Kohl's Corporation (KSS) Purchased on 5/2/2016

I felt like a was getting a pretty good deal when I purchased Kohl's Corporation (KSS) last year.  The stock had taken a huge fall over the previous year or so, the P/E was down around 11.  The dividend was up around 4.4%.

It turns out that I would have had an even better deal if I had waited to buy it today.  I guess that is the way it goes sometimes.  Although KSS has not performed very well over the time I have owned it, I believe it remains a solid position in my "nonPension" portfolio.

Some things that may cause me to change my mind about this include the possibility that there might not be an increase in earnings during the new fiscal year even though an increase is expected; the possibility that the company might not raise its dividend significantly in May as it has in recent years; or evidence that online retailers will completely replace brick-and-mortar retailers in the very near future.

AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC. (AMP) Purchased on 4/25/2016

AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC. (AMP) is one of the investments in my "nonPension" portfolio that, so far, looks like it is going to carry its share of the weight in giving me $560 in income per month starting in 2035.  At the time of purchase, the stock was set to pay me $1.26 average monthly, and there has already been a raise of 12% since then.

Historically, AMP spends a significant amount of time with a P/E ratio under 15, so it has been in the "green zone" a lot.  After a year of lower earnings in 2016, it appears poised for higher profits in 2017 and 2018, so the price of the stock has a lot of room to grow.  If all else stays the same, this stock is one to hold for now and consider purchasing more in the future.

Macy's Inc (M) Purchased on 4/18/2016

Macy's Inc (M) has a dividend yield of over 5%, it is quite undervalued if you believe that it will not go out of business one day due to online competitors, and it has increased its dividends regularly for over five years, including a 5% increase most recently.  Great deal. right?

Depending on your perspective, the answer is either "probably" or "probably not".  But as you can see above, I thought it was a great deal about 9 months ago when the price was higher, and when the stock had already fallen significantly and was already in the "green zone",  So far, my investment has fallen from about $500 to about $350.  Ouch!

Generally speaking, the retail sector is beaten down, and M is not an exception.  For now, I am holding on to my retail investments, especially the losers.  I doubt that they will all disappear without transforming in some way where many of them will survive.  Will M be one of them?  I never bought a crystal ball, so I cannot tell you.

Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY) Purchased on 4/11/2016

Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY) first reached its current stock price in 2005.  Since then, the price has gone up and down ... and up and down. ...  In those dozen years, the stock price has also spent a lot of time out of synche with earnings, moving from an overvalued price to a long period of being undervalued.  Often the price would go down as earnings increased and vice versa.

In recent years since a period of decreased earnings ended, the price appears to have been aligning more with earnings.  For the next few years, it appears that earnings will continue to rise, and the price is favorable as it is in the "green zone".  When I bought BBY, it was even more undervalued than it is now.  As a result, I have seen a nice bump in the value of my investment since April.

What drew my attention to BBY was the dividend increase announced in February 2016 along with a special dividend.  When I made the purchase, the yield was above 3%.  A new dividend increase is expected in the next few weeks.  At the current price, I would consider purchasing more BBY, and as a matter of fact, I am purchasing a small amount each month in a separate account with Loyal3.  I look forward to seeing what happens with BBY from here.

Viacom Inc. (VIAB) Purchased on 4/4/2016

Some of the purchases in my "nonPension" portfolio have been wildly successful (so far) while others have been disappointing (so far).  Viacom Inc. (VIAB) is one of my disappointments for now.

The dividend cut a few months after my purchase was disappointing.  The fact that the stock price is about where it was last April when I purchased VIAB is disappointing.  But perhaps the most disappointing thing about this investment is that I feel like there was too much about the comany that I did not understand (for example, its debt), but I bought the stock anyway.

Typically, but not always, I want to purchase a stock when its yield is at lest 2.4%.  When I bought VIAB, its yield was well above that.  Today, I could buy VIAB for about the same price I paid in 2016, but the yield is no longer where I would want it because of the dividend cut.  If I had it to do over again, I would not have bought VIAB.

So what to do now?  The primary goal of this portfolio is to create an income stream that will pay $560 in dividends per month starting at the end of 2035.  That means my dividends need to grow from here.  Unless the dividend outlook improves, VIAB cannot stay in the portfolio for the long term.

