Thursday, December 21, 2017

New purchases

Another purchase right before Christmas.
  • 9 ELISA for € 32.77 for a yield of 4.58 %.
 With that my projected dividend broke $ 1200.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

New purchases

I've made some new purchases this month.

  • 7 O for for $ 57.12 per share for  a yield of 4.47 %.
  •  2 AFL for $ 88.57 per share for a yield of  2.04 %.
  • 30 GEI for 17.89 CAD per share for a yield of 5.55 %.
  • 10 ALA for 28.72 CAD per share for a yield of 7.52 %.
  • 5 TD for 72.47 CAD per share for a yield of 3.31 %.
I've also bought some German stocks during the fall, but I've managed to  remove the first blog post. I'll try to recreate that somehow. Anyway I'm really close to a projected dividend of $ 1200.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Income/expense November 2017

November was not as good as October but still a pretty good month.

Expenses: 12 740 SEK
Income:  30 900 SEK
Savings rate: 58.77 %
Dividend/Expense rate: 4.61 %

A summary of my savings rate can be found via this page.

Dividend November 2017

Here is the summary of the dividends that I received for November. 
  • SDIV 30.29 SEK
  • SRET 30.67 SEK
  • SPFF 79.27 SEK 
  • SDEM 16.39 SEK
  • T 78.19 SEK
  • ABBV 26.93 SEK
  • PG 58.04 SEK
  • HM-B 169.75 SEK
  • ALA 19.62 SEK
  • TD 31.19 SEK
  • EIF 28.85 SEK
  • AD 17.8 SEK
For a total of 586.99 SEK or $ 70.06. An increase of 60 % since the previous quarter. 

Monday, December 4, 2017

Income/expense October 2017

So I'm on a roll! October was another straight month with a dividend/expense rate sort of above five per cent.

Expenses: 8 880 SEK
Income:  30 900 SEK
Savings rate: 71.26 %
Dividend/Expense rate: 5.18 %

A summary of my savings rate can be found via this page.

Friday, December 1, 2017

New purchase

I've made some new purchases. Four new companies!
  • 8 O for $ 56.37 per share for a yield of 4.14 %.
  • 5 GIS for $ 53.80 per share for a yield of 2.73 %.
  • 10 PFE for $ 35.49 per share for a yield of  3.61 %.
  • 6 WFC for $ 54.23 per share for a yield of 2.88 %.

As always you find my updated portfolio here

Thursday, November 23, 2017

New purchases

I've increase my position in PG and SPFF and now both each carry a weight of almost 5 % in my portfolio so I will probably not buy any more in the near future.
  • 5 PG for $ 88.33 per share for a yield of 3.02 %.
  • 20 SPFF for $ 12.27 per share for a yield of 7.19 %.
  • 13 ALA for 29.18 CAD per share for a yield of 7.4 %.
  • 15 AD for 18.43 CAD per share for a yield of 8.79 %.
As always you find my updated portfolio here.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Dividend October 2017

Here is the summary of the dividends that I received for October. 
  • SDIV 29.2 SEK
  • SRET 29.56 SEK
  • SPFF 47.49 SEK 
  • SDEM 15.19 SEK
  • KO 30.2 SEK
  • KMB 62.67 SEK
  • MO 42.55 SEK
  • PM 42.55 SEK
  • BCE 60.81
  • ALA 19.39 SEK
  • EIF 28.51 SEK
  • AD 17.6 SEK
  • BNS 51.33 SEK
For a total of 586.99 460.57 SEK or $ 70.06. Comparing to the dividends I received a quarter ago I receive around 60 % more. The dividend increase my total for 2017 to 4 300 SEK, which is way off from my goal of 12 000 SEK for the year. I guess my goals might have been a bit too aggressive. If I wouldn't have missed some months it is reasonable I think I would have come half way.

So I've made some accounting errors. Anyhow I think I have the correct numbers now.

Income/expense September 2017

September was actually one of my best months so far this year :). Nothing really out of the ordinary, but one month at a time.

Expenses: 11 660 SEK
Income:  30 900 SEK
Savings rate: 62.2 %
Dividend/Expense rate: 4.99 %

A summary of my savings rate can be found via this page.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Dividend September 2017

Here is the summary of the dividends that I received for September. 
  • SDIV 29.01 SEK
  • SRET 29.37 SEK
  • SPFF 38.33 SEK 
  • SDEM 13.84 SEK
  • ED 33.01 SEK
  • EMR 38.33 SEK
  • TGT 99.01 SEK
  • MCD 37.39 SEK
  • AFL 13.73 SEK
  • VFC 30.01 SEK
  • ALIV-SDB 9.54 SEK
  • CAST 75 SEK
  • ALA 19.3 SEK
  • EIF 28.38 SEK
  • AD 17.51 SEK
For a total of 582.27 SEK or $ 68.67. Comparing to the dividends I received a quarter ago I receive around 40% more.

