Portfolio Update: June 2017

June is behind us, and with that also the first half of 2017. The market continues to climb higher and in fact set another record right before the 4th of July holiday.

Prior to doing a H1 check-in on my goals for the year  - let’s see what happened with my portfolio during the prior month.

In June I made just one dividend growth stock purchase - adding to an existing position in the portfolio.

On June 14 I bought 43 additional shares of AT&T (T) for a total of $1668.

I also updated my watchlist as I continue to be on the hunt for stocks with decent valuations and attractive dividend features. I added Williams-Sonoma (WSM) and Ford (F) as potential buys for July.

I keep building my snowball and with each new stock purchase I increase my forward dividend income and get closer to achieving my investment goals.

So how did I progress in June? To boost my portfolio, I was searching for the best investment apps for beginners because juggling multiple accounts is a stupendous task with big challenges. The app should be capable of tracking your investment performance and help you compare with benchmarks out there.

For reasons of comparison: a year ago, at the end of June 2016my portfolio consisted of 29 positions with a total value of $37,990.  

At the end of June 2017 my portfolio consisted of 43 positions with a total market value of $86,080 - a Year-on-Year (YoY) increase of 127%.

This YoY increase is shown in the graph below.

How was your June? Leave a comment/reply to share your thoughts!

My Buy Watchlist for July

Short hiccups aside, the S&P continues to move north.  Less concerned about day to day gyrations, I am always looking for new companies to add to my portfolio. I therefore compose watchlists with stock that get my extra attention and might become next month’s new buys. I'm also looking for blockchain/crypto stock dividends, as cryptocurrency prices, such as Bitcoin, have begun to rise. Some cryptocurrencies give a cryptocurrency dividend only for keeping the digital currency in your wallet. The payouts fluctuate depending on the crypto exchanges trading volume. The introduction of automated trading robots has made it easier to trade currencies like Bitcoin, which delivers larger trading profits and increases trading volume. Bitcoin Billionaire is one such legit crypto trading robot. This Bitcoin Billionaire app test review highlights the app's validity as well as users' favorable experiences. Anyone who joins this site should have access to software that can earn income from crypto currency trading automatically. Crypto has been a welcome addition to my investment portfolio.

There are currently two candidates on my July watchlist: Ford Motor Company (F) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM).

I wrote about WSM earlier when I put the company on my April watchlist.

As can be seen in the graph above the price increased pretty steeply in April - which made me decide not to buy at the time but rather wait for a better entry point.

With the stock around $48 again I am inclined to pull the trigger this time.

WSM provides a decent yield of 3.28%, with a payout ratio of 45% (below).

The second stock on my watchlist is Ford Motor Company. 

Ford is trading at a price of around $11 - and with a P/E ratio of 12.2. From an income perspective the stock is attractive with it’s juicy dividend of 5.43%. 

Considering the payout ratio of 65% (below)-  this big payout seems to be well covered.

With the ascent of electric and autonomous vehicles the car industry is on the cusp of disruption. And then there is the issue of millennials not buying cars.

Ford however seems pretty well positioned for those future developments. Their partnership with Lyft seems prescient - especially given recent (PR) disasters at Uber.

Both companies look attractive at the moment and would significantly add to my forward dividend income.

What do you think about these two companies? What is your watchlist for the month? Leave a comment/reply to share your thoughts!