Why am I still buying ETP?

On March 10th, I increased my position of ETP. "But why?", you might ask. "ETP is in a downtrend. Their recent earnings report showed a decrease. Oil and gas, the commodity it transports, has been in a downtrend for months before that."

All those points are valid. And if I were a day trader, buying it now would be the dumbest possible move. However, I am not a day trader. I am a dividend investor. An opinionated one, at that.

The immediate outlook on ETP is that it will go down as long as oil prices are at lows that have not been seen for years and the entire energy sector bears that burden. The big picture, is that the energy sector is still among the most lucrative sectors in the long run. However, the reasons for oil prices being at lows that haven't been seen in years are both marvelous and frustrating.

First, we have the booming success of shale oil projects, of which ETP benefited from but is not reliant on. This wouldn't be so bad if it were not accompanied by a fuel consumption decrease. Because of the 2008 financial crisis driving the purchase and development of more fuel efficient vehicles, reserves have been utilized at a net positive rate. In fact, they are almost filled to capacity.  Bind that to congressionally imposed fuel efficiency standards to be reached by 2025 and the reserves will overflow much sooner.

Second, we have OPEC not being able to agree on how much to decrease oil production by in order to prop up the price of oil to the benefit of some of its benefactors like Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. And because of sanctions being imposed on Russia and Iran, the USA has no desire to cut production, either. In fact, some members of OPEC are betting on this stance on sanctions to cause the weaker USA shale oil projects to have to shut down because they need oil prices north of $50 to be profitable. But with price just north of $40, they are taking a loss.

The question is who will give in first? OPEC for its benefactors, USA for the shale oil projects, or the shale oil projects. Eventually someone will give in. And whenever that happens, energy stocks will go up again. That eventuality is what I'm positioning for.

As a result of life changes in the previous two years, my position in ETP was extraordinarily low. The losses I take in the mean time will hurt, but not nearly as much if my position was at my target quantity already. Thankfully, I am far from there.

For my dividend income strategy, I require significantly more shares than I have now. And I am not just buying ETP at any price. I setting my orders at previous supports in the stock, or there about. If and when the energy sector rebounds, I will already have a start, plus the dividend payout will help to compensate me and soften the losses.

The process is essentially dollar cost averaging down the value of my position. As the price drops, I am able to buy larger share positions. The higher the number of shares at a lower price I am able to accumulate, the softer the losses become. In addition, the larger my position becomes the better the dividend payout becomes, generation an income to buy even more shares of ETP or another stock in my portfolio. And that works in favor of my dividend income strategy.

That's my opinion. What's yours? Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

ETP - Energy Transfer Partners LP

I added to ETP, and the price dropped; am I missing something?

I am more than a few days behind on this post, I do apologize. I am trying to keep my posts as close to the day of trade. This, however, is an improvement over my last post.

Excuses aside, on February 23rd, I added to my position of ETP. The price of the purchase was $59.95 per share. This purchase was at the opening of the day following earnings. On the day of the purchase, and the following three days, the price drifted down; but not by much and on below average volume. On the forth day after the purchase, the price went up and closed above the opening price of the past three days; but, unfortunately, still below my purchase price by about 50 cents.

What I am seeing by this price movement is that the market is only accepting earnings and the future prospects as okay. My primary concern for this stock is that it continues to payout its dividend. At 6.69%, I am very happy to accept. As long as ETP continues to earn enough to cover its dividend, I don't see any reason to worry or reconcider.

My philosophy for stock purchases is to curate a portfolio capable of paying for my bills and putting spending money in my pocket. Currently, ETP is a key contributor to that philosophy. If I'm missing something, I am more than willing to review any criticism.

That's my opinion. What's yours? Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

ETP - Energy Transfer Partners LP

First Portfolio Update of 2015

After my last post on September 4th, 2014, I became remise in my posting. As a result the first post of 2015 is a catch up post.

Since September 4th, I mostly sat back and collected dividends while adding to my cash position. Then on December 3rd I used some of that cash position to increase my position in T at $34. I chose to do so because it fell under the short term support of $34.50, but the attractive dividend influenced me to increase my multiple on it. Since then it has dropped even further to as low as $32.07, but is currently $32.92. Going back 5 years $32 is approximately the current support level, and below that it is about $27.50. As a student of both fundamentals and technicals, I think T is a strong blue chip with a near 6% payout. At the support levels I mentioned I would buy more simply because I'm looking for a stream of revenue, and T is supplying that.