Income/expense August 2017

Once again I'm a bit out of time, anyway. August was an expensive month due to some much needed purchases. It's hard to not spend money. I've been thinking about maybe try to have a cheap month and see how that goes. Another step would be to try to see if there is something that I could cut out of my life, but at the moment I have a hard time seeing what that would be.

Expenses: 17 620 SEK
Income:  31 150 SEK
Savings rate: 43.4 %
Dividend/Expense rate: 4.73 % 2.07 %

A summary of my savings rate can be found via this page.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

New purchase

I've made some new purchase after the summer.
  • 5 PEP for $116.62 per share for a yield of 2.07 %.
  • 8 MO for $ 63.18 per share for a yield of 2.9 %.
  • 13 STO:HM-B for 201 SEK per share for a yield of 4.85 %.
This will give me $ 4.03 (PEP), $ 4.88 (MO) and $ 7.8 (STO:HM-B) for a total of $ 16.71.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Dividend August 2017

Here is the summary of the dividends that I received for August. 
  • SDIV 29.46 SEK ($ 3.68)
  • SRET 29.83 SEK ($ 3.73)
  • SPFF 38.94 SEK ($ 4.87)
  • SDEM 14.06 SEK ($ 1.76)
  • T 75.48 SEK ($ 9.44)
  • ABBV 25.82 SEK ($ 3.23)
  • PG 55.64 SEK  ($ 6.96)
  • ALA 18.84 SEK ($ 2.36)
  • TD 31.09 SEK  ($ 3.89)
  • EIF 27.7 SEK  ($ 3.46)
  • AD 17.1 SEK  ($ 2.14)
For a total of 364 SEK or $ 45.5. Comparing to the dividends I received a quarter ago I receive 40% more. Most of it is due to dividends paid by MCD and TGT. When I look at my projected dividend for September it is $ 74.48 an increase of 54 %. I really hope I can keep that rate :). Which is a 60 % drop compared to May and not a 40 % increase. I don't really know what I've been doing.

Monday, September 4, 2017

Income/expense July 2017

The spending in July exceeded my intentions, but I was on a holiday and you have to live your life. I might get back some of the money since I paid for some hotel nights for a friend, so it is not all that bad.

Expenses: 25 400 SEK
Income:  30 900 SEK
Savings rate: 17.9 %
Dividend/Expense rate: 2.01 %

I like that my dividend/expense rate is still above two percent. If I can keep the same investment rate it ought to be higher than ren percent in five years. It's not great but considering that I spent a lot of money this month I'm still optimistic.

A summary of my savings rate can be found via this page.

Dividend July 2017

  • As July is over it's time to make a summary of my dividends.
    • SDIV 30.21 SEK ($ 3.78)
    • SRET 30.59 SEK ($ 3.82)
    • SPFF 39.93 SEK ($ 4.99)
    • SDEM 14.42 SEK ($ 1.8)
    • KO 31.47 SEK ($ 3.93)
    • KMB 65.83 ($ 8.23)
    • IJ 144 SEL ($ 18)
    • BCE 46.88 ($ 5.86)
    • ALA 11.43 ($ 1.43)
    • EIF 28.78 ($ 3.6)
    • AD 17.64 ($ 2.21)
    • BNS 49.57 ($ 6.2)

    For a total of 510 SEK or $ 63.85. This is less than what I got last quarter, but that is due to some annual dividends that I receive which makes it harder to compare quarter by quarter. Anyway when comparing to the dividends I received a quarter ago there was a 30 % decline.

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Income/expense June 2017

In June I somehow managed to not spend much money and I also got some money back from the government. Those things combined made this the very best month every when it comes to my saving rate.

Expenses: 8 650 SEK
Income:  32 400 SEK
Savings rate: 73.3 %
Dividend/Expense rate: 4.73 %

A summary of my savings rate can be found via this page.

My apology

During the summer my girlfriend decided to end things with me so I've been a bit out of focus and that's more or less the reason for not updating my blog or continuing investing. I apologize, but I'm sure that your lives will go on.

My plan was to invest 30000 SEK every month and I've failed that. I don't think that I've spent that much more so the money is not gone. I will not increase the amount I invest. I feel that there's a bit to much uncertainty in the world at the moment.

I'm looking forward to make a summary of my dividends since getting a real passive income is my long term goal. 

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Dividend June 2017

As June is over it's time to make a summary of my dividends. 
  • SDIV 31.52 SEK ($ 3.71)
  • SRET 31.92 SEK ($ 3.75)
  • SPFF 35.25 SEK ($ 4.15)
  • SDEM 5.01 SEK ($ 0.59)
  • ED 36.2 SEK ($ 4.26)
  • EMR 41.83 SEK ($ 4.92)
  • TROW 41.83 SEK ($ 4.54)
  • JNJ 38.62 SEK ($ 4.54)
  • PG 36.47 SEK ($ 4.29)
  • TGT 78.48 SEK ($ 9.24)
  • MCD 41.09 SEK ($ 4.83)
  • VFC 33.05 SEK ($ 3.89)
For a total of 409.44 SEK or $ 48.2. Comparing to the dividends I received a quarter ago I receive 40% more. Most of it is due to dividends paid by MCD and TGT. When I look at my projected dividend for September it is $ 74.48 an increase of 54 %. I really hope I can keep that rate :).