But selling now is not on my list of priorities, mostly because of the stock's current valuation.  For the near future, profits are expected to increase.  Given time, the stock could move outside of the "green zone".  If that happens, and the dividend does not improve, then it will be time to switch the stock out for something else.  Though VIAB has a history of being undervalued for most of the time, overvaluation happens on occasion.  Witness 2013-2014.

Bunge Limited (BG) Purchased on 3/28/2016

All of the stocks in my "nonPension" portfolio so far have been stocks in companies I had heard of until this one:  Bunge Limited (BG).  Not all of my purchases were made this way, but for many of them I was looking for a company that had raised dividends for at least five years, had a yield of at least 2.4%, and had a most recent dividend increase of 10% or more.  BG met these criteria in March of last year, so I looked into it.  It turns out that BG produces grain products, including products that are used as ingredients by companies manufacturing food for the end consumer.  So in the United States they mostly do not sell directly to individuals.

When I first bought into BG, my average monthly income from the stock going forward was $1.14.  That has increased to about $1.28 thanks to reinvested dividends and a nice dividend increase.  That works out to an increase in average monthly dividend income from BG of 12% in less than a year, so if the current trend continues, I can expect BG to contribute more than its share to the goal of $560 per month starting in December 2035.

At the time I purchased BG, it was undervalued, in the "green zone".  That is still the case, so BG is for me a stock to hold on to, and to consider purchasing more in the future.

J P Morgan Chase and Co (JPM) Purchased on 3/21/2016

J P Morgan Chase and Co (JPM) was one of a few big banks who revved up their dividend increases soon after the great recession, and its annual dividend payments now exceed the payments from before the big meltdown.

When I purchased JPM, it was comfortably in the "green zone", so it met my first criterion for a candidate in my "nonPension" portfolio.  In addition, the yield was over 2.9%, and it looked like profits would continue for he next few years at least.  I was hesitant to buy more JPM.  I had owned it in another account since 2005 and it, like other banks, had sent me on a roller coaster ride in the past.  JPM, unlike many other banks had since apparently recovered.

During the time I have owned the stock in this portfolio, it has performed even better than before.  In just 10 months, the price has appreciated by nearly 40%, and the dividend was raised just shy of 10%.  To add icing to the cake, JPM still is somewhat undervalued, it has the potential to rise in price from here, and the dividend has the potential to rise too, since under a third of profits are paid out in dividends.

Brinker International, Inc. (EAT) Purchased on 3/14/2016

Several of the investments in my "nonPension" portfolio have sustained a paper loss so far, and Brinker International, Inc. (EAT) is the first of those stocks that I am reviewing here to have suffered a paper loss.

What was my reasoning for investing in EAT?  I was impressed with the significant income growth since 2010 which corresponded to a double-digit dividend increase per year during the same time period.  The fall in price during the year before I purchased it made it particularly interesting.  It was in the "green zone".

I was somewhat disappointed when the dividend increase came later in the year.  It was less than expected given the increases during the run-up for the few years before that.  Why was the dividend increase so much less?  It may be due to the overall expected fall in earnings for fiscal year 2017.  Future earnings are expected to rise from there, albeit at a slower pace.  So I expect my investment to grow from here, and I expect dividends to keep rising, though not necessarily at the pace for the past few years, at least for now.

Is EAT a stock I may buy more of in the near future?  Perhaps.  Currently the price is lower and the dividend rate is higher than they were when I purchased EAT in 2016.  So if those conditions continue to remain in force, I may buy more sometime in 2017.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) Purchased 3/7/2016

My twentieth stock purchase for my "nonPension" portfolio was also the fourth stock that I purchased after already owning it in another account.  I have owned QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) for years, and bought more near the end of the winter 2016 doldrums.

QCOM has interested me for some time.  Its dividend has been increasing for over a decade, and its profits have been increasing steadily throughout the 21st Century with only a few mild hiccups every few years, but since the great recession, its price has spent most of the time in undervalued territory. I believe that investors' concerns over the fickle nature of technology stocks has been keeping the price depressed, and probably for good reason.  I have made the decision to take a risk on QCOM in the hopes that the historical profit trend will continue going forward.

Since my purchase of QCOM, the price has increased nicely, and the dividend increase was also nice.

In the event that QCOM's past performance continues indefinitely, its contribution to my $560-per-month goal will be more than its fair share.  Of course, we cannot expect that to continue without question.  Hence the need to monitor earnings performance going forward.