My next purchase was on December 5th for BGS at $28.50. I bought it also because of the attractive dividend (~4.6%) and because it is one of the few stocks I've found that payout in the first phase of the quarter. This purchase added to my already existing position. Currently it is $29.84 and going down. BGS is close to it's trending support. I will be looking into buying more around here.

My next purchase was on December 12th for ETP at $60. This is another dividend based purchase at nearly 6.5%. Currently it is priced at $61.40 and going up from a low of $58.54. This is another one I'm looking into buying more of.

My last purchase of the year was on December 23rd for GSK at $43. This one is an addition to my portfolio. I bought it because of the greater than 5.5% payout and that it is also one of the few that pays out in the first phase of the quarter. The issue to be aware of is that GSK is on a down trend after a 4.5 year up trend. But there were two recent bounces around $41.25. GSK currently sits at $44 and I believe it will be stabilizing in the range of $41-$46.

That's my opinion. What's yours? Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

T - At&t Inc
BGS - B & G Foods Inc
ETP - Energy Transfer Partners LP
GSK - Glaxo Smith Kline PLC

Portfolio Update: Continuing the Plan

Since my last portfolio update in June 2013, I have been collecting dividends from my investments and waiting for my next opportunity. Friday, August 2, 2013 was my opening. On that day I BTO an additional 5 shares of AGNC. Doing so has three benefits.

The first is that it reduced my cost average of my position in AGNC. The second is that it brings me closer to an option eligible lot size. And third, it puts me in a position with an increased dividend payout for the next distribution. It is my belief that the stock has bottomed and that a reversal is possible at this price. That's my opinion. What's yours?

Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

AGNC - American Capital Agency Corp
BTO - bought-to-open / buy-to-open

Portfolio Update: Catching Up.

I fell behind some, so this post might be a bit longer than usual. There haven't been a lot of changes. The changes just haven't been posted in a timely manner. So here we go.

I temporarily had to stop funding my account, but will recommence doing so shortly. The last of my funds in the account have been used to make the following purchases in order to increase the payout of my dividend schedule.

On May 3rd, I added to my position of AGNC. My reasoning here is that because it pays out at such a high yield with a lower investment, I can leverage that to help fund the purchases of my other positions. The risk is that the market value is dropping because it missed the last quarter expectations. For that reason it might actually be smarter to move the entire position over to either NLY or CIM. But in those two the focus would be on equity growth where as my focus is more on income with the side effect of growth due to planned reinvestment.

On May 8th, I added to my position of ETP. My reasoning here is much the same as AGNC. There may be better options for growth, but growth isn't my first priority, as was mentioned above.

The market has shown that investors are ignoring the "Sell in May and go away..." rhyme and are continuing to invest. But of course, it is only the middle of may. The second half may turn out differently, but only time will tell. That's my opinion. What's yours.

Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion. blogspot.com

AGNC - American Capital Agency Corp
CIM - Chimera Investment Corp
ETP -Energy Transfer Partners, LP
NLY - Annaly Capital Management, Inc

Portfolio Update: Catching up.

So here is the update. In my last post I wrote about rolling my call option on SAND. Since then I have allowed the option to expire worthless. My reasoning being that I lost my faith in it and I want to increase the payouts of my dividend schedule plan further. Because of that I used all further funds in the account to buy more shares in my current positions. But I also sold my position in a low yield stock that I held.

On the 23rd of November, I sold my shares of YUM because I believe the yield is too small for the dividend schedule plan I have for my portfolio. For my plan to work I need bigger payouts. These payouts and the additional funds from the sale of YUM stock will help to accelerate the purchase of more shares of the same stocks I currently hold and a few others I want to add to my portfolio.

On the 27th of November, I bought shares of JNJ. This purchase increased my dividend payout for the third phase of every quarter, which is currently the weaker of the three phases. It also increased my current position of JNJ, a stock I already own.

On the 21st of December, the SAND $15.00 Call option expired worthless. This was a disappointment. I believe the failure is that I bought into it being a cheaper play on gold while gold has been on a three month down trend that has yet to reverse. The hustle over gold might be over since the Mayan Apocalypse didn't happen and there might have been a lot of gold investors who believed in that foolishness.

On the 28th of December, I bought shares of PG. This purchase increased my dividend payout for the second phase of every quarter, the second weakest of the three phases. It also increased my current position of PG, a stock I already own.