Monday, July 3, 2017

New purchases

I've been occupied and have not been able to update the blog with my purchases for some time. Here comes a summary of my latest buys.
  • 4 STO:IJ for 287.4 SEK per share for a yield of 3.13 %.
  • 15 STO:SECU-B for 142.7 SEK per share for a yield of 2.63 %.
  • AFL for $79.04 per share for a yield of 2.18 %.
  • 4 T for $ 38.02 per share for a yield of 5.15. %.
This will $ 4.24 (IJ), $ 3.44 (AFL) and $ 3.92 (T) for a total of $ 11.6.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Monday, June 26, 2017

New purchases

I've added to two of my Canadian stocks.
  • 7 TSE:ALA for 29.72 CAD per share for a yield of 7 %.
  • 3 TSE:BCE for 59.25 CAD per share for a yield of 4.84 %.
BCE will add $ 3.25 and ALA $ 4.63 for a total of $ 7.88 this year.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Thursday, June 22, 2017

New purchases

As I wrote here I've been in the process of getting my heart broken and now it's been ripped out and thrown the dogs. So what better way to get over heartache than to buy some stocks  to my money making machine. Two new companies Autoliv and Phillip Morris. When it comes to Autoliv the yield is low, but I have faith in trend of self driving cars. Phillip Morris is a major international dealer in tobacco.
  • 2 STO: ALIV-SDB​ for 951 SEK per share for a yield of 2.21 %.
  • 3 PM for $ 119.76 per share for a yield of 3.47 %.
  • 5 TGT for $ 50.17 per share for a yield of 4.78 %. 
Autoliv, Phillip Morris and Target all pay a quarterly dividend and will pay me $ 2.4, $ 6.24 and $ 6 for a total of $ 14.64.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here. These purchase made my projected annual dividend $ 800. 


Sunday, June 18, 2017

New purchases

I've increased my position in two Swedish stocks that have taken kind of a beating.
  • 7 STO:HM-B for 204.5 SEK per share for a yield of 4.92 %.
  • 6 STO:IJ for 292.6 SEK per share for a yield of 3.08 %.
These purchases will add $ 3.89 for H&M and $ 6.18 for Intrium Justitia for a total of $ 10.08.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

New purchases

I've made another small purchase. I initiated a new position this time in Toronto Dominion Bank.
  • 8 TSE:TD for 64.57 CAD per share for a yield of 3.72 %.
  • 10 TSE:EIF for 32.47 CAD per share for a yield of 6.46 %.
Toronto Dominion Bank pay a quarterly dividend in the third month of the quarter. So this year I will only get $ 3.63, the purchase of EIF will give me $ 7.94 for a total of $ 11.57.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

New purchases

Nothing much as of yet but I've made two small purchases:
  • 20 SDEM for $ 15.85 per share for a yield of 4.16 %.
  • 10 SPFF for $ 12.78 per share for a yield of 6.9 %.
The both pay a monthly dividend and will add $ 5.5 and $ 3.675 for a total of $ 9.175 for this year.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Income/expense May 2017

For May I got a substantial bonus from work (almost 20 000 SEK), which made this month the best when it comes to income from a job. I was also my best month when it comes to dividends and I also spent a lot of money, most of which is for a journey I will take during the summer. Apart from that this month has included a new role at work and a potentially broken heart. I'll have to give both those things time to see how I feel about it.

Expenses: 24 440 SEK
Income: 50 360 SEK
Saving rate: 51.47 %
Dividend/Expense rate: 3.84 %

A summary of my savings rate can be found via this page.

Friday, June 2, 2017

Dividends May 2017

As I wrote when I summarize my dividends from April I knew that May would be a good month. The dividends I received are as follows.
  • SRET 32.05 SEK ($ 3.71)
  • SPFF 32.45 SEK ($ 3.76)
  • SDIV 35,85 SEK ($ 4.15)
  • T 43.33 SEK ($ 5.02)
  • ABBV 28.13 SEK ($ 3.26)
  • PG 143.84 SEK ($ 4.22)
  • HEL:SAMPO 177.69 SEK ($ 20.6)
  • STO:INVE-A 110 SEK ($ 12.75)
  • STO:SWMA 192 SEK ($ 22.26)
  • STO:HM-B 73.5 SEK ($ 8.52)
  • STO:INDU-C 84 SEK ($ 9.74)
  • STO:SECU-B 93.75 SEK ($ 10.87)
For a total of 939.12 SEK or $ 108.87 and a new all time high! Comparing to the dividends I received a quarter ago I receive 2700 % more. It's not really a fair comparison since I almost had no money invested, but somehow you have to measure progress, right? 