Westrock Company (WRK) Purchased on 2/29/2016

Westrock Company (WRK) has been an difficult investment for me to track, much like Johnson Controls, because of a spinoff that took place after I bought it.

I purchased WRK near a three-year low thanks to the overall stock market decline, and the yield at the time was an amazing 4.4%.  Since then, the price has shot so high that the current yield is only around 3%.  So I am glad to have purchased it when I did.

In addition to the fact that I have a super $300 paper profit in WRK, there is an extra $100 bonus in the spin-off of Ingevity Corporation (NGVT).

Given my current set of rules, I would not purchase WRK today, since it is clearly outside of the "green zone".  But for now, I am planning to hold it, since its yield is still quite nice, and it has had a nice increase in the dividend.

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) Purchased on 2/22/2016

When I purchased Amgen Inc. (AMGN) last winter, it was comfortably in the "green zone" as it is now.  I may consider purchasing more AMGN in another account sometime in the near future, and I do not intend to sell it in this "nonPension" portfolio anytime soon.

The paper profit is small but respectable.  The dividend increase has been great.

The last five years have been pretty interesting at AMGN, as earnings have grown steadily and dividend payments were instituted and set on a growing trajectory.  Not surprisingly, the dividend growth rated has slowed down during those five years, and the dividend payout ratio has increased.  After the price moved ahead of profits in more recent years, the price stalled out and remained in a fairly narrow range, which caused AMGN to become an undervalued stock while earnings rose some more.

AMGN looks to be an excellent investment for the next few years.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) Purchased on 2/15/2016

The winter of 2016 provided sale prices for so many dividend growth stocks.  Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) was one of those stocks, and I purchased some right after Valentine's Day weekend.  Since then, the stock's price has risen about 50%, and the dividend was increased by about 13%.

The F.A.S.T. Graph seems to indicate that 2017 should be a good year for profits at MPC, but gong forward, growth could be slower or negative.  

As a result, MPC is on my list of stocks to consider selling in the near future if a better opportunity comes along.  Right now, I am not selling, partly because of a paucity of choices to replace it with.  But there are some other personal reasons that I have for not selling it at this time:

1)  Generally, I want to hold my investments for the long-term, but it is necessary to understand that the attractiveness of an investment may change over time.  That said, I have set a minimum holding time of one year, in an effort to avoid letting emotions control my actions too much.

2)  I have a ranking system in place that takes into consideration the current yield of a stock as well as the most recent increase in the dividend payment (during the past twelve months).  Currently MPC actually has a high score that would indicate that I should hold or buy more of the stock rather than sell it-- or at least wait to sell it after selling some other less attractive investments.

So for now, MPC is in relax-and-enjoy-the-dividend mode.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HOG) Purchased on 2/8/2016

From 2009 to 2014, earnings at Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HOG) experienced rapid growth, and its stock price was overvalued for most of the time.  When profits looked like they might fall a little, the price fell a lot over a period of about two years.

One of the things that I have learned over the past few years while I have been studying dividend growth investing is that the market price of a stock is not always in line with earnings.  If you wait long enough, odds are that you will eventually find a price close to fair value, and there is a good chance that the price will drop into undervalued territory.

And that is what happened to HOG at just the time when I had $500 ready to invest in something.  In hindsight, we can clearly see that the market overreacted to HOG's profit decline, and the price of the stock has since moved closer in line with the performance of the business.

The orange line on the F.A.S.T. Graph seems to indicate that profits are expected to rise for the next few years, so HOG may be a great investment over that time frame. For now, I intend to hold HOG in my "nonPension" portfolio.

When I purchased, HOG last February, the company had just announced a dividend increase, so there  has not been an increase announcement in the 11 months I have owned the stock.  Perhaps we will see a nice raise in a few weeks.  Until then, I will appreciate the nice price appreciation.

Corning Incorporated (GLW) Purchased on 2/1/2016

A nice dividend increase last year has made Corning Incorporated (GLW) a good investment for me so far.

In the long run, I would like to grow my income in this portfolio by about 12% per year in order to reach my $560 goal for monthly average dividend income.  GLW announced a 2016 dividend increase of almost 13%, so together with the reinvested dividends, GLW is currently on track to do its share of the growth in this portfolio.  Of course, a double-digit dividend increase every year between now and 2035 is not guaranteed.  

