Recent Purchase

good read
pls keep postin this kind of analysis
very useful to investment fish like myself
would you care to elaborate on the payout ratio, what does it tell us about the company/stock ?

does that really say that AT&T has 60 billion debt and pays out dividends 2.6 times its earnings?
wtf

On October 01 2012 14:27 MiPwnYa wrote: good read pls keep postin this kind of analysis very useful to investment fish like myself would you care to elaborate on the payout ratio, what does it tell us about the company/stock ?

Via Investopedia.com
The amount of earnings paid out in dividends to shareholders. Investors can use the payout ratio to determine what companies are doing with their earnings.

Calculated as:



A payout ratio only applies to companies which pay dividends to its shareholders. In general, companies with lower payout ratios are better as it is an indication that they are either using the excess money to reinvest into their business/growth or have plenty of cash coming in to sustain the dividend they are paying out. I try not to invest in companies with dividend payout ratios higher than 50% as a general rule, but for companies like utility companies, there isn't much need to hoard all of their money, so a lot of the time they pay out almost all of their profit beyond expenses to shareholders.

Pork Futures anyone

On October 01 2012 14:38 Shab wrote: does that really say that AT&T has 60 billion debt and pays out dividends 2.6 times its earnings? wtf

The basic formula for calculation of share prices P = EPS+PV of Growth/r , so present stock price is based on what the stock will pay in dividends next year and the next and the next. Its kinda of a flawed system because what could be good in the long term of the company may actually be bad for the companies share price. So AT&T or Verizon take on debt to pay out dividends to keep the share price up while still being able to invest in creating new projects.

curious to as why you have Phillip Morris on your watch list?

Love how you invest in various markets that are far more complex than poker could ever be without any significant knowledge about it.

On October 01 2012 16:59 FarmMylife wrote: Show nested quote + On October 01 2012 14:38 Shab wrote: does that really say that AT&T has 60 billion debt and pays out dividends 2.6 times its earnings? wtf curious to as why you have Phillip Morris on your watch list?

Phillip Morris is a prime example of a dividend growth stock, and I already do own a position in the company. It is attractively valued at 18 times earnings, although I would like a lower price, but that's always the case. If I decide to buy more PM I will do a more detailed breakdown of the stock, but they sell an addictive product, so despite all of the legal stuff working against them, they still sell a low-cost product and pass off tax hikes to the consumer. I also like MO, which was the company that PM was spun-off of in 2008.

On October 01 2012 17:14 def_jammer wrote: Love how you invest in various markets that are far more complex than poker could ever be without any significant knowledge about it.

Can't just park my money under my mattress and I am fairly confident in my overall investment strategy right now. Beats paying an adviser to take a percentage of my money and take another commission by getting me into a mutual fund that takes another cut, etc.

really wish LP had a trading forum, since a lot are interested and very few have solid knowledge already. im pretty sure the enthusiasm and drive to learn new stuff will make it a great site for ex-poker/bw players.

thanks for this post, don't know much about stocks but its interesting to read

just a thought...not much money will be going to companies like lockheed martin and general dynamics come the new year

On October 01 2012 19:13 BiNK wrote: just a thought...not much money will be going to companies like lockheed martin and general dynamics come the new year

Yeah, decreased military spending is a bit of a worry with those two, but if my time horizon is 10-15 years/potentially forever, then I am sure (unfortunately) that there will be plenty more war and conflict requiring the services of Lockheed Martin, etc.

What impact does the impending increase in the tax rate for qualified dividends have on your decision making for such LCV stocks with high dividend rates?

This doesnt look anything like a new car

On October 01 2012 21:58 Uptown wrote: What impact does the impending increase in the tax rate for qualified dividends have on your decision making for such LCV stocks with high dividend rates?

I feel like if the taxes are changed to increase taxes on dividends that companies will either adjust by changing over to a share buyback program, or I will have to turn my investments into some sort of S Corp or LLC like many do with Real Estate rentals. I don't have a lot of insight to offer on this specific issue, but my hunch is that the market will adapt. If the government is taking twice as much in taxes from dividends, investors will demand yields that are twice as high from companies.

From my limited research though it looks like the change for 2013 is that dividend income will be taxed at 20% instead of 15% and a 3.8% medicare tax will apply as well. With that large of an increase I may switch from investing in the market to real estate investing and take advantage of the long-established tax loopholes there if I'm going to be paying high taxes on my historically lower stock market investment income. I also plan to take a hard look at crowdfunding for startups as well for huge potential gain for small dollars invested.

