Portfolios

No mutual funds for me (i am averse to paying any management fees either front or back end)

Blue chip, dividend paying stocks that offer DRIPS..THATS IT

DRIPS aren't as useful as they once were. I once was a real believer in them, but no longer have any use for them. Very 20th Century.

I generally only invest in companies that pay a decent dividend, so I have a lot of utilities, REITs, and BDC's. Most recent purchase (Jan.) was Chevron, on the low end of div's for me but up over 12% so far

Many people have weighed in against the traditional "buy and hold" philosophy but in some instances its still a very smart way to go. Utility companies, for example, are pretty safe long term investments and many of their DRIPS offer signifigant discounts on shares purchased through dividend reinvestment.

Veolia (VE) - the worlds largest water company does this.
Duke Energy (DUK) - big electric company does this too.

...just to name 2. Full disclosure - I own both in DRIPS.

I'm a big believer in buy and hold, its just that very few companies offer discounts on DRIPS any more and even if you are buying at a discount, you are not in full control of when to buy and don't control the buying price. As an example- I bought some GE last week when it dipped due to the earthquake/flood/nuclear accident. I'm not sure a DRIP investor could have gotten in so quick.
Out of curiousity- what kind of discounts do you get thru DRIPs on those two stocks?

DonDiego needn't list his entire portfolio, but he will detail his most recent purchases.

On the morning of 15 March while the news outlets were in full voice pontificating on the horrors about to befall everyone from the Fukushima Daiich nuclear reactor incident in Japan, DonDiego took advantage and bought some stocks which had dropped following the tsunami:

__Bunge Limited [BG] - a worldwide ariculture product buyer/seller/transporter /processor. (DonDiego anticipates food shortages in the not-too-distant future.)

__The Mosaic Company [MOS] - an agriculture chemical company producing crop nutrients/fertilizers and animal feed nutrients. (see above)

__Exxon Corporation [XOM] - an integrated oil/gas company. (DonDiego anticipates fuel shortages in the not-too-distant future.)


The last time DonDiego acted so precipitously was 6 May 2010, the day of the infamous flash-crash on the NYSE. Once DonDiego noted the crash seemed to have bottomed, he made substantial purchases/additions to his holdings of ADM, AGU, CNX, JRCC, and XOM. And that worked out jes' fine.

DonDiego just added some Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) to his portfolio. It is the world's dominant brewer. Anheuser–Busch InBev

DonDiego dithered a bit before making this investment. Given his predisposition that consumer discretionary spending is likely to drop as hard times arrive, he was hesitant. The deciding factor was recognizing that beer is, indeed, not a discretionary item at all. It is an essential. And as difficult economic times materialize it will only become more essential.

Excellent analysis, as usual, DD.

It's quite obvious that in today's turbulent world one must own large quantities of BUD to preserve one's physical and mental well being.

One would probably do well to invest in the stock, too.

DD forgets that the makers of beer and tobacco have a good part of their business in repeat buyers. In bad economic times, folks only buy what they have to have.

People have to have beer.