But the near future looks promising, as earnings are expected to grow over the next three years.

My average monthly dividend in February of last year when I purchased GLW was $1.08. Currently my monthly average dividend income from GLW is $1.24.  That is an increase of more than 1% per month.

The Boeing Company (BA) Purchased on 1/25/2016

Throughout most of the 21st Century, The Boeing Company (BA) has had a P/E ratio above 15, so its price remained outside the "green zone" in its F.A.S.T. Graph.

So when the price of BA got close to the green zone last January, I decided to go ahead and buy it for my "nonPension" portfolio.  At the time, the yield was almost 3.5%.

It turns out that that is approximately what the yield is now.  Even though the price of BA has risen by almost 30%, the dividend payments have gone up 30% as well.  BA happens to be the one stock I own in this portfolio that has the largest dividend increase of all the stocks in the portfolio.  Someone has to be in first place.  It might as well be BA.

While I do not anticipate that I will buy more BA in the near future, I also do not have plans to sell anytime soon if conditions remain the same.  Earnings are expected to increase steadily over the next few years. Currently my monthly average dividend payment from BA is a healthy $1.96.

Ryder Systems, Inc. (R) Purchased on 1/19/2016

In the deep, dark winter of 2016, Ryder Systems, Inc. (R) was ending a year of price decline that would cut its price in half.  Step back a few years and you will see that from 2012 to 2014, in the midst of strong earnings growth, the P/E ratio soared from under 10 to over 16.  Investors were taking a liking to R, and it was becoming overvalued.  Then, as evidence of a slowdown in growth became apparent, folks were dropping R as if they thought no one would ever use a truck to transport something from one place to another ever again.

R just happened to be on my radar, and I just happened to purchase it during the very short period of time when the price was under $50.  I had no idea that the price would go up from there almost immediately.  For all I knew, it could have continued going down for another year or more.  But it was in the "green zone", and it was time for me to make another purchase for my "nonPension", so I dove right in.

R has rewarded me handsomely so far, and since it is still in undervalued territory, it is on my list of stocks to by more of potentially in the future.  Right now, my average monthly income from R is about $1.50, and that was with an initial investment of about $500.  If I were to invest that same amount now, my average monthly income would be about 95 cents.  When you buy a stock really does make a difference.

AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) Purchased 1/11/2016

About a year ago today, I was a little over a quarter of the way through my purchases of 42 stocks to comprise my "nonPension".  All of the my choices seemed undervalued at the time.  Most of my choices had a significant track record of raising dividends regularly.  Some of those choices ended up disappointing me in some ways, while others performed very well.

Abbvie Inc. (ABBV) has done nothing but impress me so far.  After a couple of years of being overvalued, ABBV pulled back from its 2014 and 2015 peaks, and was comfortably in the "green zone" by early 2016.  I jumped at the opportunity to buy some ABBV, which I had avoided at the higher prices earlier.

Throughout 2016, the price of ABBV moved up and down, remaining in undervalued territory, even as profits rose.  Now estimates for 2017-2019 seem to indicate that profits might continue to rise, and the price seems to remain fairly low for now.  As a result, ABBV remains an attractive buy, and I have recently added more shares of ABBV to a different brokerage account.

How has ABBV performed over the past 12 months?   Double-digit price growth and double-digit dividend growth:

As a bonus, ABBV has a relatively high dividend yield when compared to most of my other holdings.  When I first purchased ABBV, my monthly average for dividend payments going forward was $1.71.  Thanks to the dividend increase and dividend reinvestment, my monthly payment average is an even stronger $1.99.  If this kind of growth continues, then ABBV will contribute more than its fair share of income to my nonPension.

Eastman Chemical Company (EMN) Purchased on 1/4/2016

My first purchase of 2016 in my "nonPension" portfolio was Eastman Chemical Company (EMN).  EMN is a company that is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, the town where I was born, so I have a personal interest in the company.  You can see part of the Kingsport Eastman plant in the picture below.  In the background is beautiful Bays Mountain.

Lately EMN is in the habit of giving shareholders a Christmas present every December:  a dividend increase.  The 2016 increase was 5 cents, which worked out to a double-digit percentage.  Meanwhile, my investment is up by a double-digit percentage was well.