On October 01 2012 17:33 thewh00sel wrote: Show nested quote + On October 01 2012 16:59 FarmMylife wrote:   On October 01 2012 14:38 Shab wrote: does that really say that AT&T has 60 billion debt and pays out dividends 2.6 times its earnings? wtf curious to as why you have Phillip Morris on your watch list? Phillip Morris is a prime example of a dividend growth stock, and I already do own a position in the company. It is attractively valued at 18 times earnings, although I would like a lower price, but that's always the case. If I decide to buy more PM I will do a more detailed breakdown of the stock, but they sell an addictive product, so despite all of the legal stuff working against them, they still sell a low-cost product and pass off tax hikes to the consumer. I also like MO, which was the company that PM was spun-off of in 2008.   On October 01 2012 17:14 def_jammer wrote: Love how you invest in various markets that are far more complex than poker could ever be without any significant knowledge about it. Can't just park my money under my mattress and I am fairly confident in my overall investment strategy right now. Beats paying an adviser to take a percentage of my money and take another commission by getting me into a mutual fund that takes another cut, etc.

You're right keeping it under your mattress probably isn't the best place to keep it but so isn't the stock market atleast for you and probably 99,9% of people.
I think its stunning how so many people here think its a good idea to invest money based on information that can be googled in a few minutes and correct me if Im wrong but I guess its hard to have much more information when your playing poker full time and having a family to take care of. Comparing this to poker though it is like playing high stakes after you have watched a single video of galfond.
Well in the end you're right it probably beats paying fee's but then again dont fool yourself into thinking these were good decision's when all you're actually doing is gambling.

On October 01 2012 23:16 thewh00sel wrote: Show nested quote + On October 01 2012 21:58 Uptown wrote: What impact does the impending increase in the tax rate for qualified dividends have on your decision making for such LCV stocks with high dividend rates? I feel like if the taxes are changed to increase taxes on dividends that companies will either adjust by changing over to a share buyback program, or I will have to turn my investments into some sort of S Corp or LLC like many do with Real Estate rentals. I don't have a lot of insight to offer on this specific issue, but my hunch is that the market will adapt. If the government is taking twice as much in taxes from dividends, investors will demand yields that are twice as high from companies. From my limited research though it looks like the change for 2013 is that dividend income will be taxed at 20% instead of 15% and a 3.8% medicare tax will apply as well. With that large of an increase I may switch from investing in the market to real estate investing and take advantage of the long-established tax loopholes there if I'm going to be paying high taxes on my historically lower stock market investment income. I also plan to take a hard look at crowdfunding for startups as well for huge potential gain for small dollars invested.

I presume you're talking about foundersclub w.r.t. startups.
Just keep in mind that such investments will be incredibly illiquid, if you choose to go that path.

On October 02 2012 05:28 def_jammer wrote: Show nested quote + On October 01 2012 17:33 thewh00sel wrote:   On October 01 2012 16:59 FarmMylife wrote:   On October 01 2012 14:38 Shab wrote: does that really say that AT&T has 60 billion debt and pays out dividends 2.6 times its earnings? wtf curious to as why you have Phillip Morris on your watch list? Phillip Morris is a prime example of a dividend growth stock, and I already do own a position in the company. It is attractively valued at 18 times earnings, although I would like a lower price, but that's always the case. If I decide to buy more PM I will do a more detailed breakdown of the stock, but they sell an addictive product, so despite all of the legal stuff working against them, they still sell a low-cost product and pass off tax hikes to the consumer. I also like MO, which was the company that PM was spun-off of in 2008.   On October 01 2012 17:14 def_jammer wrote: Love how you invest in various markets that are far more complex than poker could ever be without any significant knowledge about it. Can't just park my money under my mattress and I am fairly confident in my overall investment strategy right now. Beats paying an adviser to take a percentage of my money and take another commission by getting me into a mutual fund that takes another cut, etc. You're right keeping it under your mattress probably isn't the best place to keep it but so isn't the stock market atleast for you and probably 99,9% of people. I think its stunning how so many people here think its a good idea to invest money based on information that can be googled in a few minutes and correct me if Im wrong but I guess its hard to have much more information when your playing poker full time and having a family to take care of. Comparing this to poker though it is like playing high stakes after you have watched a single video of galfond. Well in the end you're right it probably beats paying fee's but then again dont fool yourself into thinking these were good decision's when all you're actually doing is gambling.

I spend about 10-15 hours a week on research for my eventual purchases, but I don't think managing your own portfolio takes nearly as much time and effort as learning poker does. Indexing is another way to go via low-fee ETF's, but I am much more comfortable selecting my own investments based on criteria that I'm comfortable with. I appreciate your opinion, but I'm not daytrading and trying to time the market as I know that is above my skill level/abilities, I am simply buying companies whose stock is selling at a discount and offering sustainable dividends that have increased for at least 5 years, and am buying for the long term to retire off of a steady stream of dividend income.

I like your investment strategy
Very similar to mine, except I focus less on dividends and more on P/E

btw, we are very similar ie I try to spend as little money as possible in order to achieve financial liberty as fast as possible