Spending My Dividends - Movie, Food, Clothing

I know my previous post was rather depressing. All the terrifying consequences of a Greek default seem so real and possible. Let's talk about something more positive and cheerful, shall we?  

Retail therapy. Yeah! ^^

After receiving about $2K cash dividends last month, I decided to use a portion of it to reward myself a little. After saving most of the dividends to my opportunity funds, this is how I spent my dividends last weekend. Please pardon my sub-standard photo-taking skills.

I watched The Green Lantern. Awesome movie. Great effects. I love the moral behind the story. A person must always have faith and a strong will.

After the movie, I had lunch at the highly-recommended "Burger Bench & Bar". 

I chose the omelette & cheese beef burger, wif potato chips & root beer.

This is the best burger I have ever tasted! No kidding! 0_o

The buns are soft. The beef patty is juicy and tender. Yummy!^^

Price is around $12. Definitely value for money.

Warning: Once you tried it, you probably will not eat burgers from MacDonald's and Burger King, MOS Burger etc etc........

After having an unexpectedly satisfying meal (with a few burps at the end) >_<",

I went shopping at Burberry, iON Orchard.

Service was prompt. The sales personnel was polite enough.

However, the layout of the boutique is kinda confusing at first.

Managed to get the checkered collar polo shirts. ^^

Even the bag looks so stylish! Wow! Got ribbon some more. Nice touch.

I spent ~$500 in total. Within budget. I enjoyed myself thoroughly and it was money well-spent.

So, how do you usually spend your cash dividends?

 

Peace Out,

Dividends Warrior

Greek Debt Crisis - Europe's "Lehman Brothers" Moment

A Greek default will set off a chain of events similar to the post-Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008. Almost every country will feel the effects.

A very possible/scary scenario goes like this:
 

Several major European banks are big holders of Greek debt. If Greece defaults, these banks will suffer huge amounts of write-downs. Recently, major French banks were considered for a ratings downgrade. Germany and France are the 2 biggest holders of Greek debt.

Banks will be reluctant/scared to lend to one another. 

There will be a global credit crunch, a repeat of the post Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.

Ireland and Portugal will just default too. Their governments will be thinking, "Since Greece is allowed to default, why should we suffer all the painful austerity measures?" The defaults of Ireland and Portugal will spread the debt contagion to Spain and Italy. Spain holds a relatively large amount of Portugal debt.

A global credit crisis will send the already weak US economy into another recession. US consumers will start to tighten their belts, spend less and save more, companies will start to cut jobs and spend less.

As Europe and USA go into recession simultaneously, China, who depends heavily on exporting to the Western nations will suffer a hard landing. This will trigger social unrest and even the burst of the property bubble in China.

ASEAN, being largely dependent on the US, China and Europe for economic growth will feel the brunt of this global financial meltdown.

In the mean time, I will be building up my opportunity fund and emergency fund. It is time to bunker down and wait for Greece to eventually default. USA also has a massive budget deficit of her own to deal with. Strap on your seat belts and hang on tight. Turbulent times ahead. 

Can your portfolio survive a Greek default? I dun think mine is strong enough though :(



Peace Out,
Dividends Warrior

May 2011 Dividend Portfolio Update

Telecoms
No.	Stock	Lots	Dividends Collected	Average Price	% of Dividends Portfolio	Total %
1	Singtel	5	$0.00	$2.920	14.86%	40.34%
2	Starhub	6	$1150	$2.27	13.83%
3	M1	5	$560.00	$2.290	11.65%

 

Conglomerates (Properties, Offshore & Marine, Utilities, Publishing)

No.	Stock	Lots	Dividends Collected	Average Price	% of Dividends Portfolio	Total %
1	Keppel Corp	1	$0.00	$11.700	11.91%	22.24%
2	SPH	3	$810.00	$3.71	11.33%

REITs
No.	Stock	Lots	Dividends Collected	Average Price	% of Dividends Portfolio	Total %
1	First REIT	8	$152.50	$0.728	5.93%	19.73%
2	CMT	3	$417.90	$1.70	5.19%
3	CLT	3	$189.70	$0.950	2.90%
4	Suntec REIT	2	$358.48	$1.33	2.71%
5	FCT	2	$0	$1.48	3%

Services (Postal & Financials)
No.	Stock	Lots	Dividends Collected	Average Price	% of Dividends Portfolio	Total %
1	Singapore Post	5	$25.00	$1.156	5.88%	14.25%
2	UOB KayHian	5	$180.00	$1.645	8.37%

Penny Stocks
No.	Stock	Lots	Dividends Collected	Average Price	% of Dividends Portfolio	Total %
1	Neratel	6	$240.00	$0.393	2.40%	2.40%

Total dividends collected     (*since Jan 2010)	$5,251.83
Total Invested Capital	$98,257
Dividends over Capital (%)	5.34%
Dividends per month	$328.24
Cash holdings	$7,500

Updates:

• Took profit for F & N at $6.13. Made a profit of about $770 after deducting brokerage fees. This represents a profit of ~14.5% over a period of 2 months. Not too shabby I would say.
• Re-deploy the funds from the F & N sale into 2 lots of FCT and 3 lots of UOB Kayhian.
• Dividends collected per month increased significantly from $230.69 to $328.24 (Finally cross the $300 mark! ^^)
• In the month of May, I received $68.70 from CMT, $47.76 from Suntec REIT, $58.56 from CACHE, $126.40 from First REIT, $240 from Neratel, $180 from UOB KayHian, $210 from SPH and $300 from Starhub. 
• Cash holdings increased from $3,200 to $7, 500. 

All these cash is like a mid-year bonus for me. ^^
So, on behalf of the telecoms and retail REITs, I must say a big "Thank You" to those people who have been diligently using their mobile/broadband services and shopping. :P

I am also glad that I consolidated my portfolio back in March 2011 (after the Japan earthquake). Back then, I re-deploy funds into Singtel and F&N. Now, I am reaping the benefits. Singtel just announced special dividends and I also made a decent profit on F&N.



Forward-Looking:
The market is undergoing a correction right now. I am looking for opportunities. I came up with 2 options.

1. Go for capital gain: Buy F & N again below $5.60, then profit take above $6.10
2. Go for long-term dividends and maybe also a little capital gain: Buy SPH below $3.80 and collect ~6% yield of dividends. The price might rise above $4 again in the future.

Anyway, let's see how the market pans out next week.

What will you do with your stocks next week? Sell? Hold? Accumulate? Feel free to share. ^^

Peace Out,

Dividends Warrior