The three phases of every quarter are much closer together in strength, now, but maintain their sequential order of strength. My available funds have almost all been depleted as I wait for a scheduled order to be triggered. I will be continuing to fund the account with cash from my day job and monitoring the market for additional investments to add to my portfolio.

That is my opinion, you can take it or leave it. Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com


JNJ - Johnson & Johnson
PG - Procter & Gamble Co.
SAND - Sandstorm Gold Ltd.
YUM - Yum! Brands Inc.

Portfolio Update: Long Over Due

It has, once again, been too long since my last post. In the time that has passed there have been seven changes to my portfolio. I have made 5 purchases, 1 sale, and had an option position expire on me. The 4 of the 5 purchases and the one sale were strategic moves to my portfolio. The remaining 1 purchase and option expiration are my speculation plays.

To start I BTO additional shares in my ETP position. This purchase added to my dividend payout for the second phase of each quarter. This was done on the 3rd of October.

On the 8th of October, I BTO a SAND Nov 17 2012 $15 Call option position. This was done as my speculation play. Unfortunately, I have to admit that the decision to get in was poorly timed and selected. I should have waited for the pull back and then choose an expiration further out. As of this post, it is in the red but seems to be showing signs of improvement. I will be holding it until my profitable sale trigger is hit or it's expiration, which is a week away from this post.

On the 19th of October, my speculation play for FB Oct 20 2012 $15 Put options locked and expired. This was again an unfortunate speculation gone wrong. In hinds sight I should have taken my profits when I had them or probably should have chosen to purchase one option closer to the money instead of three so far out of the money. I still think FB is over-priced, but it seems that they are finally accepting that they have to make revenue in order to attract investors and are making changes that will actually create revenue even at the expense of loosing some of there ~1 billion users.

On the 31st of October, I STC my entire position of DE. I made this decision because DE did not fit the minimum yield requirement of my strategy of holding high dividend yielding stocks. Fortunately, I was able to get out with a very small profit.

On the 2nd of November, I BTO additional shares in two of my existing positions, T and VZ. These purchases added to my dividend payout for the second phase of each quarter. As a result I am almost 70% of my phase one dividend payouts, which are currently the largest.

Finally on the 7th of November, I BTO additional shares in my MCD position. This purchase added to my dividend payout for the third phase of each quarter. As a result I am almost 50% of my phase one dividend payouts.

Despite the fact that falling over the "Fiscal Cliff" will result in an increase of the dividend tax rate, I am not going to change my core strategy of building a portfolio of dividend paying stocks. My portfolio is not currently generating enough income to alter my effective tax rate significantly. I will, however, use the fear in the market to build up my positions.

That is my opinion, you can take it or leave it. Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

BTO - buy-to-open/bought-to-open
DE - Deere & Co.
ETP - Energy Transfer Partners LP
FB - Facebook CL A
MCD - McDonalds Corp
SAND - Sandstorm Gold LTD
STC - sell-to-close/sold-to-close
T - AT&T, Inc
VZ - Verizon Communications

Portfolio Update

I have made a few changes to my portfolio over the past, almost, two months. The first set of changes were made on the 27th of July as I STC my ZNGA position for a loss that I could not bare to see grow any further, as well as my CIM position for the same reason. I need more profitable choices in my portfolio that will pay me dividends while growing or at least hold on to their value. But since speculating keeps me attentive to the market I will do it with options. This way, while I can see more exciting gains from option trades, I can narrowly define my losses better. So for longer term purchases I will be buying stocks, and for excitement trade options.

With the cash I freed by STC my ZNGA and CIM positions, I first BTO, as a trade, Puts against FB. My reasons being that I don't see them bottoming at this current time and that I believe the lockout which expires this week will result in an even lower price. Next I BTO a position into AGNC another REIT with growth and a better dividend than CIM and it's commercial counter-part NLY. These trades were made on the same 27th of July

Finally, on the 8th of August I BTO a position in ETP. I believe the price has become low enough that the dividend yield is too attractive not to buy. I want to continue to add to this position as time goes by but the majority of my free cash is not allocated for positions in a few other stocks to balance out my monthly dividend payout strategy. I will allocate more cash to purchase ETP and the other dividend paying stocks in my portfolio as the capital gets added from my day job. That is my opinion, you can take it or leave it. Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

AGNC - American Capital Agency Corp.
BTO - buy-to-open / bought-to-open
CIM - Chimera Investment Corporation
ETP - Energy Transfer Partners LP
FB - Facebook, Inc.
STC - sell-to-close / sold-to-close
ZNGA - Zynga Inc.

