, average cost $6.49.  Current value $6.81.   Quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share.   
• GLU Mobile:  Trying for a home run here.  20 shares; average cost $5.15.  Current value $7.45.  Stop loss set at $6.00 but I'm hoping for big things.  
• Zynga:  2 shares awarded via Robinhood's referral program.   Average value when awarded was $4.36.  Current value $4.01.  
• Delaware Investments Dividend Fund:  5 shares at $11.71.  Current value:  $13.35. Monthly dividend of $0.0961 per share.
• New Residential Investments:  2 shares at $17.58.  Current value:  $17.82.   
• Iron Mountian.  3 shares at $35.62  Current value:  34.52. Quarterly divident $0.5875 per share
• SID:  This is a Brazilian energy company.  Don't remember why I bought it.  Paid $2.52 per share for 20 shares. Current value $2.28, 
• Denbury:  Another stock I got as a referral bonus.  It is an oil E&P company.  Current value: $6.20.          

 Robinhood is an online broker that now has both an app and a webpage.  They charge no commission and allow you to place limit or market orders.  They also allow you to initiate bank transfers and then invest the money immediately--you do not have to wait for the transfer to complete.  You do have to buy whole shares.

If you use this link to open an account with them, you and I will both receive a free share of stock. Here is a link to my review of Robinhood.

Stockpile:

This is an online broker for whom I wrote a sponsored post.  I invested $100 in Johnson & Johnson through them.  They charge $0.99 per trade, so even though they sell fractional shares, I don't recommend investing less than $100.00 per trade.  Stockpile had a promotion where they were giving away $5.00 worth of Apple stock so I got mine.  Now the account is worth $115.31.

If you use this link, you get $5.00 worth of stock to begin your account with them, and I get $5.00 too. I wrote a full review of Stockpile a few months ago.

M1 Finance.  

My portfolio, which is all in one "pie" consists of 1/4 facebook, 1/4 Crestwood Equite Partners, 1/4 Enbridge Energy Managment and 1/4 Exxon/Mobil.  I've invested $100, and gotten $20 in bonuses.  My account, which was opened in July, is now worth $103.58.  I bought $25 worth of facebook right before it nosedived.  

If you use this link you get a $10 bonus with M1 and so do I.  Read my review of M1 Finance.  

Webull:

This is another fee-free broker.  I put $100 in this account and bought two stocks, and they gave me two shares of ABEV, a Brazilian drink maker--one for opening the account and another for referring a customer.  I have:

ABEV: 2 shares worth $4,91 each when awarded, worth $4.57 now. 

AG Mortage:  2 shares worth $18,89 when purchased, worth $18.18 now.

NGL Energy Partners:  2 shares with $13.00 when purchased, worth 11.60 now.

This isn't Webull's fault.  You can read my review of Webull or if you want a free share of stock, open an account with this link. 

The Bottom Line

So far this year, we've made good progress toward our goals.  Let's just hope the market doesn't spend the next few months taking back what it has given us in the last three months.

One thing many investors track is dividends.  By this time last year my dividends totalled $5,977.07  This year they are up to $8,634.71.