Monthly Update: January 2016

The markets started the new year with a blast. There are a lot of worries about China and other developing economies, talks about global recession and whatnot. Since I am planning to buy a house in the near future my deposits are and will continue to remain zero. However I do still receive dividends which in time can be used to invest. In the table below I have shown some benchmark indicators of general market indices and my own dividend growth portfolio. It wasn't really a good month, but hey.

Indicator	As of 31-12	As of 31-1	% change
S&P 500 Total Return	3.822	3631,96	-5,0%
Dow Jones Industrials Total Return	35.726	33.802	-5,4%
AEX GR	1.328	1.297	-2,4%
USD.EUR	0,9208	0,9174	-0,4%
Portfolio value	€ 22.570	€ 21.694	-3,9%

However, since I am in it for the long haul I am not too interested in these daily or monthly fluctuations. What matters is that I keep focused on buying high quality companies which provide me with a steady stream of growing dividends.

Purchases

None.

Dividends received
Four separate companies paid me dividends during this month.

• WMT: 20 shares @ $0.49 for a total of $9.80
• BAX: 22 shares @ $0.115 for a total of $2.53
• BXLT: 22 shares @ $0.07 for a total of $1.54
• PM: 17 shares @ $1.02 for a total of $17.34

Total: around €24 after tax, which is almost slightly lower than last year due to the dividend reduction of the combination BAX/BXLT. However, I did sell another (covered) TGH call which netted me €30. So total income including option premium is €54.

Dividend increases or decreases during this month

None.

Yearly forward dividend
My 12-month forward dividend rate is now €920, compared to €940 last month. Nothing changed except the EUR.USD rate.

Seeking Alpha articles
None.

Monthly Update: December 2015

So 2015 has come to an end. I'll write a post about the progress I made in the past year but for now I just want to present my dividend income for the month of December. In the table below I have shown some benchmark indicators of general market indices and my own dividend growth portfolio. It wasn't really a good month, and there's hardly any improvement in the new year.

Indicator	As of 30-11	As of 31-12	% change
S&P 500 Total Return	3.883	3821,6	-1,6%
Dow Jones Industrials Total Return	36.277	35.726	-1,5%
AEX GR	1.412	1.328	-5,9%
USD.EUR	0,9444	0,9208	-2,5%
Portfolio value	€ 23.982	€ 22.570	-5,9%

However, since I am in it for the long haul I am not too interested in these daily or monthly fluctuations. What matters is that I keep focused on buying high quality companies which provide me with a steady stream of growing dividends.

Purchases

None.

Dividends received
Nine separate companies paid me dividends during this month.

• KO: 37 shares @ $0.33 for a total of $12.21
• INTC: 63 shares @ $0.24 for a total of $15.12
• AFL: 28 shares @ $0.41 for a total of $11.48
• IBM: 7 shares @ $1.30 for a total of $9.10
• XOM: 17 shares @ $0.73 for a total of $12.41
• UNP: 15 shares @ $0.55 for a total of $8.25
• TGH: 100 shares @ 0.24 for a total of $24.00
• RDS: 98 shares @ $0.47 for a total of $46.06 (DRIP 1 share)
• UNA: 37 shares @ €0.30 for a total of €11.17

Total: around €129 after tax, which is almost 60% higher than last year in December. It's (almost) my highest monthly income ever, so definitely a solid month in terms of income!

Dividend increases or decreases during this month

Still contemplating my positions in KMI and TGH.

Yearly forward dividend
My 12-month forward dividend rate is now €940, compared to €940 last month. Nothing changed.

Seeking Alpha articles
None.

Monthly Update: November 2015

A bit overdue but I still need to present my dividend income for the month of November. In the table below I have presented some benchmark indicators of general market indices and my own dividend growth portfolio.

Indicator	As of 31-10	As of 30-11	% change
S&P 500 Total Return	3.871	3.883	+0,3%
Dow Jones Industrials Total Return	36.023	36.277	+0,7%
AEX GR	1.386	1.412	+1,9%
USD.EUR	0,9079	0,9444	+4,0%
Portfolio value	€ 23.787	€ 23.982	+0,8%

However, since I am in it for the long haul I am not too interested in these daily or monthly fluctuations. What matters is that I keep focused on buying high quality companies which provide me with a steady stream of growing dividends.

Purchases

None.

Dividends received
Nine separate companies paid me dividends during this month.

• DE: 18 shares @ $0.60 for a total of $10.80
• KMI: 48 shares @ $0.51 for a total of $24.48
• OHI: 59 shares @ $0.56 for a total of $33.04

Total: around €54 after tax, which is 26% higher than last year.

Dividend increases or decreases during this month

I have two companies in my portfolio that significantly reduced their quarterly dividend payments in recent history: Textainer and Kinder Morgan. The dividend from TGH will be reduced starting with the payment in December. The dividend payment from KMI this month was a "normal" one, however the next payment somewhere in February will be much smaller. I am contemplating what to do with these positions.

Yearly forward dividend
My 12-month forward dividend rate is now €940, compared to €1031 last month. I took a big hit in income due to the dividend from KMI.

