Super Bowl Weekend Update

Super Bowl Weekend

It is pretty funny living in Connecticut. We are about equidistant between New York and Boston so the fans are pretty evenly split between Giants and Patriots. As a Cowboys fan, I have to say I am not fond of either team. I will simply root for an exciting game.

Portfolio Update

My Dividend Portfolio continues to outperform. It has beaten the Russell 3000 by about three points and has been relatively steady. I did have some happenings over this week.

1. STD reported earnings. I ended up selling them as they had a bit of a pop and I am tired of the unknowns regarding Europe exposure. If they come back down to the low 7s, I might buy back in.
2. AZN reported earnings and announced major layoffs (AstraZeneca Plans to Cut 7,300 Jobs). They are going to have $1.95 dividend in mid-February (it was $1.85 last year). The stock is not exactly a growth stock, but I will likely hold for another year.
3. PRE announced a dividend hike (PartnerRe increases quarterly common share dividend by 3% to $0.62 from $0.60 per share), which is always music to my ears.
4. CSQ also announced a substantial dividend hike (Calamos Closed-End Funds (CHI, CHY, CSQ, CGO and CHW) Announce Monthly Distributions for February 2012, Including Increases to CSQ and CHW), sounds like the Brandenburg Concertos to me.
   
5. VR reported a big miss.

I decided to sell my VR (note - VR was one of my largest holdings). I was disappointed with the miss and I have been looking to reduce my P&C Insurance exposure a bit. They did well for me, so no complaints. I took 1/2 the money and doubled my position in PRE (love the divvy hike). The rest I will holdin cash for time being.

I like PRE for three reasons:

1. They are cheaper than VR (price to book around 85% vs high 90s for VR).
2. They pay a better dividend (around 3.8% vs 3%).
3. They have greater European presence. I believe there may be market dislocation in Europe as the reinsurance Mammoths there (Swiss Re, Munich Re and Hannover Re) may have to take some serious haircuts in their European sovereign debt holdings, which could cause them to have reduced capacity to assume insurance risk.

The final big news for me was the 13% spike in GNW. I am still very bullish on this stock, but as it doesn't pay a dividend I do not track it here. Below I show my current holdings and how they are performing.