Monday, May 29, 2017

New purchases

I've been a bit out of the loop during May. Too nice weather and too many beers. This time I've focused on dividend frequency, i.e I only bought companies that pay a monthly dividend.

  • 10 SDEM for $ 16.12 per share for a yield of 3.75 %.
  • 10 AltaGas (TSE:ALA) for 30.36 CAD per share for a yield of 6.34 %.
  • 15 Exchange Income Corporation (TSE:EIF) for 35.38 CAD per share for a yield of 5.44 %
  • 20 Alaris Royalty Corp (TSE:AD) for 19.89 CAD per share for a yield of 7.47 %.
SDEM, ALA, EIF and ALA will add $ 3.02, $ 7.16, $ 10.74 and $ 11. 05 for a total of $ 31.97.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here. My portfolios forward yield just broke the $ 700 limit!

Sunday, May 14, 2017

New purchases

I've made some more purchases, two more companies are added to my portfolio.
  • 10 BCE 61.33 CAD per share for a yield of 5.09 %
  • 10 BNS for 74.77 CAD per share for a yield of  3.05 %
They both pay a quarterly dividend. From BCE I will get $ 11.375 and $ 8.31 from BNS. This results in an added $ 19.685 to my expected dividends this year.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here

Friday, May 12, 2017

Watchlist Canada

In a previous blog post I wrote briefly about my concerns regarding the Canadian market, but I've decided to in some Canadian companies anyway. I'm looking in to  (ticker, yield, eps):
BCE and T are both telecommunication companies with Canada as their main place of operation. I will probably not invest in both of them. BNS is one of the major Canadian banks with a long history. 

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Income/expense April 2017

My expenses in April were a bit too high, mostly due to an unexpected holiday so it is all good. My record dividend made this my best month when it comes to my dividend to expense ratio at 5.35 %.

Expenses: 13 220 SEK
Income: 30 887 SEK
Saving rate: 57.20 %
Dividend/Expense rate: 5.35 %

A summary of my savings rate can be found via this page.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Dividends April 2017

After a nice April here is a summary of dividends.
  • SRET 32.46 SEK ($ 3.68)
  • SPFF 32.87 SEK ($ 3.72)
  • SDIV 19.8 SEK ($ 2.24)
  • KO 33.19 SEK ($ 3.76)
  • HEL:FORTUM 263.66 SEK ($ 29.87)
  • HEL:CRA1V 143.84 SEK ($ 16.29)
  • HEL:NRE1V 137.75 SEK ($ 15.61)
For a total of 707.11 SEK or $ 75.17. The Finnish stocks made this month the best dividend month by so much that it doesn't even feel fare to compare them. Most of the Finnish and Swedish pay dividends in spring so they (March, April and May) will probably be among my best forever. Looking forward my hopes are high for May which should pay me around $ 110.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

New purchases

Initially for May I was planning on investing in Canada, but the recent events concerning Home Capital (TSE:HCG) has made me hesitant. Instead I decided to increase my position in some of the companies I already own.
  • 5 T for $ 38.95 per share for a yield of 5.03 %, new average cost $ 40.80
  • 3 EMR for $ 56.93 per share for a yield of  3.37 %, new average cost $ 58.37
  • 4 PG for € 86.4 per share for a yield of 3,09 %, new average cost $ 87.29
  • 3 KMB for € 127.99 per share for a yield of 2.95 %, new average cost $ 131.32
They all pay a quarterly dividend and this will add more dividend for me. For T $ 7.35, EMR $ 4.32, PG $ 5.352 and for KMB $ 5.82. This results in an added $ 22.842 to my expected dividends this year.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here. I also added a calculation for my total yield of my portfolio. At the moment it is 3.86 %.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

New purchase

I've bought some more stocks.
  • 10 STO:IJ for 351.1 SEK per share for a yield of 2.56 %.
  • 25 STO:SECU-B for 146.1 SEK per share for a yield of  2.56 %.
  • 15 HEL:FORTUM for € 13.35 per share for a yield of 8.23 %.
  • 4 HEL:SAMPO for € 43.58 per share for a yield of 4.93 %.
The reinvestments in Fortum and Sampo means that my average cost goes from € 14.32 to € 14.04 and € 43.75 to € 43.69. Intrium Justitia and Securitas both pay dividends once a year and they will pay me $ 10.2 and $ 10.63 this year.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Watchlist Sweden


I've been having trouble finding Swedish companies that I want to buy at their current values, but I found some (name, ticker, yield, eps):
Securitas provides different security related services in more than 60 countries. My experience growing up is that more and more services that used to be handled by police are now handled by private security companies and I expect that trend to continue. Intrium Justitia offers services designed to improve clients' cash flow.

