Weekly Roundup - February 27, 2016

The layoffs at my employer weren't quite done last week and more were carried out this week as well.  Luckily I've still escaped the layoffs but it sure is a scary time to be in the "patch".  I still expect at least one more round of layoffs if oil prices persist in the $30's or even drift lower over the next couple months.  But that just reinforces the need for us to pile up some cash in the meantime and start brushing up the resume to look for other potential jobs.  It's a shame really because I like the job a lot since I get to manage myself while at work but who knows what the future will bring.

On a positive note oil, well WTI, did show some improvement over the week but I'm sure the volatility is far from over.  The S&P 500 actually showed a decent week of gains with a 1.6% improvement from last Friday's close.  With oil and the S&P 500 showing a gain this week my portfolio and net worth sure did enjoy the ride back up.  But the thing I love seeing most is dividends hitting my account and dividend increase announcements.  I only got one raise this week but I can't really complain since I've received 9 so far this year and many more on their way.

We finished up the last well for the rig that we were drilling on which is a shame on many fronts.  I hate to see yet another rig being stacked due to the downturn and especially one that is only about 1.5 hours from my house.  The good news is that I've escaped this round of layoffs thus far, as I mentioned earlier, and as of now I have a job lined up to go to in a week.  It's been a long time since I've had that much time off of work and I hope to get a lot of things done both around the house and with writing.

It's time to beef up my number crunching some readying The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing (affiliate link) by Pat Dorsey.  I'm only a couple chapters in so far but it looks solid so far for anyone looking to learn more about analyzing and valuing companies.

I'm also reading, well browsing, The Devil's Financial Dictionary by Jason Zweig which is a brutally honest look at the financial/investment industry.  The book gives the true definition of financial terms often in humorous ways.

Each week during my Weekly Roundup I plan to highlight one of the terms.

"Central Bank, n. - A group of economists who believe that their current forecasts will turn out to be accurate even though their past forecast have been unreliable, that their present policies will succeed even though their past policies have failed...You now should be able to answer this riddle: What's the difference between a central banker and a weather vane?" Answer at the end of the Roundup

Blogging/Writing

Since I'm home I expect to get a little bit less writing done because there's always other distractions that come up.  But my plan is to carve out at least a couple hours each day to devote to writing or working on drafts or doing something productive with the blog.

Self Improvement

I didn't get my measurements but did get a quick weight check once I got back home.  For the 10 days I was gone I was down another 4 pounds which is excellent.  Since starting the challenge I'm down around 15 pounds which is pretty solid progress since I haven't done much in the way of exercising and still need to improve my diet more.  But 15 pounds is a solid start and I'll be getting my measurements likely on Monday to give my body some time to readjust from my diet getting messed up from the day I came back home.

Today my wife and I will be running in the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run.  She signed up for the 10k and I regrettably signed up for the 10k as well.  It's been a long time since I've done 6 miles but I've been doing 3 mile walks around every other day this month for over 35 total miles so far.  So at least I have some training in.  Kind of.  At least enough to run/walk the 6.2 miles.  If you don't see me posting or commenting over the next few days I'm likely too sore to move at all.

On to the Roundup

In case you missed them, here's the posts from Passive-Income-Pursuit this past week.

• Dividend Growth Investing at Work - 54 Classic Increases
• Exxon Mobil's Dividend Could be in Danger on Seeking Alpha
• Calling All Starbucks Lovers on Seeking Alpha
• Dividend Growth Investing at Work - Banking on Canadian Dividends
  

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!

Medical Devices Make for a Healthy Portfolio by DivHut

General Mills (GIS) by Income Surfer

Diversification of Canadian Banks - Part Two by Roadmap2Retire

101 Financial Ratios and Metrics to Improve Your Investing Skills by Sure Dividend

Monthly Review, January 2016 by DivGro

Time is an ally of the dividend investor by Dividend Growth Investor

The Importance of Storytelling Ability by A Wealth of Common Sense

Invest more or pay down the mortgage by Our Next Life

How much do you need to retire? by Tawcan

3M Stock: A Short Lesson by The Conservative Income Investor

A Dozen Things I've Learned from Richard Thaler About Investing by 25iq

I've been "Kindered" by Mike Nadel on Seeking Alpha

Our "Final" Itinerary on a Map by The Dividend Guy

Taking it easy by Dividend Hustler

Boeing Dividend Stock Analysis (BA) by Dividend Value Builder

The 5 Sense of Investing by Eric Parnell on Seeking Alpha

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!

Answer to the Riddle: "They both turn in the wind, but only the central banker thinks he or she determines which way the wind blows."

Image courtesy of Gubgib on FreeDigitalPhotos.net.