Current Portfolio
Stock	Shares	Avg Cost	Current Price	Dividends Received	Pct Change	R3K Change	Diff
AZN	424	47.15	47.50	1,092	6.2%	5.7%	0.5%
BHK	2,908	12.54	13.84	1,283	13.8%	1.1%	12.7%
CEL	1,531	25.81	15.13	5,875	-26.5%	23.0%	-49.6%
CPL	1,000	22.67	30.03	-	32.5%	17.4%	15.0%
CSCO	1,806	16.75	20.09	304	21.0%	3.0%	18.0%
CSQ	5,065	8.16	9.37	1,205	17.8%	17.2%	0.5%
DD	500	43.78	52.01	-	18.8%	7.9%	10.9%
ENH-PA	1,000	26.12	26.69	-	2.2%	4.0%	-1.8%
FCX	503	36.06	46.48	125	29.6%	13.6%	16.0%
GCAP	4,000	6.38	6.40	-	0.3%	4.0%	-3.7%
HPQ	804	25.79	29.07	96	13.2%	13.6%	-0.5%
INTC	1,281	19.63	26.74	997	40.2%	18.4%	21.8%
JQC	4,483	8.85	8.90	1,598	4.6%	3.8%	0.8%
KMF	1,760	21.68	26.79	1,330	27.0%	13.3%	13.8%
KSW	13,048	3.76	3.59	4,023	3.7%	16.3%	-12.6%
LNC	2,425	24.32	23.84	593	-1.0%	11.0%	-11.9%
MNDO	13,678	2.48	2.45	2,400	6.0%	5.9%	0.0%
MSFT	947	26.75	30.24	576	15.3%	10.4%	4.9%
NSU	3,200	6.31	6.46	-	2.4%	2.3%	0.0%
PM	436	45.63	76.62	1,614	76.0%	26.3%	49.7%
PRE	1,005	61.76	67.64	300	10.0%	5.8%	4.2%
PVD	397	63.26	73.21	698	18.5%	13.5%	5.0%
RTN	458	46.82	48.97	434	6.6%	2.4%	4.2%
SBS	835	39.66	68.06	1,912	77.4%	18.8%	58.6%
SLF	2,719	27.31	21.15	1,805	-20.1%	4.8%	-25.0%
STD	125	7.81	8.42	-	7.8%	5.0%	2.8%
STO	1,000	23.86	25.95	-	8.8%	14.9%	-6.2%
USB	1,901	21.76	29.20	923	36.4%	17.4%	19.0%
WBK	489	105.66	114.48	3,636	15.4%	11.0%	4.3%
Total Open				32,820	13.0%	10.7%	2.2%
Closed					11.2%	7.4%	3.8%
Combined					12.0%	8.9%	3.1%
IRR Since 12/31/10					14.8%
2012 Gain					11.7%
Estimated Dividends for Next 12 Months
Stock	Shares	Ann Dividend / Share	Yield	Projected Dividend	Sector	Worth	Anniversary
AZN	424	$ 2.40	5.1%	1,018	Pharma	20,147	1/6
BHK	2,908	$ 0.80	5.8%	2,338	Bond	40,248	7/6
CEL	1,531	$ 2.05	13.5%	3,139	Utility	23,170	6/29
CPL	1,000	$ 1.27	4.2%	1,270	Utility	30,030	9/29
CSCO	1,806	$ 0.24	1.2%	433	Tech	36,283	4/25
CSQ	5,065	$ 0.84	9.0%	4,255	Hybrid	47,462	8/23
DD	500	$ 1.64	3.2%	820	Chemicals	26,005	12/9
ENH-PA	1,000	$ 1.94	7.3%	1,938	Bond	26,689	1/17
FCX	503	$ 1.00	2.2%	503	Basic Resources	23,364	11/28
GCAP	4,000	$ 0.20	3.1%	800	Services	25,600	1/12
HPQ	804	$ 0.48	1.7%	386	Tech	23,365	11/22
INTC	1,281	$ 0.84	3.1%	1,076	Tech	34,241	9/17
JQC	4,483	$ 0.80	9.0%	3,587	Hybrid	39,902	7/8
KMF	1,760	$ 1.60	6.0%	2,816	Pipelines	47,146	9/15
KSW	13,048	$ 0.15	4.2%	1,957	Construction	46,844	5/2
LNC	2,425	$ 0.32	1.3%	776	Insurance	57,805	11/10
MNDO	13,678	$ 0.20	8.2%	2,736	Tech	33,511	2/4
MSFT	947	$ 0.80	2.6%	757	Tech	28,629	12/6
NSU	3,200	$ 0.10	1.5%	320	Basic Resources	20,672	1/25
PM	436	$ 3.08	4.0%	1,343	Consumer	33,415	6/7
PRE	1,005	$ 2.56	3.8%	2,572	Insurance	67,950	9/7
PVD	397	$ 3.70	5.1%	1,470	Finance	29,086	8/5
RTN	458	$ 1.72	3.5%	788	Defense	22,446	7/14
SBS	835	$ 2.39	3.5%	1,995	Utility	56,817	5/10
SLF	2,719	$ 1.46	6.9%	3,970	Insurance	57,517	6/29
STD	125	$ 0.64	7.6%	80	Finance	1,051	12/1
STO	1,000	$ 0.94	3.6%	940	Basic Resources	25,950	11/23
USB	1,901	$ 0.50	1.7%	951	Finance	55,523	9/29
WBK	489	$ 8.13	7.1%	3,978	Finance	56,009	11/19
Total			5.0%	49,011
Upcoming Dividends
Stock	Shares	x Date	Div/Share	Est New Shares	Amount
CSQ	5,065	2/8/12	$ 0.07	37.0	355
DD	500	2/10/12	$ 0.41	3.0	205
ENH-PA	1,000	2/11/12	$ 0.48	18.0	484
BHK	2,908	2/13/12	$ 0.07	14.0	195
MSFT	947	2/15/12	$ 0.20	6.0	189
AZN	424	2/15/12	$ 1.95	17.0	827
PRE	1,005	2/17/12	$ 0.62	9.0	623
SLF	2,719	2/21/12	$ 0.37	47.0	1,006
MNDO	13,678	2/28/12	$ 0.20	1,116.0	2,736
GCAP	4,000	3/7/12	$ 0.05	31.0	200
HPQ	804	3/12/12	$ 0.12	3.0	96