Besides these two companies I also plan to increase my stake in some of my Finish stocks that have payed dividend, Fortum and/or Sampo. From now on I plan to reduce the number of new stocks that I purchase. At the moment I own 25 different stocks and I feel that my diversification is at a good level.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

New purchases

I've bought some more stocks.
  • 15 STO:HM-B for 221 SEK per share for a yield of 4.41 %.
  • 16 STO:INDU-C for 203.3 SEK per share for a yield of  2.58 %.
  • 30 STO:CAST for 122.9 SEK per share for a yield of 4.06 %.
H&M and Castellum pays dividend twice a year. H&M pay $ 0.55 in May and $ 0.54 in November for a total of $16.52. Castellum pay is $ 0.59 in March and September for a total of $  8.47. Industrivärden pays dividend once a year in May for a total of $ 16.52. In total this will give me a healthy $ 41.51.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here. I've also added formatting that corresponds to my portfolio rules. According to the rules my weight in North America is to large.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Portfolio rules

I like to create a portfolio that has low risk over the long run and have set up some fairly arbitrary rules. I'm not a fund manager so rule is maybe a bit too strong, but guideline doesn't sound as cool.
  1. No single stock/fund shall make up more than 10 % of the portfolio.
  2. No single stock shall make up more than 10 % of the total dividend.
  3. No single sector shall make up more than 20 % of the portfolio.
  4. No single region shall make up more than 50 % of the portfolio.
With region I mean North America, the Nordic countries, the rest of Europe and Global. I know the world is bigger, but currently those are the markets that I have a possibility to invest in with a manageable brokerage. At the moment I have easy access the stock market in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the United states of America and Canada. I hope to get cheap access till more of Europe surfing this year.

These rules är not very strict. I will not sell stocks just because some sector have increased in value but they will guide new purchases. 

Friday, April 21, 2017

Watchlist Sweden


I've been busy the last few weeks and have not been able to look into the stock market, but now I'm back. I'm looking in to these companies (name, ticker, yield, eps):
Industrivärden is similar to Investor in that they own a couple of large Swedish companies. Both companies were created due to regulations in the 1940's which restricted the possibilities for banks to own stock.

Sunday, April 9, 2017

New purchases

I've bought some more stocks.
  • 10 STO:INVE-A for 372.70 SEK per share for a yield of 2.95 %.
  • 12 STO:SWMA for 289.6 SEK per share for a yield of  2.59 %.
  • 25 SPFF for $ 13.04 per share for a yield of 6.67 %.
Investor and Swedish match both pay a yearly dividend and this year I will get a total of $ 12.12 and $ 9.92. My newly bought SPFF will give me a total of $ 14.15 for a total of $ 36.58.

This weekend has been really crappy due to some madman that stole a truck and injured and murdered a lot of innocent people. My thoughts and tears go out to the people of Stockholm. 

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Watchlist Sweden


In order to continue my focus on Nordic companies I'm going to be watching some Swedish ones (name, ticker, yield, eps):
Hennes & Mauritz is a clothing company that as stores in more than 60 countries with an online presence in about half of those. Investor is a holding company controlled by the founding Wallenberg family. It owns shares in a lot of large Swedish companies. Castellum is a real estate company that was created in the aftermath of the Swedish real estate crisis of the 1990's. Swedish Match produces a variety of different tobacco products.

Apart from the companies listed above I also plan to buy some SPFF. I want to increase my monthly distributions. At the moment I own three funds that pay a monthly dividend and I want the get roughly the same amount from each fund. This means I need to increase my stake in SPFF with about 20 shares.

Monday, April 3, 2017

Income/expense March 2017

Even though March is a long month I still managed to have the smallest expenses and a record saving rate of 65.77 %. The high savings rate combined with the big dividend gave me a dividend to expenses ratio of 2.74 %.

Expenses: 10 740 SEK
Income: 31 380 SEK
Saving rate: 65.77 %
Dividend/Expense rate: 2.74 %

A summary of my savings rate can be found via this page.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Dividend March 2017

So now as March has passed it's time for me to summarize my sweet dividends.
  • TGT 43.09 SEK ($ 4.8)
  • EMR 30.16 SEK ($ 3.36)
  • SRET 33.57 SEK ($ 4.74)
  • SPFF 19.52 SEK ($ 2.175)
  • SDIV 21.63 SEK ($ 2.41)
  • JNJ 35.87 SEK ($ 4)
  • ED 36.72 SEK ($ 4.14)
  • VFC 33.22 SEK ($ 3.78)
  • TROW 40.74 SEK ($ 4.56)
For a total of 294.52 SEK or $ 34.055. This was my best month yet, but that was not hard compared to the dividend received last month.

Another new is that I've changed some of the behavior of my portfolio. Now it shows the projected dividends if I would stop purchasing stocks given that the current dividends are unchanged. 



Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Why am I writing a blog?