And to top it all off, it appears that EMN might be poised to grow in price by a double-digit percentage for the next few years.  As you can see from the F.A.S.T. Graph, earnings are expected to continue to go up over the next three years, and the price is still in the "green zone".  EMN is on my short list of stocks to buy more of in the near future.

Johnson Controls (JCI) Purchased on December 28, 2015. Adient (ADNT) Acquired as a spin-off.

One of my toughest stocks to keep track of is Johnson Controls (JCI), because I received some dividends which were reinvested, and then JCI merged with Tyco, so I received some cash in exchange for some of the shares, and then I received additional dividends that were not reinvested by my broker, and then Adient (ADNT) was spun off, and now I am starting to receive dividends that will be reinvested again.  Whew!  The details are summarized below:

I have been happy with the overall return of the investment so far, but I was disappointed by the dividend cut that took place last month.  At 83 cents, JCI pays me one of the lowest average monthly payments in this portfolio.

When I look at the F.A.S.T. Graph for JCI, I am torn about what to do about it in the near future.  Part of me wants to put it on my list of stocks to consider selling because of the dividend cut hampering my march toward $560 per month.  But part of me wants to hold for now because it looks like it has a potential to move quite a bit higher from here over the next few years.

Meanwhile, ADNT has been doing nicely since I received one share of it as a spin-off.  It is up about 30% since Halloween.  Its tiny total value means that at this point I no have plans to consider selling it at any time.  So it may sit in the portfolio for the rest of my life.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU) Purchased on 12/21/22015

Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU) was the ninth stock I purchased for my "non-Pension" portfolio, and I might actually consider purchasing some more of it in the future, even though I have made a fairly healthy paper profit on what I own already.  Notice that it was in the "green-zone" when I bought it, and it is still there.

The yield when I purchased PRU was over 3.4% and it is now paying me an average of about $1.44 per month.

What attracted me to PRU at the time I bought it was the dividend increases.  In 2013, 2014, and 2015, the dividend was increased by 13 cents, 5 cents, and 12 cents, respectively.  Just like CAT and CSX which were mentioned previously, PRU disappointed me when the dividend did not increase as anticipated in November 2016.  Although it is on my list of adding more in the future, that will not happen until and the dividend is increased.

What will happen in 2017?  We will see!

International Paper Co. (IP) Purchased on 12/14/2015

International Paper Co. (IP) is one of several stocks that I initiated a position in during the late 2015-early 2016 stock market slump, and the overall performance of my investment has been really great:  a 41% increase in stock price and an average income from dividend payments going forward of about $2.07.  My original investment was a little less than $500 including fees.  If I wanted to earn the same dividend income today, I would have to invest over $700 now.

Generally speaking, I am happy with IP because of the huge paper profit.  One thing about IP disappoints, and that is the dividend increase last fall.  In recent years, IP has been in the habit of announcing dividend increases in September or October of each year.  Increases in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 were 14%, 17%, 14%,  and 10% respectively.  When fall 2016 arrived, I was looking forward to a double-digit increase again, but was disappointed by an increase of "only" 5%.

Perhaps it is not the worst thing in the world to see a small increase in the dividend payment last year, for it appears that the 2016 final earnings total will come in at an amount lower than 2015.  Since estimates now indicate a more profitable 2017, maybe we can expect a nicer hike this year.

Even though IP's F.A.S.T. Graph is currently slightly outside of the "green zone", I am not really in any hurry to sell it, because if earnings estimates going forward prove correct, the price of IP stock could continue rising quite nicely.

Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) Purchased on 12/7/2015

I have been happy with the overall performance of my Union Pacific Corporation (UNP)  investment so far, although I was slightly perturbed by the delay in the most recent dividend increase.

After a healthy dividend increase in 2014, UNP had another dividend increase later that same year.  Then the payout went up again in early 2015, so you can imagine my surprise in early 2016 when the company announced a dividend payment equal to the four previous ones.  UNP went on to pay a total of seven dividends at the same rate before finally announcing a higher dividend at the end of 2016.

I am happy that my dividend payments from UNP have increased.  When I first purchased it, my average monthly income was $1.10.  Thanks to the increase and reinvested dividends, my average monthly income is now $1.24.  On top of that, the value of my shares has increased by a huge 31% so far.

