This week, four of the portfolio holdings ranked in the Top 10: MMM, NC, QCOM, and TDS.
| Ticker | Account Value |
| MMM | 2,393.38 |
| NC | 1,247.12 |
| QCOM | 2,303.80 |
| TDS | 2,397.25 |
The lowest amount belongs to NC. In order to invest a minimum of $250 in NC, I need to purchase 7 shares this Monday. Below, is the purchase history and average cost calculation.
This week, five of the portfolio holdings ranked in the Top 10: MMM, MO, NC, QCOM, and TDS.
| Ticker | Account Value |
| MMM | 2,559.10 |
| MO | 1,023.44 |
| NC | 1,339.60 |
| QCOM | 2,472.00 |
| TDS | 2,569.25 |
The lowest amount belongs to MO. In order to invest a minimum of $250 in MO, I need to purchase 6 shares this Monday. Below, is the purchase history and average cost calculation.
On February 20th, in the interest of raising some covered call premium as a hedge against the chance that TDS would not be able to continue their amazing 49-year streak of dividend increases, I set up a limit order on a GTC basis. There are 215 shares of TDS in the portfolio and thus the order was for 2 contracts, representing 100 shares each:
Sell to Open: 2 August 18, 2023 $17.50 Call Options [Symbol: TDS230818C17.5]
Limit Order Price: Credit of $0.56 per share
I knew TDS would have to move up a bit from where it was at $13.70 in order for the trade to trigger at $0.56. I mentioned later in the post that I might be willing to accept $0.38 as that would still be twice the quarterly dividend. Sadly, the market gapped down before market open on Tuesday the 21st and even $0.38 wouldn’t trigger.
In fact, over the last 7 trading days, TDS has dropped nearly 12% to $12.11. Rather than wait to see whether or not it can bounce back to $14 in the coming weeks, I decided to take action.
…In 1940, just out of college, a young fella by the name of Sam Walton joins JC Penney’s management trainee program. Anticipating being drafted into the military, Sam leaves JC Penney after just 18 months. Sure enough, he performs his patriotic duties during WWII and in 1945 he combines his own military earnings with a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law and he buys a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas. About 5 years later, the expensive lease runs out and he cannot negotiate a new one. So, he opens his own franchise Walton’s Five and Dime in Bentonville, Arkansas.
A dozen or so years later, in 1962, Sam Walton launches the Wal-Mart Discount City store. Not in Discount City, but in Rogers, Arkansas. The rest, as they say, is history.
Let’s face it, we’ve all been in one. Some of us have worked in one. None of us ever want to be in one. But they have what we need at a good price.
On February 21, 2023, they announced a dividend increase that represents 50 consecutive years of annual increases in their dividend, making them a Dividend King.
All hail Walmart Inc!
…This week, four of the portfolio holdings ranked in the Top 10: MMM, NC, QCOM, and TDS.
| Ticker | Account Value |
| MMM | 2,479.40 |
| NC | 1,021.68 |
| QCOM | 2,486.80 |
| TDS | 2,644.50 |
The lowest amount belongs to NC. In order to invest a minimum of $250 in NC, I need to purchase 7 shares this Monday. Below, is the purchase history and average cost calculation.
I am going to set up a Limit Order on a Good Until Cancelled (GTC) basis1. There are 215 shares of TDS in the portfolio and therefore, I can sell 2 contracts this time.
Selling to Open: 2 August 18, 2023 $17.50 Call Option [Symbol: TDS230818C17.5]
Limit Order Price: Credit of $0.56 per share
With the specifics of the trade behind us, let’s discuss the investment in TDS to date.
…Three weeks ago, I made a first-time investment of $1,000 into Nacco Industries Inc [NC]. This is the final week I will be abstaining from the usual $250+ weekly investment. Along with skipping the last two weeks, this maintains the $250+ per week average. But I am still going through the motions of the weekly rankings because a) this is how you stave off early onset dementia and b) what is life, if not going through the motions?
…I stumbled upon something disturbing while assembling this week’s Empire from which the Top Ten is built. When selecting at least five tickers from each sector1, I noticed a new ticker in the five stocks that comprise the Consumer Discretionary component of the Empire. Since the Empire was first established, the Consumer Discretionary offerings have been as follows:
| Ticker | Years |
| GPC | 66 |
| LOW | 60 |
| LEG | 51 |
| VFC | 50 |
| MCD | 47 |
VF Corportation [VFC] suddenly disappeared and Sonoco Products Co [SON] founds its way onto the list.
| Ticker | Years |
| GPC | 66 |
| LOW | 60 |
| LEG | 51 |
| MCD | 47 |
| SON | 40 |
The Sure Dividend Research Database now has zero years associated with VFC. I was really just hoping that the database had been populated with a faulty link. Nope. VFC, a newly crowned Dividend King, has reduced its dividend. And folks, do you know what this means?
VF Corporation has abdicated the throne!
…Two weeks ago, I made a first-time investment of $1,000 into Nacco Industries Inc [NC]. This means I will not make the usual $250+ purchase for this week and next week. Along with skipping last week, this maintains the $250+ per week average. Are you a fan of Deal or No Deal? Curious as to how it would have worked out?
…In 1860, Henry Varnum Poor publishes “History of the Railroads and Canals of the United States“, which provided investors with data on the growing railroad industry. It ignited what today might be better known as the use of investment analytics. Poor began working for the government with the Pacific Union Railroad, and in 1868, Poor’s Publishing puts out “Manual of the Railroads of the United States”. This publication gave investors current information on railroad performance on which they could make decisions. You have the “Poor’s” part of where I’m going, and you have the railroad part. But here’s another, separate, tale out of yesteryear.
In 1906, Luther Lee Blake founds the Standard Statistics Bureau which provided investors with current information on non-railroad industrials on index cards. Now, you have the “Standard” part of the name and the non-railroad side of things too. The history is out there for all to see, but let’s just say at some point, these services and others came together under the name Standard and Poor’s to create the behemoth of investor analytics that provides every investor on the globe with valuable real-time information on which decisions are made. I mean for crying out loud, they are the S&P behind the S&P 500 Index. You can invest in them. Oh, and I almost forgot, on January 25, 2023, they announced a dividend increase that represents 50 consecutive years of annual increases in their dividend, making them a Dividend King.
All hail S&P Global Inc!
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