Well there a a number of reasons why I'm writing a blog. I've wanted to write about something for a long time and it was pure chance that I started writing about investment and finance. The three biggest reasons are listed below.
  1. I like to write, but seldom do. When I was younger I used to write short stories just for the fun of it. I hope that having a blog will make me write more.
  2. I'm not a native English speaker so writing in English is a good way to improve my language skills. Practice makes perfect and all of that.
  3. I have not contributed at all to the Internet. I've never had a blog, written on a forum, tweeted a tweet. I like that there is a lot of free high quality content available and want to do my part. For example Wikipedia is an awesome innovation that I get tremendous benefit for free. See this as my small contribution to the world. 

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

New purchases

I've bought some Finnish stocks and for now I feel satisfied with my Finnish exposure. The purchases were:
  • 11 HEL:KNEBV for € 40.84 per share for a yield of 3.80 %
  • 20 HEL:CRA1V for € 21.18 per share for a yield of 3.54 %
  • 7 SDIV for $ 21.04 per share for a yield of 6.87 %
Both companies pay dividend once a year. Cramo pays dividend in April and Kone in March. This was unexpected for me since my plan was to receive dividend from both companies this year. I guess I should view this as an opportunity to learn. In the long run it does not really matter. Cramo will pay me a total of $ 16.29 and the small purchase of SDIV will pay $ 6.748.

I'm also starting to doubt how one of my goals is formulated: "12 000 SEK in accumulated dividend income at the end of 2017". The way it is stated encourages me to buy another company than Kone just because when the first dividend takes place. I've seen a lot of other People have goals that are more like projected annual income and that feels like a good idea. Maybe I will have to update my goals. 

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Watchlist Finland


I found some new interesting Finnish companies. I'm choosing between these companies  (name, ticker, yield, eps):
  • Elisa, HEL:ELISA, 4.55 %, 20.46
  • Kone, HEL:KNEBV, 3.77 %, 20.69
  • Cramo, HEL:CRA1V, 3.54 %, 13.81
  • Orion, HEL:ORINY, 2.97, 27.56
I wrote a bit about Elisa in an earlier blog post. Kone manufactures elevators which given the current urbanization trends will be even more important as we cram more and more people in small geographical areas. The chairman Antti Herlin, the great-grandson of the founder,controls more than 50 % of the voting rights which I see as a good thing for the long term success of the company. Cramo is a rental company that owns machinery, equipment and movable buildings that are used by mainly the construction industry. Orion manufacture pharmaceuticals and various diagnostic test. 

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

New purchase

I've initiated three positions on the Helsinki stock exchange.
  • 25 HEL:FORTUM for € 14.32 per share for a yield of 7.68 %.
  • 8 HEL:SAMPO for € 43.75 per share for a yield of 4.91 %.
  • 9 HEL:NRE1V for € 37.72 per share for a yield of 4.05 %
As is common in at least the Nordic countries they only pay dividends once per year. Fortum and Nokian Tyres pay dividends in April and Sampo in May. In total they will pay $ 29.24, $ 18.29 and $14.64 for a total of $ 62.17.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Watchlist Finland


I've been looking at some Finnish companies. I want to reduce My exposure to the $ and since Finland has the € it is a good fit, also I pay reasonable fees for buying and selling stocks.

I'm choosing between these companies  (name, ticker, yield, eps):
  • Sampo, HEL:SAMPO,  5.24 %, 14.76
  • Fortum, HEL:FORTUM, 7.66 %, 25.72
  • Elisa, HEL:ELISA, 4.58 %, 20.34
  • Nokian Tyres, HEL:NRE1V, 4.08 %, 20.13
Sampo is basically an insurance company, but it also owns 21.2 % of one of the largest Nordic banks: Nordea. Fortum is a energy company where a large share of the energy produced comes from hydro-power. Elisia is a major Finnish telecommunications company. Nokian Tyres produce tyres for consumer car. 

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

New purchases

The plan for March was to buy Finnish stocks, but I haven't had the time to finish my research. Instead I increased some positions and also initiated a new position.

  • 5 KMB for $ 133.32 for a yield of 2.91 %.
  • 7 TGT for $ 55.32 for a yield of 4.34 %.
  • 3 SDIV for $ 21.13 for a yield of 6.84 %
I feel that the market overreacted on TGTs report and the yield felt hard to beat. In total KMB, TGT and SDIV will pay me $ 14.55, $ 12.6 and $ 3.26 for a total of $ 30.41.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Income/expense February 2017

February was a much better month compared to January, but I still spent more money than usually due to some much needed purchases. Going through my expanses I noticed that I pay a lot of money for my internet connection. By doing some research I managed to find an equivalent plan for SEK 225 less every month. Unfortunately I still have to pay for it in March and April.

Expenses: 12 900 SEK
Income: 31900 SEK
Saving rate: 59.56 %

A summary of my savings rate can be found via this page.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

New purchases

I've been really busy for a while now and haven't had the time for writing, but I still managed to buy stocks in two companies.

  • 5 MCD for $ 127.2 for a yield of 2.96 %.
  • 9 VFC for $ 53.17 for a yield of 3.16 %. 

