HRP Properties Trust (HRP)

I purchsed more share in HRP today at $7.78 per share.
HRP Properties Trust (HRP) is an office building REIT with 18mn square feet of space. Funds From Operations has been stable for the past year, although occupancy has slipped slightly. FFO Per Share at 29 cents a share is still above the dividend at 21 cents as of September 30 2007. The Company added $48mn in new buildings in the 3rd Quarter of 2007 which should help cash flow slightly. Debt levels are reasonable.The stock's at $7.78, just off its 52 week low, and yields 10.9%. Some investors are worried that the Company will cut the dividend but I don't see it. Even if I'm wrong, the downside is limited. HRP has a roster of quality buildings and customers, investment grade debt levels and a long operating history.

BPP & PFD

New purchases in the following
Black Rock Preferred Oppportunities Trust 12/12 at $17.17 Dividend now at 8.8%
Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Fund 12/12 at $11.73 Dividend now at 8.9%

New Financials Purchases

New purchases were made for the following three finanacial stocks.
Citigroup (C) 12/20 at $29.76
Wells Fargo (WFC) 12/19 at $30.26
Washington Mutual (WM) 12/19 at $15.15

Looking for a short term trade on these, 3 to 6 months unless they get a good pop before.

BLACKROCK ENHANCED DIVIDEND ACHIEVERS

Today I purchased more shares of BlackRock Enhanced Dividend Achievers (BDJ) at $11.80 per share. The BlackRock Enhanced Dividend Achievers Trust, BDJ, is a closed-end equity fund. It currently yields a 10.48 percent dividend at today's price. It also trades at a 12 percent discount to it's underlying stock holdings. The high yields are enabled by writing call options.
A call option on a stock gives the buyer the right to buy 100 shares of a stock at a pre-determined price (strike price), for a pre-determined period of time (expiration date). The fund only writes covered calls, which means they own the stock and are selling the option to someone else to buy the stock for a premium. In a covered call strategy, the risk of loss on the option is zero. If the stock increases above the strike price of the call, the investor simply delivers the shares of the stock to the call buyer. The investor gives up some upside on the stock position in return for risk-free option income. The nice part of this strategy is if the stock goes down or stays the same within the expiration date the seller of the call keeps the premium and can write another call, thus the extra income.
BDJ's top ten holdings are Chevron, AT&T, GE, Bank of America, and Pfizer.

NOVEMBER TRADES

Trades made in November

Sold American Century Global Gold (BGEIX) at $23.32 for a 23 percent profit held 8 months
Sold IXC at $142.27 for a 2.3 percent profit held 4 months
Sold IOO at $81.16 for a 3.2 percent loss held 4 months
Sold IYW at $61.49 for a break even no loss or profit
Sold Walmart (WMT) for a 1.2 percent loss held 2 weeks
Bought Citigroup at $31.87 sold for $34.42 for a 7.2 percent profit held 1 week
Bought Citigroup at $31.55 sold at $33.29 for a 4.8 percent profit held 10 days
Bought Citigroup at $31.38 sold at $33.26 for a 5.3 percent profit held 9 days

WALMART (WMT) & CITIGROUP (C)

I purchased shares in Walmart today at $43.81 per share. The company reported they will cut back on spending to build new stores and tighten cost controls as sales growth slows over the next three years. Many analysts welcomed the move to focus on keeping more of the cash Wal-Mart generates rather than spending furiously on new stores.
Increased free cash flow, or the money left over after a company pays its expenses including capital expenditures, could make Wal-Mart shares more attractive by funding higher dividends, new technologies or acquisitions."Strong free cash flow is the key to corporate flexibility and potential growth. Wal-Mart, which is finding fewer places to build new stores and faces tougher competition from other retailers, said sales will continue to slow after years of strong double-digit growth.
I also purchased more shares in Citigroup on Oct. 19 at $42.39 per share. It has been hammered hard for their sub prime loans but they still have more credit cards issued than any other company and I think now is a great time to buy a premier company like Citigroup at the lowest price in almost 5 years. They pay a 5.1 percent dividend which I think is safe, so I'll sit on them and collect the dividend and wait for them to get their act together. If they would fire their CEO, Chuck Prince you will see the price rise a few points in one day.
Buy when no one else wants to and the pessimism is running high. All week the press has been hammering Citigroup and today Walmart. I remember when no one else wanted Coca Cola (KO) and I bought in the low 40's, it's now trading at $59.75 and guess who recommended it last Friday as a buy on their show, Jim Cramer of Mad Money. Be patient, collect those fat dividends, reinvest them, and wait for better days. These are premier companies who will be around long after we are gone.

