Pocket Change Portfolio – July 2009 *
Each month I update the Pocket Change Portfolio (PCP). The table below reconciles the PCP from beginning of period to end of period for July 2009, Year-To-Date (2009) and Life-To-Date. The Portfolio Returns line provides the calculated return for the three displayed periods.
| Description | July-2009 | Year-To-Date | Life-To-Date |
| Beg. Portfolio Value | 7,169.98 | 3,395.62 | - |
| Online Cash Receipts | 913.73 | 4,699.78 | 8,248.12 |
| Online Expenses | - | (30.00) | (117.87) |
| Gross Profit | 913.73 | 4,669.78 | 8,130.25 |
| Dividends | - | 88.32 | 113.48 |
| Interest Income | 1.27 | 7.25 | 13.40 |
| Subtotal | 915.00 | 4,765.35 | 8,257.13 |
| Gain/(Loss) | 364.85 | 288.86 | 192.70 |
| Ending Portfolio Value | 8,449.83 | 8,449.83 | 8,449.83 |
| Portfolio Returns | 4.53% | 9.20% | 8.53% |
Online Cash Receipts are the collected earnings from my online endeavors. Most of which is advertising on the my various blogs. The year-to-date $30.00 Online Expenses relates to registering 3 domains (DividendsValue.com, Dividends4Life.com and TheDiv-Net.com). I did not receive any Dividends in July. The Interest Income line is interest earned on cash balances in an ING account I set up for the PCP. The Gain/(Loss) line is for market changes to the PCP (realized and unrealized).
The portfolio did very well in the month of July, taking the Year-To-Date and Life-To-Date returns positive. Online earnings in July continued to improve as I added a new subscriber only Premium Services section.
During the month of July, I purchased 14 shares of Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF (BLV). This will provide me $56.00 in annual earnings at the current dividend rate. Including the BLV ETF, my annual PCP dividend income is now $315.10 at the current dividend rates. I ended the month with $954.61 in cash, so I will have to wait until September to purchase my eigth PCP stock. It is my goal to have sufficient earnings to purchase a stock at least eight times a year. Through July I have purchased five stocks this year.
My PCP holdings are always available by selecting the Holdings option from the menu in the header. The next PCP update will be mid-September.
(Photo: sanja gjenero)
Wow this portfolio sure has grown a lot.
The Online Cash Receipt numbers are amazing as well!
Keep up the great work. Looking forward to next month and seeing how this baby continues growing.
Jae: I think this portfolio will one day be a good example of how something very small can grow into something substantial!
Best Wishes,
D4L
In your Aug. 5 article, 5 dividend stocks you wouldn’t buy, you include BP. Does the analysis you did for that article change your thoughts on including BP as a core holding in the pocket change portfolio?
DD: At any given time there are very few stocks that I would buy. Currently of the 33 income stocks that I hold I would only buy 5 of them today. This changes from week to week based on valuation and other factors. Dividend investing is a long-term proposition. Over time many stocks will move into and out of the buy zone.
Best Wishes,
D4L