May is behind us, time to check in on my portfolio.
May’s market was rocked by Italy’s political and economic turmoils and topped off by fresh trade war rhetoric.
While wild stock price drops gyrations for great headlines - lower stock prices are generally good news for me given my investment strategy.
Putting my money where my mouth is - I made use of some depressed prices of existing positions and added more. I added to CVS, 3M, Hanesbrands and PepsiCo.
In my previous ‘Watch List’ post I wrote about why I like PepsiCo so much at the moment.
Given these new buys, received dividends and stock price changes - how did my portfolio progress in May?
For reasons of comparison: a year ago, at the end of May 2017, my portfolio consisted of 43 positions with a total value of $82,586.
At the end of May 2018 my portfolio consisted of 51 positions with a total market value of $128,950, a Year-on-Year (YoY) increase of 56%.
This YoY increase is featured in the graph below.
How was your May? Did you add new positions to your portfolio? Leave a comment/reply to share your thoughts!
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You’ve got to be in love with that YoY chart for your net worth, wow! Great stuff.
DI
Hi - yes I love charts and charting my progress.
Thanks for commenting!
Nice graph, simple but informative. Your total market value rocks. I’m still not eager to add to my CVS position. Will check out your analysis.
Good luck! But I think you’ll be fine 👍
Glenn,
Graphs should be as simple as possible, but not simpler 🙂
I like CVS and have added as the price came down. The dividend will not grow pending the Aetna merger, but after that I am looking forward to some great integrated healthcare value.
I couldn’t agree more, market fluctuations resp. stock prices that are coming down are generally very good for us, as we are in the accumulation phase. The YoY-growth of your portfolio is really impressive and I like your recent stock buys. I initiated a position in PepsiCo a few months ago and I will increase it over time. 3M clearly is on my watchlist, I own some stocks of German competitor Henkel.
There are several nice opportunities in the consumer staples sector, but also financials and insurance companies start to look increasingly attractive as well.
Over the last weeks I topped up my positions in British insurers Legal & General and Aviva and also added some stocks of Swiss bank and wealth manager UBS.
Keep it up and all the best!
Financial Shaper,
Thanks for the comment. It’s always funny to look back a year, and see how one has done. Even though volatility has rocked my portfolio a little, the YoY growth always seems to amaze me. Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to investing…
PEP and MMM remain at attractive levels here, although I think my positions in both companies will do for now. I have not looked into Henkel, as my bias is towards US stocks.
I will look into the British stocks you mention. Due to a treaty between the US and UK, dividends will cross the Atlantic untaxed for me.
Thanks for stopping by!
Markets have been way up and down lately. My portfolio dropped a fair percentage in May, a few percent in fact. In the long run I agree with you that these gyrations can present buying opportunities. Patience pays off handsomely. Well done growing your portfolio over the past 12 months!
Wealthfromthirty,
Right there with you. It helps to take the attitude that lower prices are generally good news - as an opportunity to add more for a lower price, and for the company to buy back stock at more attractive levels.
My portfolio took a huge beating in February, March and April… but I just stayed the course and added more.
Thanks for commenting!