They both pay quarterly dividends. MCD will pay me $ 14.1 and VFC $ 15.12 for a total of  $ 29.22.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Short term watch list

My next purchases will be one or more of the following (ticker, yield, eps):
  • KMB, 3.15, 22.46
  • MCD, 2.99, 23.42
  • VFC, 3.31, 19.11
For some reason I've had MCD on my all watch lists, but haven't made a purchase. I'm thinking that this is going to be the time I buy it.

I've been a bit busy this last week and next week will probably be even more busy so I don't know if I will be able to make any purchases. 

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

New purchases

Today I initiated two new positions JNJ and PG so now I own 12 different stocks.
  • 5 JNJ for $ 115.99 per share and a yield of 2.76 %.
  • 6 PG for $ 87.89 per share and a yield of 3.05 %
Both pay quarterly dividends and JNJ will pay me $ 16 this year and PG $ 12.042 for a total of $ 28.042. I have a good long term feeling about these companies and that makes me accept a lower yield now. They also pay dividend second and first month of the quarter and as I wrote here I consider that a minor downside. 

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Dividend February 2017

So today I received my first dividends. As of now all the currency has been in USD, but now it's going to be hard to present it in USD. The exchange rate USD/SEK fluctuates and since the start of the year the dollar has decrease in value from 9.10432 to 8.94005. The money paid out to my account is in SEK.

Anyway from SDIV I got 18.23 SEK ($ 2.41) and from SPFF 16.46 SEK ($ 2.175). The SEK is after taxes and an exchange fee. The total amount for February is 34.69 SEK and my goal of  12 000 SEK for 2017 feels a bit high, but time will tell. I guess I might have to revisit them after the end of the quarter and make them more achievable.

Monday, February 13, 2017

Short term watchlist

With my last purchase I now have ten different investments in ten different sectors, with a weight of 10 ± 3 % and that feels good. One downside with my current portfolio is that most of the dividends are payed in the third month of the quarter. However, that is something to think about in the future. I'm still a long way from being able to live off my dividend and as long as I reinvest the dividend it matters less when I receive it.

My next purchases will be one or more of the following (ticker, yield, eps):
  • KMB, 3.2, 20.27
  • MCD, 3.10, 22.67
  • PG, 3.08, 24.62
  • JNJ, 2.84, 19.02
  • VFC, 3.27, 17.04

Thursday, February 9, 2017

New purchases

A couple of days ago I made some purchases to celebrate the coming of Spring!

  • 40 SRET for $ 14.70 per share and a yield of 7.63 %.
  • 8 TROW for $ 67.32 per share and a yield of 3.21 %.
SRET pays monthly and will add a total of $ 37.4 for this year. TROW pays a quarterly dividend and will in total pay $ 17.28. In total this amounts to a healthy $ 54.68 for 2017.

I'm a bit ambivalent when it comes to SRET (and also SDIV and SPFF) on the one hand I really like monthly dividend (fast feedback makes me  a happy camper) and the yield is high on the other hand I think that it is and investment with higher risk. I guess time will tell, but in the meantime I will enjoy my regular payments :). 

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Short term watchlist


My next purchases will be a couple of SRET (high yield and global exposure) and one of the following (ticker, yield, eps):
  • KMB, 3.2, 20.27
  • TROW, 3.2, 14.17
  • MCD, 3.10, 22.67
  • PG, 3.08, 24.62
  • JNJ, 2.84, 19.02

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Income/expense January 2017

My goal when it comes to saving rate is as I wrote here 70 %. I'm usually a frugal person, but this month I managed to spend a lot of money. I don't have any regrets. I experienced a lot and as the kids says yolo!

Expenses: 32 120 SEK
Income: 32 250 SEK
Saving rate: 0.4 %

I've added a new feature to my blog. It's a spreadsheet where you can track my income and expenses. It can be found via this page.

Monday, January 30, 2017

New purchases

Today I invested the last part of my salary.
  • 10 T for $ 41.72 per share and a yield of 4.65 %.
  • 7 EMR for $ 58.99 per share and a yield of 3.25 %.
  • 5 ABBV for $ 60.16 per share and a yield of 4.25 %.
They all pay a quarterly dividend and these purchases will give me $ 14.7, $ 13.44  and $ 9.6 for at total amount of $ 37.74. The total amount is quite a bit lower than my earlier purchases, but this is because I will only receive dividend from T and ABBV for three quarters. Next year will be bettter :). I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

If my calculations are correct this means that the purchase made in January will give me $ 143.16 this year. With the current exchange rate that is 1345 SEK which gives me a yield of 4.48 %. 

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Short term watchlist

I still have some money from my salary to invest. This is list is an update of an earlier blog post. My portfolio will be in "diversification mode" for a long time, meaning I will increase the number of companies that I invest in. From March and onward I will broaden my geographical search area to include the Nordic countries as well. I'm thinking that I will invest half in dividend aristocrats and the other half in quality stocks from a certain country, so stay tuned.