Investors have really enjoyed hopping on the train when it comes to railroad stocks over the past year or so, and UNP is no exception.  As a result, UNP has moved into the overvalued territory outside of the "green zone", so it is definitely on my list of stocks to consider selling if something more interesting comes along.  But in the meantime, I will continue to enjoy the dividend, and imagine what kind of increase will come along in 2017.

Cummins Inc. (CMI) Purchased on 11/30/2015

When you purchase more than 40 stocks in a "nonPension" to build a future income stream, you are sure to buy some winners and some losers.  I find that it is important to make purchases at a time when the stocks being purchased will give me an ability to expect that at some point in the future, which is a far better prospect than having them fall.  Unfortunately, most stocks do plenty of falling every once in a while, and there is no way to avoid having that happen to some of your purchases some of the time.

I was very fortunate to purchase Cummins Inc. (CMI) at a time when it along with a lot of other stocks had fallen considerably, and it has risen quite nicely since then.  After investing about $500 in CMI, I now have a paper profit of over $200 on it, all because I happened to catch it at a time when its price was very depressed, relatively speaking.

When I bought CMI, it was paying a dividend at a yield of over 3.9%.  Now the yield is under 2.9%.  My average monthly dividend is currently at about $1.68.

Do you suppose that CMI is a great stock to keep going forward, or should it be on my potential sell list?  Given the fact that it is in the construction machinery business, I plan to hold it for now, to see where the coming federal infrastructure projects take it.  Or, if the price goes up even more, I may consider selling it.

Eaton Corp. (ETN) Purchased on 11/23/2016

From 2009 to 2015, Eaton Corp. (ETN) more than doubled its dividend, resulting in an annualized increase of over 14%.  So I purchased it around Thanksgiving 2015 at a good price, but was disappointed to see the dividend increase only 4% the following April.  It was that relatively low price where I purchased it that makes me feel pretty good about ETN, because it is up about 18% since then.

Is the dividend going to rise more slowly for ETN for the indefinite future?  There are no guarantees one way or the other, but dividend payments were actually held steady during two periods in this century:  from 1998 to 2002 and again from 2008 to 2009.  During the time period between 2002 and 2008, the dividend more than doubled at that time too.

Both of those times when the dividend was held at the same rate were around recessionary times that resulted in profits for ETN dropping temporarily, but each time, profits remained higher than dividend payments.  That lets me know that this may be a company that can weather the storm in the event of an economic downturn.  So my investment seems fairly sturdy for the long term.  But in the short term, I have it on my list of stocks to consider selling if something more interesting comes along.

CSX Coporation (CSX) Purchased on 11/16/2015, Sold on 11/21/2016

CSX Corporation (CSX) is the first stock that I sold in my "nonPension".  After trading expenses, I made a tidy profit of about $119 with CSX.  You can see what happened to the stock price and dividend payment of CSX while I owned it here:

2016 was a good year for CSX.  After a significant decline through the previous year, the price picked up early on and kept moving up from there.  As a matter of fact, the price kept moving up even after I sold it.  Why did I sell it?

One reason I sold CSX was because it did not raise its dividend in 2016. The dividend had been rising pretty nicely for a decade, and I was hoping for an extra penny or two in April, but the company kept its dividend the same.  Normally I would not just dump a stock for holding its dividend at the same rate for a while, but in CSX's case, there was also another reason for me to let it go for now: the higher valuation.

The F.A.S.T. Graphs chart below shows a current price slightly higher than the price at the time I sold.  However, there is still a noticeable change in valuation associated with the higher price of the stock compared to where I bought it in late 2015.

I know that past moves in stock price do not predict future changes, but something about the patterns I see in CSX made me think it might be a good idea to drop it:  Similar run-ups in price happened in 2008, 2011, and 2014.  Each time, the price stayed high for a little while and then dropped back considerably.  So I am hoping to jump back into CSX later, if the price drops back into the "green zone".

Of course we could be witnessing something completely different from what happened in 2008, 2011, and 2014.  Instead what we might see is a high point like the one that happened in 2006 and 2007.  After becoming slightly overvalued, CSX pulled back some, but then very soon kept moving higher before eventually falling back much later.  If that happens, then I could have made the wrong decision.

For now, we do not know whether I made the right decision or not.  That is something we have to look forward to in the future.  For what it is worth, a week after I sold CSX, I bought another stock with most of the proceeds, had a higher dividend yield at the time.  Details on that stock will be available in a future blog post.