Too Hot Investment Thread

No additional fees but you need 100k invested. Tax loss harvesting is free immediately at lower levels, but that’s against broad based ETFs so less flexible. Everything with them is automated and algorithmic or available online. I think I only ever spoke to an actual person one time, and it was because I was one of their early adopters and they were reaching out for feedback. Their standard fees though are .25 percent annually on the investment side. The tax loss harvesting they do easily pays for that in my experience.

 

Hadn’t thought of that. I was more of a buy and forget person so I’ll definitely look into that. I have some physical I-bonds so will need to go to a bank to cash those in

 

I have no taxable equity accounts. Only thing in taxable is ibonds and bank accounts. Everything else (approx 90% of networth) is in either in traditional or Roth IRAs or 401ks.

 

I had a really high percentage in retirement accounts too, that was why I opened it. I wanted more flexibility on when I could retire. Started with $100 a week and raised it over time. A good market and consistency did right by me there.

 

I actually just reached the age where I can start pulling from retirement accounts, although I don’t have immediate plans to do so. I may do some selective Roth conversions.

 

So wealthfront did a tax loss harvest today on my domestic stocks account, and with the funds they did my first direct index buy, which turned out to be a single NVDA share (us gators support gators I guess), and that was up around 3 percent. I made 8 dollars on that share…
So it’s totally working!

 

I asked my broker what I should put my money into and he said food and ammunition.

 

You need a new broker unless you like hanging out in your bomb shelter.

 

a broker? did you go there by horse & wagon?

 

My son and some of his UF grad buddies have been doing options since the beginning of this year. Impressive 17% returns so far. I've dabbled with mixed results.

 

my wife has taught an options class for years. # of option trades she's made = 0. not a case of those who can do & those who can't teach. it's a case of those who know don't. it's not a bias against options, it's a bias against trading .But, good luck to your son.

 

So people actually still have brokers? It’s like having a guy I give money to for doing nothing.

 

I have messed around with options. Made some big time money in a short period of time. Also lost some big time money in a short period of time.

Now I mainly sell covered calls. That said…this year has been better with the few I have done. Keeping the super short term limited. Carnival has done me well. Buying 3-4 months out when in the 8s and selling when in the 10s.

You have to be willing to put real money at risk to make it worth your time. And long term I have found that not as appealing as I did the time I had 38 call options on Boeing and it opened up $22 on a Monday. It can go to zero real quick and it is hard to make up. Now there are other strategies that limit the up and down to make it safer. But again…need real money to make it worth it.

Right now my play is with the TQQQs…

Figure the QQQs are a good tech ETF and the triple was a good way to get more movement. Bought 3000 shares in the 24s a couple months ago. Immediately would sell 30 covered calls. Have been able to do it a few times. Did lose 1100 shares at 27 one Friday. But bought them back the next week in the 26s. I might lose them this week as I have a 29.5 strike for Friday.

But you can usually find a 4-5% return in less than two weeks. Now if they go down of course you may have to sit and wait for them to come back. Or never come back…

 

is it too late to invest in perovskite??. posted about the material advance that greatly extends the life cycle of this silicon replacement at 10% of the material cost and much smaller carbon production footprint. This seems real and solar first just bought a tech company that specializes in it. This may bring solar cost down enough for me to install them. Tandem with silicon is producing 30% efficiency.

A Bill Gates-based photovoltaic technology that may be solar energy's future (msn.com)

Furthermore, perovskite cells can be more sustainable to produce than silicon. Intense heat and large amounts of energy are needed to remove impurities from silicon, and that produces a lot of carbon emissions. It also has to be relatively thick to work. Perovskite cells are very thin — less than 1 micrometer — and can be painted or sprayed on surfaces, making them relatively cheap to produce. A 2020 Stanford University analysis of an experimental production method estimated that perovskite modules could be made for only 25 cents per square foot, compared to about $2.50 for the silicon equivalent.

