Tough Sledding For MFI

I wrote last weekend that MFI seemed to be gaining some traction in my monthly tracking portfolios.  Scratch that.  Seems to have been some slippage.  I looked back at my 12 open portfolios and they are now all trailing the Russell 3000.  You would think that every once in a while there would be a break through... mais non.

My MFI holdings are sharing the same gravitational pull.  While the three tranches are in the green, they are trailing the R3000 by about 1.5 points on average.  Given the broader issues, I do not take it personally.

Tomorrow is an exciting day, ABR (which has been a solid buy thus far, up 10%) goes x dividend.  It is always (to me) a great feeling when I earn my first dividend on a new stock. No longer a goose-egg in the dividend column.

8/15 Stocks	Start	Current	Dividend	Pct Gain	R3K Gain
DLB	$34.43	$31.88	$4.00	4.2%	10.0%
KFY	$13.98	$18.51	$0.00	32.4%	10.0%
MSFT	$30.19	$27.80	$0.46	-6.4%	10.0%
NSU	$3.62	$3.62	$0.05	1.5%	10.0%
UIS	$19.96	$22.98	$0.00	15.1%	10.0%
Totals				9.4%	10.0%
11/15 Stocks	Start	Current	Dividend	Pct Gain	R3K Gain
AAPL	$537.62	$441.40	$2.65	-17.4%	13.4%
ABC	$40.21	$47.20	$0.21	17.9%	13.4%
LPS	$23.89	$24.56	$0.10	3.2%	13.4%
VIAB	$49.12	$58.50	$0.28	19.7%	13.4%
WU	$12.77	$14.03	$0.13	10.8%	13.4%
Totals				6.9%	13.4%
2/1 Stocks	Start	Current	Dividend	Pct Gain	R3K Gain
AAPL	$450.60	$441.40	$2.65	-1.5%	0.3%
GA	$6.10	$6.20	$0.00	1.7%	0.3%
STRZA	$16.06	$18.56	$0.00	15.6%	0.3%
CA	$25.07	$24.51	$0.25	-1.2%	0.3%
NUS	$41.94	$41.20	$0.30	-1.0%	0.3%
Totals				2.7%	0.3%

Bought Some Gold

Probably the most beaten down sector so far this year is gold miners.  Gold is not exactly off to a sparkling start, but miners are doing even worse. GDX, the gold miner's ETF is down a bit more than 10%.

I already owned NSU and FCX.  NSU is a highly speculative play, that is part gold but frankly more copper.  FCX is copper, gold and with the soon to be closed purchase of PXP and McMahon Exploration will have a large oil & gas component.

I decided to buy NEM, this is a large mining company (over $20b) that is relatively cheap (8 x forward earnings) and pays a decent dividend (3.4%). They are trading at their 52 week low, around $41 versus a 52 week high of $62.  They have joined my dividend portfolio.

I also sold MPC on Monday.  I now just own one refiner (HFC).  MPC was a great stock for me, my original purchase a year ago ended up 87%! 

Stock	Shares	Avg Cost	Current Price	Dividends Received	Pct Change	R3K Change	Diff
AAPL	151	527.49	448.97	397.50	-14.4%	5.9%	-20.3%
ABR	4,500	7.18	7.53	-	4.9%	-1.5%	6.3%
AOD	12,969	3.91	3.93	270.00	1.0%	0.1%	0.8%
BHK	2,270	12.79	14.88	3,118.18	27.1%	11.3%	15.8%
CIM	20,000	2.77	2.94	-	6.0%	1.5%	4.5%
CSCO	4,292	17.22	20.61	2,013.95	22.4%	12.9%	9.5%
CSQ	5,519	8.29	10.34	6,001.20	37.8%	28.4%	9.5%
FCX	1,560	32.17	31.93	343.75	-0.1%	4.3%	-4.4%
HFC	904	36.03	54.30	1,960.20	56.7%	9.8%	46.9%
INTC	1,996	20.99	20.58	2,442.56	3.9%	21.9%	-18.0%
JPM	1,684	35.29	47.60	1,494.26	37.4%	12.8%	24.6%
JQC	3,135	9.18	10.33	3,755.66	25.5%	11.1%	14.4%
KMF	1,873	22.08	31.74	4,453.63	54.5%	24.7%	29.8%
NEM	800	41.18	41.44	-	0.6%	0.0%	0.6%
O	560	19.51	44.90	7,563.81	199.3%	76.0%	123.2%
OIBAX	3,948	4.94	6.53	6,820.74	67.1%	76.8%	-9.7%
PGR	2,118	20.56	24.30	2,596.23	24.2%	10.9%	13.2%
PRE	540	67.58	88.27	1,628.69	35.1%	11.1%	23.9%
PVD	427	65.11	103.50	3,787.87	72.6%	25.1%	47.5%
SAI	4,726	12.83	11.32	1,938.29	-8.6%	6.6%	-15.1%
STO	1,040	23.82	25.11	1,121.00	10.0%	27.5%	-17.6%
Total Open				51,708	20.9%	13.2%	7.7%
Closed					13.1%	9.8%	3.3%
Combined					15.3%	10.8%	4.5%
Annualized IRR Since 12/31/10					16.5%
2013 Gain					5.2%

GA reported earnings (Giant Interactive Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2012 Results and Regular Dividend of US$0.42 Per ADS) last night and announced a 42 cent dividend and a switch (going forward) to semi annual dividends.  I am starting to wish I had bought more.  If they pull back, I may buy for my dividend portfolio, not just MFI.

Also, SLCA had blow out earnings yesterday and shot up about 18%.  I am having seller's remorse.