For the full-year 2017, the Dividend Growth portfolio returned 8.5%, trailing the S&P 500’s 19.4% by a wide margin [returns figures calculated by Interactive Brokers]. While I probably shouldn’t consider an 8.5% annual return a “failure,” it’s certainly frustrating to me to trail my benchmark like this. So, we’re going to take a long, hard...Read More

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That was the approach I took this past month. Apart from some modest rebalancing, I made no major portfolio changes. And barring any expected new opportunities, I’m not expecting to make many major changes between now and year end. Frankly, we are already well allocated to the sectors...Read More

October was a reminder for us of why it’s important to diversify. Apple (AAPL) had a fantastic quarter on expectations of strong iPhone sales, and as I write this, the company is within striking distance of being the first trillion-dollar company by market cap. I’ve been expecting this for a long time, and it’s nice...Read More

September was a solid month for the Dividend Growth portfolio, as it retuned 1.02% for the month. This underperformed the 1.93% return for the S&P 500, but the portfolio also started the month with a larger-than-usual allocation to cash. The portfolio remains moderately cash heavy, with 10% allocated to cash as of month end. But...Read More

August was an unusual month. We had escalating nuclear tensions with North Korea, and a storm – Hurricane Harvey – that will likely go down in history as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history once the damages are tallied. Yet perhaps shockingly, the stock market remained surprisingly quiet. Volatility ticked up modestly from its...Read More