BARRICK MINING CORP. (ABX)

I purchased shares in Barrick Gold Corp. today at $40.53 per share. The target price is $48.00 which I hope will hit within the next year. Gold is in an upward trend and last week I sold Newmont Mining (NEM) and am now replacing with Barrick which I think is a better gold producer.

NEWMONT MINING (NEM)

I sold my position in Newmont Mining yesterday Sept. 26 at $45.53 for a 9.5 percent profit. I held it for 4 months. I still like Gold but with it at an 18 year high we might have a pullback before going higher.

NEW TRADES Citigroup, BDV, & DOG

Today the Fed cut rates by 1/2 percent point and the stock market skyrocketed by over 300 points. Financial stocks have been hammered during the past several months because of the sub-prime loan problem and the weak housing market. The Fed cut signals that they are going to address the problem, thus the big upswing in the stock market. Right after the Fed announced I bought Citigroup and Black Rock Dividend Achievers which is heavily invested in Finanacials. I have been waiting for a sign to get into some of the big banks and this could be it. There are several other financials I like such as Washington Mutual, Bank of America, and Wachovia.
I purchased Citigoup (C) at $47.74 and it pays a 4.6 percent dividend.
Citigroup operates through a network of 8,140 branches, approximately 19,100 automated teller machines, 708 automated lending machines, and the Internet. A truly global powerhouse in the Banking & Investment world and a blue chip company.
Black Rock Dividend Achievers (BDV) was purchased at $13.90 per share and pays a 6.5 percent dividend. I already own shares in BDV so this is an addition to shares already owned.
My other trade was DOG which is a bet that the stock market will go down. I sold my position at $58.36 for a 2.7 percent loss. I am no longer so pessimistic on the stock market, especially if the Fed keeps cutting rates.

Hawaiian Electric & Cental Fund of Canada

I made new purchases Friday of Hawaiian Electric (HE) at $20.86 which now pays a 6.0 percent dividend. I made previous purchases of this company at a much higher price and hope this is the bottom.
I sold shares in Central Fund of Canada (CEF) at $9.40 for a 4.1 percent gain. I held for 3 months and again will wait for a price below $9.00 for another purchase.

ishares Dow Jones US Technology (IYW)

I made my first purchase in over a month today. I bought shares of ishares Dow Jones US Technology (IYW). This is a ETF or Exchange Trade Fund and the top ten holdings are Google, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Hewlett Packard, Dell, IBM, Oracle, and Qualcomm.
The investment seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Dow Jones U.S. Technology index. The fund uses a representative sampling strategy to try to track the index. The index measures the performance of the technology sector of the U.S. equity market. The index includes companies in the following sectors: software and computer services and technology hardware and equipment. It is nondiversified.
Shares were purchased at $60.98 and will most likely hold long term.

NEW TRADES

On July 27 I sold several long time positions. I think we are in order for a downturn in the stock market.
Sold positions
Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT) $9.55 Held for 1 year and 7 months for a 19.7 percent profit
Wasatch International $23.36 Held for 3 years 6 mo. for a profit of 98 percent
Wasatch Strategic Income (WASIX) $11.29 Held 5 months for a loss of 1 percent
Wasatch Ultra Growth $25.89 Held for 5 years for a profit of 77 percent
Third Avenue Real Estate (TAREX) $32.93 Held 3 years for a profit of 91 percent
Third Avenue International (TAVIX) $24.54 Held 3 year 6 mo. for a profit of 60 percent
Third Avenue Small Cap Fund $26.66 Held 5 years 6 mo. for a profit of 101 percent
Netflix (NFLX) $17.26 Held 1 month for a loss of 12.7 percent
Sara Lee (SLE) $16.11 Held 1 year 6 month for a loss of 2 percent
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Held 1 year 3 months for a 6.8 percent profit

New Buys
HRPT Properties Trust (HRP) $9.28 pays a 8.9 percent dividend
Wells Fargo Cap IX (JWF)$21.60 pays 6.4 percent dividend
Flaherty Preferred Income (PFD) $15.30 pays 6.6 percent dividend
Short Dow 30 Pro Shares (DOG) $59.87

As you can see I sold several long time positions, most at a nice profit. Many of the positions I sold were mutual funds. My exposure to the stock market has dropped rather dramatically, but I feel I need to take some profits now rather than watch them evaporate in this choppy market. I still own several stocks, mostly large stable companies like Coca-Cola and GE.

