Weekly Roundup - January 9, 2016

The new year is in full swing and I've been taking the time to relax, read, and research.  After being gone for work for 33 days until just before the end of 2015 and finally getting some time off I decided to take a break from the blog for a couple weeks.  I was able to make it home a couple days after Christmas and while I missed the day I didn't miss the family.  Some of my family was out of town over Christmas so we did a big Christmas and birthday celebration on New Years Day.  It was great getting to see everyone which unfortunately happens much less often than I'd like.

Since my work schedule is very unpredictable I tend to slack on the writing whenever I'm home if I don't already have posts lined up because I stay busy with taking care of the "honey do" list and trying to see as many family and friends as possible.  And of course relax a bit.  Despite the large decline in the price of oil, work hasn't slowed down too much for me which is both a good and bad thing.  Although there won't be too many complaints from me because I'm thankful to have survived the layoffs thus far and to still have a job.
Blogging/Writing

As I mentioned and I'm sure you've noticed it's been very quiet here over the last 2 weeks or so.  While I haven't been getting posts written and published that doesn't mean the ideas aren't coming.  One thing I like about stepping away every now and then and getting my mind focused on something else is that it opens my mind up to other possibilities and connections and ideas.  It's amazing how the mind works like that.  You take something out of your conscious focus and it seems like it just keeps finding it's way back in some way or form.

Since I'm back at work now I should be able to get back into the groove of writing on the regular so be on the lookout for some upcoming posts.  Over the coming weeks I plan to get posts out about our 2016 Goals, December 2015 dividends, some more valuation analyses, and I'm working on a 4 part series that utilizes the CCC list that I hope to get up during the month.  There's a lot of things in store so if anyone wants to lend me an extra pair of hands that would be awesome.

Investing

While I've been fairly quiet over the last couple weeks, Mr. Market has been anything but.  Since the start of 2016, which only covers 5 trading days, the S&P 500 is down 5.96%.  Of course that's put a hurt in my portfolio's value as well but the dividend stream remains in tact.  I have no idea what the next course will be for the markets but I'm liking how things are looking.  There's several companies that have caught my eye and I'll have to be making some decisions on which ones to pursue or if it's better to go the "build my own ETF" route with our Roth IRA contributions that we should be making later over the next month or two.

On to the Roundup

In case you missed them, here's the posts since my last Weekly Roundup.

• Dividend Growth Investing at Work - Dialing Up More Dividends
• The Continued Selloff in Shares of V.F. Corporation is Juicing Expected Returns on Seeking Alpha
• Recent Sell
• New Year, New You, New Goals

Also, be sure to sign up to receive posts via email and to follow me on Twitter@JC_PIP so you don't miss anything.  I also started a Facebook page to give people another option for keeping up to date on posts and happenings with the blog.

Once again I'd like to say thanks to each and every one of you that read, commented, and shared posts from here this past week.  I think this dividend growth investing and financial independence community is amazing and the openness from everyone is awesome.  Thanks again!

Now on to the links!

A change of heart on REITs and MLPs by Dividend Growth Investor

Top Investment Picks for 2016 by Roadmap2Retire

Why dividend growth investing should be your New Years resolution by Sure Dividend

Baby DivHut's Dividend Income and Portfolio by DivHut

Goals and resolutions (inspired by my kids) by Retire Before Dad

2015 wrap-up and 2016 goals by Income Surfer

My 2016 plan by Financially Integrated

Hello 2016: Looking back, Looking forward by Retire29

A dozen things I've learned about investing from Jim Chanos by 25iq

Outlook for 2016 by Roadmap2Retire

Lessons learned in 2015 by Zero to Zeroes

Understanding incentives by Freedom35

Why we take will power out of the equation by Our Next Life

New purchases by All About Interest

Out with the old by DivGro

Overvalued blue chip stocks by The Conservative Income Investor

Home Depot Dividend Stock Analysis by Dividend Value Builder

Also, if you're looking for investment ideas, A Frugal Family's Journey keeps a list of stock analyses and recent buys from fellow bloggers.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Image courtesy of Gubgib on FreeDigitalPhotos.net.