"Industries will set up production lines in factories for commercialization of their solar cells before 2025," says Toin University of Yokohama engineering professor Tsutomu Miyasaka, who reported the creation of the first perovskite solar cell in 2009. "Not only for use in outdoor solar panels but also indoor IoT power devices, which will be a big market for perovskite photovoltaic devices because they can work even under weak illumination."

Companies around the world are starting to commercialize perovskite panels. CubicPV, based in Massachusetts and Texas, has been developing tandem modules since 2019, and its backers include Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The company says its modules are formed of a bottom silicon layer and a top perovskite layer and their efficiency will reach 30%. Their advantage, according to CEO Frank van Mierlo, is the company's perovskite chemistry and its low-cost manufacturing method for the silicon layer that makes the tandem approach economical.

 

TIPS

Long term TIPS are earning real yields of about 2.5%. A few years ago real yields were negative.

TIPS are best held in tax advantaged accounts like IRAs.

 

ok, it's dividend stock time again. I hear a lot of people say they want a 5% dividend yield from their portfolio, so I wanted to see how hard it would be to put together such a portfolio. I started with 33 high dividend stocks that I felt comfortable with and then I trimmed it down to 10 stocks for the final portfolio. It has a yield of 5.3%. I thought the list might be helpful for people looking for decent dividends.

Recommended Portfolio:

IBM IBM 3.6%
AEP American Electric 4.2%
DUK Duke Energy 4.3%
PRU Prudential Financial 4.6%
LYB Lyondellbasell 4.8%
NRIM Northrim Bancorp 5.4%
SPG Simon Property Group 5.4%
NHI National Health Investors 6.2%
VZ Verizon 6.6%
OLP One Liberty Properties 8.3%

Total yield: 5.3%

List of 33 Dividend Stocks:

REITs:

LAMR Lamar Advertising 4.6%
SPG Simon Property Group 5.4%
O Realty Income 5.9%
BRT BRT Apartments 5.9%
NHI National Health Investors 6.2%
OLP One Liberty Properties 8.3%

Alternative REITs (BDCs):

MAIN Main Street Capital 6.0%
ARCC Ares Capital 9.5%

Financials:

PNC PNC Financial Services 4.0%
PRU Prudential Financial 4.6%
NKSH National Bankshares 5.2%
NRIM Northrim Bancorp 5.4%
TFC Truist Financial 5.6%

Utilities:

SO Southern Company 4.0%
AEP American Electric Power 4.2%
DUK Duke Energy 4.3%
ETR Entergy 4.3%
ES Eversource Energy 4.8%
PNW Pinnacle West Capital 4.9%
EVRG Evergy Inc 5.0%

Energy:

CVX Chevron 4.0%
OKE Oneok Inc 5.0%
WMB Williams Companies 5.2%
TRP TC Energy 7.6%
ENB Enbridge Inc 7.8%

Materials:

NTR Nutrien 3.9%
LYB Lyondellbasell 4.8%
RIO Rio Tinto 6.6%

Misc Sectors:

IBM IBM 3.6%
K Kellanova 3.9%
BMY Bristol Myers Squibb 4.8%
PFE Pfizer 6.4%
VZ Verizon 6.6%


Full Disclosure: I am not a professional money manager, please do your own homework and invest at your own risk.

 

If you bought any ibonds from a couple of years ago at high inflation rates, it might be a good time to sell them, and potentially buy some new ones in April. A couple of years ago the fixed rate was 0.0%. Now the fixed rate is 1.3%.

Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities

 

Thanks. Great list and some solid companies. I have a portfolio that I’m using to fund college funds for 5 grands. Many made your list: VZ, PFE, IBM, O, OKE, CVX, SO,PRU,
Got some that are less high earners but are rock solid companies - AFL and a few more. I have one Grandson in I-bonds and he is doing well and I intend to tell him as soon as he can talk.

 

It’s good we have that option - cash accounts and CDs returning higher interest rates. Before it was equities or cash basically laying around.