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Saturday, April 11, 2009

* Pocket Change Portfolio - March 2009

On the second or third Saturday of the month I update the Pocket Change Portfolio (PCP). The table below reconciles the PCP from beginning of period to end of period for March 2009, Year-To-Date (2009) and Life-To-Date. The Portfolio Returns line provides the calculated return for the three displayed periods.

Description March-2009 Year-To-Date Life-To-Date
Beg. Portfolio Value 4,053.82 3,395.62 -
Online Cash Receipts 514.04 1,614.90 5,163.24
Online Expenses - (10.00) (104.40)
Gross Profit 514.04 1,604.90 5,058.84
Dividends 16.80 16.80 41.96
Interest Income 0.94 3.72 9.87
Subtotal 531.78 1,625.42 5,110.67
Gain/(Loss) 266.92 (168.52) (258.15)
Ending Portfolio Value 4,852.52 4,852.52 4,852.52
Portfolio Returns 6.23% (1.50%) (9.50%)
Online Cash Receipts are the collected earnings from my online endeavors. Most of which is advertising on the my various blogs. The year-to-date $10.00 Online Expenses relates to registering 1 domain (DividendsValue.com). The $16.80 on the Dividends line is a BP dividend received in March. The Interest Income line is interest earned on cash balances in an ING account I set up for the PCP. The Gain/(Loss) line is for market changes to the PCP (realized and unrealized).

March saw good rebound in online earnings after low February. As noted last month, February earnings were down significantly from prior months due in part to the move to WordPress at the end of January. I suspect that online earnings will slow build for a period of as Dividends Value establishes itself. In addition, the general economic situation is also playing a part in the earnings decline.

During the month of March, I purchased 22 shares of WalMart (WMT) stock that will provide me $23.98 in annual earnings at the current dividend rate. Including the WMT stock, my annual PCP dividend income is $185.46 at the current dividend rates. I ended the month with $907.56 in cash. This leaves me in an excellent position to purchase my fifth PCP stock during the second quarter. It is my goal to have sufficient earnings to purchase a stock at least once a quarter.

My PCP holdings are always available by selecting the Holdings option from the menu in the header. The next PCP update will be in early May.