June Review

This is the first monthly review of the capital performance for my dividend income portfolio. It hasn't got off to a great start, which is hardly surprising as I launched it just as the UK market slipped into bear market territory.

The figures don't make for great reading, but I am not concerned about this at this stage. If I was, I shouldn't have invested in the first place!

The porftolio is down by -9.4% in the first month, a drop of over £6000. Housebuilders Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey have had major impacts. On the plus side, I received a £71 dividend from Taylor this week, but this may be the last for a while as they have cancelled their interim dividend this year and have said they will review their future dividend policy at year end. When I look for new stocks I have made a note to ensure I take economic cycles into account more!

A success has been shipbroker Clarkson which is in positive territory at £51 and GlaxoSmithKline at over £60 - showing the merits of defensive sectors during choppy times such as this.

Despite the Taylor Wimpey dividend setback, income is starting to pick up, with oiver £110 received this week. I am now over the threshold of £1000 cash to buy a new stock, and am still looking at GKN which has now slipped below the £2 mark for the first time in over four years. But as my broker is offering five free trades at the moment, and there are so many bargains out there I am tempted to split the cash 50/50 between GKN (which yields above 7% on current forecasts) and building materials supplier Marshalls. Marshalls shares are at levels not seen since 1999 and yield over 10%, so much of the bad news must be already factored in to the price. The board also confirmed it's intention to maintain the dividend this week at it's present levels due to it's strong cash levels.

I'll let you know what I finally decide.

The Dividend Seeker