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Saturday, October 17, 2009

* Pocket Change Portfolio - September 2009

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

Description September-2009 Year-To-Date Life-To-Date
Beg. Portfolio Value 9,609.08 3,395.62 -
Online Cash Receipts 1,742.78 7,532.39 11,080.73
Online Expenses - (30.00) (116.23)
Gross Profit 1,742.78 7,502.39 10,964.50
Dividends 51.69 153.59 178.75
Interest Income 1.04 9.42 15.57
Subtotal 1,795.51 7,665.40 11,158.82
Gain/(Loss) 217.45 561.02 463.22
Ending Portfolio Value 11,622.04 11,622.04 11,622.04
Portfolio Returns 2.38% 13.92% 12.63%
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 $30.00 Online Expenses relates to registering 3 domains (DividendsValue.com, Dividends4Life.com and TheDiv-Net.com). September Dividends include $4.73 from Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF (BLV), $6.00 from Wal-Mart (WMT), $8.82 from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), $15.34 from Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) and $16.80 from BP Plc (PB). 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).

The portfolio continued to do well in the month of September generating positive returns. Online earnings in September once again surpassed the $1,000 mark for the second time. Traffic on Dividend Value was at record levels in the month of September. A large portion of the increase is related to the strong interest in D4L-Premium Services. This premium service has exceeded all my expectations and it continues to grow each month. The subscriber retention rate is around 90%.

During the month of September, I purchased 40 shares of Sysco Corp. (SYY). This will provide me $38.40 in annual earnings at the current dividend rate. Including SYY, my annual PCP dividend income is now $396.90 at the current dividend rates. I ended the month with $1,798.64 in cash, enough to purchase my 10th PCP stock in October. It had been my goal to have sufficient earnings to purchase a stock at least eight times a year. Through September I have purchased seven stocks this year, including five in consecutive months since May 2009. Based on the current cash balance and recent earnings, I believe a goal of one stock purchased each month in obtainable.

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

(Photo: sanja gjenero)