Portfolio Update

I am a little behind schedule on reporting my portfolio updates. Since my last update, I have changed some of my opinions a little. I have also added to my account so that I have some additional cash to invest.

First, I have restarted auto deposits into my investing account and my IRA. Both of which are under-funded. I especially have a lot of catching up to do in my IRA. However, further information about that is outside the scope of this post.

Second, I STC my puts against FB. The result was that I raked in ~37% profit on that short trade.

Lastly, I then took the profit and the capital that I had pending for one of my other dividend paying stock picks, CNK, and added to my already existing positions of JNJ and PG. I then re-evaluated the chart for CNK and decided to buy a third of the shares I was planning on at the higher price it was currently around. Unfortunately, CNK has declined a little since I BTO the position today. I am still currently satisfied with my positions. That is my opinion, you can take it or leave it. Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

BTO - buy-to-open / bought-to-open
CNK - Cinemark Holdings Inc
FB - Facebook Inc.
IRA - Individual Retirement Account
JNJ - Johnson & Johnson
PNG - Proctor & Gamble Co
STC - sell-to-close / sold-to-close

Portfolio Update

In my last post I mentioned having two more positions I wanted to open but who's limits were much lower, and that I didn't want to raise the limits any higher with out good reason. That hasn't changed. However, I did make a purchase.

On the 27th I purchased sharers of ZNGA. The position I have now is strill small and only used up the small amount of cash I did not have already allocated for the two other positions. I am still looking for my last two orders to execute later on, possibly during the summer months.

Also, on the 27th, I received a dividend payout from my holding of CIM. This payout makes me feel very positive about the strategy I am using. That is my opinion, you can take it or leave it. Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

CIM - Chimera Investment Corp
ZNGA - Zynga Inc.

Portfolio Update

Since my last post I've BTO more positions. On April 10th, after I had already posted, I BTO a position into VZ. On April 17th I BTO a position into JNJ. And on April 23rd I BTO a position into PG. Also, on April 16th I received interest for the cash sitting in my account.

My entering into the PG position was partially a result of me tightening the limit of the order to less than a dollar of its Friday close. The other part was an unexpected reaction to the European and Chinese economic news. Today, however, PG rose back above my entry point. (As of the publishing of this article, PG is below my entry but up for the day.) My current concern is that the market cliche of 'as goes the month of January, so goes the market' will not be true this coming summer after PG earnings this coming Friday. If my concern is realized, I will look for an opportunity to average down my cost basis by adding to the position as close to the lows as I can. I may then STC the first PG position if it recovers.

I still have two more positions I want to open in order to balance out my monthly dividend payout strategy. However, I don't want to tighten my limit orders any further without good reason. I will be leaving them as is for now. That is my opinion, you can take it or leave it. Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

BTO - buy-to-open/bought-to-open
JNJ - Johnson & Johnson
PG - The Procter & Gamble Co.
STC - sell-to-close/sold-to-close
VZ - Verizon Communications Inc.

Portfolio Update

The last portfolio update I made covered a stock purchase of DE. Since then I have added another equity to my account. On April 5th, I BTO a position into T. As of that date, I now have a quarterly dividend being payed to me every month. This does not include the fact that the TLT seems to pay me a dividend every month, I say seems as I have received a deposit of interest from this bond fund every month last quarter.

Outside of the new position that I have opened, I have adjusted my limit order prices for the remaining five equities I have in my plan to purchase. These five equities may change as I compare them against their competitors, looking for the ones I believe fit my criteria of paying good dividends, have relative growth potential, and are priced in at a level I can afford. That is my opinion, you can take it or leave it. Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

BTO - buy-to-open/bought-to-open
DE - Deere & Co.
T - AT&T Inc.
TLT - iShares Trust Barclays 20+Year Treasury Bond Fund

Portfolio Update

Since my last update, I bought more shares of DE. In that same time period I received a dividend payout from MCD and interest from my cash sweep account. Minor gains, but in line with the new slower paced plan I've decided to use. That is my opinion, you can take it or leave it. Disclaimer: See bottom of page. http://investorsopinion.blogspot.com

DE - Deere &Co.
MCD - McDonalds Corp