My new purchases are nice dividend payers. The Wells Fargo Cap IX (JWF) is a preferred stock which is more like a bond than a stock. Preferred stocks are mostly issued at $25 per share and have a call date in the future where the company can buy them back at $25 per share. The call dates are usually around 5 to 10 years out from the issue date. The payout on dividend is $1.38 per year, which means that when it was issued at $25 per share it's dividend payout was 5.5 percent. You can now collect 6.4 percent if you buy at $21.60 because the payout never changes and if you divide $1.38 into $21.60 you get 6.4 percent. Now the kicker is someday it will be called at $25 per share which represents 15 percent upside from this price. So you can collect 6.4 percent with a guaranteed 15 percent gain on top unless Wells Fargo goes bankrupt, which doesn't seem likely. Preferred stocks are great to buy in an enviroment like this because you can collect your Quarterly dividend while you wait to be called. The underlying price will go down if interest rates go up and they will rise if interest rates go down. But you can never lose if you hold them until they are called.

Short Dow 30 Pro Shares (DOG) is a bet that the stock market will go down.

A lot of money I made in my sold positions is now held in a Money Market account, I'll collect my 4.5 percent until I find some buys out there, but right now there seems to be too much risk in the market for my taste.

ETF IShares Global (IXC) (IOO)

I purchased two ETF's today. ETF's are Exchange Traded Funds and are basically like a mutual funds where they hold a basket of stocks but the expense ratio is much cheaper and the holdings typically don't change like a managed mutual fund. They are traded just like stocks. For example the IShares S&P Global Energy Index (IXC) which I bought today for $138.00 per share has a miniscule expense ratio of 0.48 percent. It holds energy companies and the top 10 holdings are Exxon, British Petroleum, Total, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, Schlumberger, ENI SPA, Occidental Petroleum , BG Group. . The other ETF I bought was IShares S&P Global 100 Index (IOO). Purchase price was $83.32 and the top 10 holdings are Exxon, GE, Citigroup, Microsoft, BP, HSBC, Total SA, Chevron, Proctor & Gamble, and Johnson & Johnson. This ETF holds the 100 largest Global companies.
ETF's are a great way to diversify, low expenses, and great liquidity.

Ruth's Chris Steak House (RUTH)

I bought shares today in Ruth's Chris Steak House (RUTH) at $17.27 per share. It trades at a P/E of 16.40 and has $1.05 per share earnings. The 52 week trading range is $16.72 to $23.00.
I owned this company previously on a short term basis and made a nice profit in a short amount of time.
Ruth's Chris Steak House, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a steakhouse company. It operates company-owned and franchisee-owned restaurants in the United States. The company's restaurants offer food, beverages, and other services. As of July 1, 2007, it owned and franchised 107 locations worldwide. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Heathrow, Florida.
The nation's largest upscale steak-house chain was based in New Orleans when it made its Nasdaq debut in early August 2005. Three weeks later Hurricane Katrina hit.
Shares that opened at $19.80 lost more than a fifth of their value by the middle of November of that year. Ruth's stock has struggled to remain above water ever since, despite offering a robust growth rate and a compelling valuation.
Ruth's, now based in Heathrow, Fla., has a total of 106 company-owned and franchised restaurants. Expansion plans put it on track to have as many as 250 locations in six to eight years, and those restaurants are extremely productive. Ruth's return on capital stands at 19%, according to Reuters data, more than three times that of Morton's (MRT: 17.87, -0.09, -0.5%), its nearest competitor, and well above the 14% industry average. Meanwhile, return on equity stands at a very healthy 40%, almost twice the industry average.
Furthermore, the long-term investment thesis sounds persuasive, based on brand strength and Ruth's ability to replicate its highly productive restaurants in a variety of markets, both here and abroad.

NEW SELLS

I have decided to take some profits and sell several stocks today. I still hold positions in GE, Sarah Lee, and Gabelli Utility Trust and sold partial positions in them.

GE sold @ 38.24 for a 12.5 percent profit and held for 1 year and 10 months. Remember it pays a 3 percent dividend so I collected that while I held the stock so my real return was around 17 percent, when divided by 1 year and 10 months equals a yearly return of 7 .79 percent.

Sarah Lee (SLE) sold at $17.56 and held for 10 months for a 18.3 percent return. Sarah Lee pays a 2.3 percent dividend.

Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT) sold at $9.73 and held for 6 months for a 6.5 percent return. Gabelli pays a 7.6 percent dividend so real return with dividend is close to 10 percent on an anualized basis.

This one gets a little more complicated. I bought 100 shares of Philip Morris (MO) 9 months ago. While I held it, it spun off Kraft Foods (KFT) and I got 69 shares in the spinoff. So I now had 100 shares of Philip Morris and 60 shares of Kraft. I sold the MO at $70.44 and the Kraft at $35.48. My return was 20.3 percent over a 9 month period and this includes the dividend paid.

