Weekly Roundup - February 18, 2017
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| Happy Weekend! Check out what's been going on in my world and some of the best articles from around the blogosphere. |
While the stock market highs might have received all the headline attention I have to say that seeing 3 dividend increases meant so much more to me. One of them, PepsiCo, I've already reported on and the other 2 will be coming over the next few days. Combined those 3 raises boosted my forward 12-month dividends over $28 all because I bought some shares in some excellent companies. I only expect to see one increase this next week and then one more the following week.
My options activity had slowed significantly, partly due to returning to work and partly due to finding fewer opportunities. However, despite the highs in the markets there were a total of 15 different options plays this week because opening/closing/expiring positions. That was way more activity than I was expecting, but I can't complain since the closed positions combined for nearly $500 of profits.
Friday brought about some very unexpected news between 2 of my holdings. Kraft-Heinz Company (KHC) announced a buyout offer from another consumer staples giant Unilever (UL/UN). I have to say I didn't see that one coming. News of the offer sent shares higher by 14%.
Unilever has already declined the initial offer so time will tell if more comes out of this via a higher offer. The first offer from Kraft-Heinz was for $30.23 in cash to Unilever shareholders along with 0.222 shares of Kraft-Heinz.
On to the Roundup
In case you missed them, here's the posts from Passive-Income-Pursuit over the past week.
- 5 Option Moves to Boost My Investment Income
- Refresh Your Portfolio With Some PepsiCo, Inc. on Seeking Alpha
- Cisco Systems: A True Cash Cow on Seeking Alpha
- Dividend Growth Investing at Work - A Hidden Increase
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!
Are You Ignoring Investments Risks You Know About? by Dividend Growth Investor
Early FI - 2017 Thoughts by FI Fighter
Recent Stock Purchase February 2017 by DivHut
That's Not Our Dream House Anymore by Retire Before Dad
Today I Hit $300,000 by Young Dividend
Where I Disagree with Charlie Munger by A Wealth of Common Sense
Social Security Return on Investment by Go Curry Cracker
Do you want to be free or do you want to be rich? by Financial Samurai
How Blogging Has Sped Our Progress to Financial Independence by Our Next Life
January Dividend Income from YOU the Bloggers by Dividend Diplomats
Warren Buffet's Best High Dividend Stocks - February 2017 Update by Simply Safe Dividends
Recent Buys by Dividend Ten
A 'Real' Example of Real Estate Leverage by Passive Income Dude
My Snap Story: Valuing Snap Ahead of its IPO! by Musings on Markets
If you're looking for investment ideas, A Frugal Family's Journey maintains a list of stock analyses and recent buys from fellow bloggers.
I hope you all have a great weekend!
Image courtesy of Gubgib via FreeDigitalPhotos
Thanks for posting the links. I will have to check some of them out.
ReplyDeleteAre you working in the oilfield around the Dakota's? I am up in Alberta. I last job was in a machine job, where 95% of the parts were made for one oilfield company. So after 6 rounds of layoffs the company closed.
IP,
DeleteI'm working right now in north Louisiana. There's definitely been a lot of that going on over the last couple years. Especially in the Houston area since it's so tied to the O&G field.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope things are looking up for you.
PIP -
ReplyDeleteThank you again for the HUGE mention! Also - congrats on the big appreciation on Unilever, DAMN should have bought them is what I kept thinking, but it's okay... I own Kraft haha. Hope you enjoy your weekend and thanks again.
-Lanny
Lanny,
DeleteNo problem and thanks for including me in the bloggers dividend income wrap up. I wish I had bought more UL before but I kept putting it off. Same thing with KHC because I own just a few shares in my portfolio. It should be interesting to see whether a new offer comes in and how much higher it is.
All the best.
Thank you again for the DivHut mention. That KHC/UL news took everyone by surprise last week. But now, it's all over. I have a feeling we'll be reading more of these types of headlines as many companies are trying to acquire growth.
ReplyDeleteKeith,
DeleteAs quick as the announcement came it was gone. I never really expected it to go through, but I was a bit surprised at how quickly it got dropped. My guess is WB had a big say in it and since he doesn't like hostile takeovers they backed off quickly.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for the mention JC.
ReplyDeleteThe KHC acquisition surprised us all. It was rumored that they will acquire KO for a long time. Now they are stating that they will not pursue UN/UL. It is just interesting that there is some value to be unlocked in consumer staples, despite the fact that they seem overpriced.
I am hoping for lower share prices, but I have been waiting for that for years now ;-(
DGI,
DeleteI wouldn't be surprised to see KHC, with 3G behind them, try to make an acquisition to try and work their magic again. Unfortunately that usually entails loading up the balance sheet and cutting costs. The environment has been pretty rough especially on the heels of the strong USD so we might be seeing some more M&A rumors/offers get thrown around. Like you though I would love for some lower prices especially in the consumer staples space.
All the best.