This time I will choose from (ticker, yield, eps):
  • T, 4.69, 17.79
  • EMR, 3.19, 24.43
  • MCD, 3.10, 22.67
  • PG, 3.08, 24.62
  • ABBV, 4.16, 16.5
Do you have any thoughts or comments on my plans?

Thursday, January 26, 2017

New purchases

So I've made some purchases yesterday. I bought the three stocks with the highest yield from my earlier blog post.
  • 10 KO for $ 42.15 per share and a yield of 3.32 %.
  • 8 TGT for $ 65.00 per share and a yield of 3.69 %.
  • 6 ED for $ 75.66 per share and a yield of 3.65 %.
They all pay a quarterly dividend and these purchases will give me $ 14, $ 19.2  and $ 16.56 for at total amount of $ 49.76. My entire portfolio can be found here. If anyone has any tips on how to create a good way to keep track my portfolio please let me know.


Monday, January 23, 2017

Short term watch list

My salary will soon be available for investing so I'd better start planning which companies to invest in. I want to own companies that have a good track record of increasing dividend, i.e dividend kings/aristocrats. I want to diversify and one way of doing that is simply to buy two aristocrats in different sectors each month. I prefer not buying stocks with a yield lower than 3 %, so that will be my first criteria. Second is that I want to have a P/E ratio that is not to high. Third is that I want to have a positive "feeling" for the company. I know that's not rational, but I don't want to make investments I don't believe in.

This month I will choose from (ticker, yield, eps):

  • ED, 3.78, 18.03
  • TGT, 3.77, 11,72 
  • KO, 3.38, 25.16
  • MCD, 3.10, 22.67
  • PG, 3.08, 24.62

Do you have any thoughts or comments on my plans?

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Income/expense November 2016

As I wrote in my post Goals 2017 I've now made a summary of my income and expenses for November 2016. I will not write anymore about the past since it has already happened and you cannot change it. The future is everything!

Expenses: 11 110 SEK
Income: 30 710 SEK
Saving rate: 63.8 %

The expense are a bit skewed since the expenses reflect the actual cash flow on my account. This month I paid a larger quarterly cost. If I would have spread out that cost my savings rate would have been 68 %, which makes my estimate 65 % for 2016 more reasonable.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Income/expense December 2016

As I wrote in my post Goals 2017 I've now made a summary of my income and expenses for December 2016. I will follow up with November in a few days.

Expenses: 12 034 SEK
Income: 30 710 SEK
Saving rate: 60.8 %

The savings rate is quite a bit lower than what I've estimate for the full year, but December is also a the season to be jolly. These numbers are good to have as a reality check.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Goals 2017

Goals are good but it's easy to be too ambitious and not to have SMART goals. I think that the most important quality of the criteria is to be Measurable and Time-bound. If you can't measure or know when they should be fulfilled goals are not really worth having.

I'm going to limit myself to these three goals:
  • 12 000 SEK in accumulated dividend income at the end of 2017.
  • 70 % saving rate.
  • Write at least one blog post per week.
The dividend goal is probably set a bit too high since I plan to invest 360 000 SEK and this means that my yield will have to be a lot higher than 3.33 %.

At the moment I have ~30 710 SEK after taxes and save ~20 0001 SEK each month for a savings rate around 65%. This means reducing my monthly expenses from ~10 710 SEK to ~9 213 SEK or increasing my income to ~35 700 SEK, or something in between. I think that it is reasonable for me to increase my salary after taxes to ~ 33 000 SEK which means I have to reduce my expense to ~9 900 SEK which will be a fun goal.

And last but not least the goal that is probably going to be by far the easiest or hardest. I have no experience writing a blog, but am hoping that it will be a fun and rewarding experience.

Thanks to Lauren Wayne for her tips on how to add footnote to blogger.


1 I don't really know how much money I spend every month. I will try to go back in time and summarize December and November

Thursday, January 12, 2017

First purchases

Now I've made my first purchases.
  • 20 SDIV for $ 21.22 per share and a dividend yield of 6.84 %
  • 30 SPFF for $ 13.01 per share and a dividend yield of  8.12 %
SDIV has a global exposure towards high yielding equities which feels as a good start in a diversified portfolio.

SPFF invests in the fifty highest yielding preferred stocks in North America.

Both SDIV and SPFF pay monthly dividend and will yield an estimate of $ 26.51 and $ 29.15 for a total of $ 55.66. 


Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Welcome world

This is going to be yet another blog about investments and the journey to financial independence. My plan is to invest in stocks that pay dividend with the hope that I'll be so successful that the dividends will exceed my expenses and eventually my salary. I'm hoping that this blog will be a help for me and that it will make me focus and have discipline when it comes to investments and my personal finances.

During 2017 I'm going to invest 30000 SEK (1 USD = 9.07185 SEK, I'm currently living in Sweden) where two-thirds comes from my salary and one-third from my previous savings.

I will try to make summary of all my current assets and expenses, but that will probably take some time. I've opened a new account at a broker where I'm going to be completely open with my assets.