Seeking Alpha articles
None.

Monthly Update: October 2015

A bit overdue but I still need to present my dividend income for the month of October. In the table below I have presented some benchmark indicators of general market indices and my own dividend growth portfolio.

Indicator	As of 30-9	As of 31-10	% change
S&P 500 Total Return	3.570	3.871	+8,4%
Dow Jones Industrials Total Return	33.172	36.023	+8,6%
AEX GR	1.261	1.386	+9,9%
USD.EUR	0,8953	0,9079	+1,4%
Portfolio value	€ 21.951	€ 23.787	+8,4%

However, since I am in it for the long haul I am not too interested in these daily or monthly fluctuations. What matters is that I keep focused on buying high quality companies which provide me with a steady stream of growing dividends.

Purchases

None.

Dividends received
Nine separate companies paid me dividends during this month.

• KO: 37 shares @ $0.33 for a total of $12.21
• BAX: 22 shares @ $0.115 for a total of $2.53
• BXLT: 22 shares @ $0.07 for a total of $1.54
• PM: 17 shares @ $1.02 for a total of $17.34
• I earned $37.70 in option premiums because I sold a covered call.

Total: around €62 after tax.

Dividend increases during this month

PM raised their dividends from a quarterly payment of $1.00 to $1.02.

Yearly forward dividend
My 12-month forward dividend rate is now €1031, compared to €1038 last month. I took a big hit in income due to a dividend cut from TGH. The dollar appreciated in value against the euro so that kind of offset the dividend cut from TGH.

Seeking Alpha articles
I wrote two articles for Seeking Alpha:

• Total Return In The Industrial Gases Sector: Why Airgas Outperformed Praxair And Air Products And Chemicals
• Total Return In The Insurance Sector: Why Aflac Was An Inferior Investment Compared To Chubb And Ace

Monthly Update: September 2015

It's that time of the month again! A few days late but here's my monthly update for September. In general markets lost a little bit, which is not really a big deal. Especially considering the big drop from last month. There is still a lot of volatility in the market. In the table below I have presented some benchmark indicators of general market indices and my own dividend growth portfolio.

Indicator	As of 31-8	As of 30-9	% change
S&P 500 Total Return	3.661	3.570	-2,5%
Dow Jones Industrials Total Return	33.627	33.172	-1,4%
AEX GR	1.317	1.261	-4,2%
USD.EUR	0,8909	0,8953	0,5%
Portfolio value	€ 21.906	€ 21.351	-2,5%

However, since I am in it for the long haul I am not too interested in these daily or monthly fluctuations. What matters is that I keep focused on buying high quality companies which provide me with a steady stream of growing dividends.

Purchases

I deposited €600 and topped of my position in TGH. You can read about it here. After that I wrote a covered call option on my position in TGH.

Dividends received
Nine separate companies paid me dividends during this month.

• INTC: 63 shares @ $0.24 for a total of $15.12
• AFL: 28 shares @ $0.39 for a total of $10.92
• IBM: 7 shares @ $1.30 for a total of $9.10
• WMT: 20 shares @ $0.49 for a total of $9.80
• XOM: 17 shares @ $0.73 for a total of $12.41
• UNP: 15 shares @ $0.55 for a total of $8.25
• BBL: 28 shares @ $1.24 for a total of $34.72
• RDS: 97 shares @ $0.47 for a total of $45.59 (DRIP 1 share)
• UNA: 37 shares @ €0.30 for a total of €11.17

Total: around €124 after tax which is about 50% more than last year in September. It's the second time that I crossed the 100 euros per month threshold. That's looking good!

Dividend increases during this month
None

Yearly forward dividend
My 12-month forward dividend rate is now €1038, compared to €950 last month. I finally surpassed the€1000 dividend income per year milestone. My extra shares in TGH made the difference. Let's see how long it takes before I get to the next thousand milestone!

Seeking Alpha articles
I wrote one article for Seeking Alpha. It's called: Textainer: Dividend Seems Safe But Investors Need Courage and got some good reviews.

Writing Covered Calls On TGH Position To Earn Extra Income

A few days ago I wrote about my purchase of additional TGH shares. One of the reasons for my purchase was that I wanted to "experiment" a little bit with writing covered calls. This post will explain my reasoning and will show the calculations of expected values in different scenarios.

Total Return In The Industrial Gases Sector: Why Airgas Outperformed Praxair And Air Products And Chemicals

Just before the weekend another article of mine was published on Seeking Alpha. The topic of the article is total return in the industrial gases sector. Total return is based on different variables like revenue, margins, outstanding shares and valuation multiples. Insight into the breakdown of various contributors to total return provides an investor with knowledge about which components have been important and whether repeatability can be expected in the future. Fellow author Eli Inkrot has written at length about this topic, recently in a side-by-side comparison of Kroger (NYSE:KR), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT). As I have written about the industrial gases sector before, I was interested to see how this analysis worked out.

You can check it out here, it's called: Total Return In The Industrial Gases Sector: Why Airgas Outperformed Praxair And Air Products And Chemicals