I am going to wait a while to invest the money and will hold it in my money market account until then.

NETFLIX (NFLX)

I purchased Netflix on June 20 at $19.71 per share. Netflix has dropped about 25 percent this year and I think now is a good time to buy on weakness. Competition with Blockbuster's aggresive pricing model and competition from video-on-demand have hit the stock.
Netflix is the largest online movie rental service offering 80,000 DVD titles to 6.8 million subscribers. I like Netflix's business model by using the Internet to manage customers and the Postal system to reach them, Netflix has been able to build it's business without drowning in red ink. On each dollar of non-cash assets it generates more than $4.50 in revenues and .30 cents in operating income.
Netflix's balance sheet has $388 million in cash, no debt, and not one inventory or accounts receivable cost. During the past three years, it has spent $381 million on new DVD titles for it's library.
Reed Hastings, Netflix chairman and CEO, has been the visionary ever since he founded the company 10 years ago. He now owns $60 million in Netflix stock.

HRPT PROPERTIES (HRP)

I purchased more shares of HRPT Properties today at $11.02 per share. It pays a dividend rate of 7.6 percent and is close to it's 52 week low. Nice solid company to hold and reinvest the dividends and let it grow.

HRPT Properties Trust operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States. It engages in the ownership and operation of real estate, including office buildings, industrial buildings, and leased industrial land. As of December 31, 2006, the trust owned 504 properties, including 351 office properties and 153 industrial properties. HRPT Properties Trust is elected to be treated as a REIT. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income tax, provided that it distributes at least 90% of taxable income to its shareholders
HRPT continues to diversify and build on its strategy of going into markets that aren't quite as high-profile. During the quarter, HRPT purchased four office buildings in South Carolina and Massachusetts, with 391,000 square feet and 96.3% occupancy, for $42.6 million at a very healthy 9.8% cap rate.
Although nationwide occupancy was slightly down, HRPT did see some positive trends. Management noted that competitors were pushing for stronger rental rates and fewer concessions of free rent. Tenant improvement dollars have largely stayed constant, but lessors are getting longer lease terms as a result -- which means, on a net basis, the landlord is getting higher rents.

CENTRAL FUND of CANADA (CEF)

I had a limit buy order for CEF for about a week and it hit Friday June 8th at $8.98 per share.
I've written about this stock several times which holds Gold & Silver buillion. This stock has been bouncing around like a yo yo for the past month. Hopefully I hit it at the downswing.

RECENT TRADES

New Purchases
June 1, 2007 Newmont Mining (NEM) $41.33
June 5, 2007 Hawaiian Electric (HE) $23.91

New Sells
June 7, 2007 Halliburton (HAL) $35.212 18.5 percent profit held 6 months
June 7, 2007 Brown Forman (BFB) $69.41 3.9 percent profit held 6 months

TOYOTA MOTORS (TM)

I purchased shares in Toyota Motors today (TM) at $121.28 per share. Toyota is the only large car company left that is growing and improving. They are on the cutting edge by being first on the market with hybrids and continue to invest in the future.
Toyota cars last and they get good gas mileage, which is getting more important every day with gas prices north of $3.00 per gallon. We've seen misery at both Ford and GM and in recent days Chrysler looks like it's going private. Toyota is not saddled with the large pension costs as it's compeitors and is non-union, thus lower labor costs.
I think now is a good entry point for the premier auto company out there. They always seem to get it right, something that can't be said for GM and Ford.

I also took a small position today in IShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ) at $14.26 per share. It's largest holding is Toyota.
The investment seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded securities in the Japanese market, as measured by the MSCI Japan index. The fund normally invests at least 95% of assets in the securities of its underlying index and in ADRs based on the securities in its underlying index. It uses a representative sampling strategy to try to track the index. The index consists of stocks traded primarily on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is nondiversified.

CATERPILLAR & WASHINGTON MUTUAL

I sold my positions in Caterpillar and Washington Mutual today. They both had a quick run up in price and I still like both companies but feel I must take some profits here.
Caterpillar was sold at $73.41 per share. I held it for 3 month and realized a 16.3 percent profit.
Washington Mutual was sold at $42.56 per share and was held for 1 month and I realized a 9 percent profit.
I've made mistakes in the past by selling to early but have also found it in my favor by selling and then when the price goes back down buying again. You can never time your trades perfectly to the top and bottom of a stock range but you also can't go broke by taking profits when a stock has a nice run up in a short amount of time.
I will continue to watch both of these stocks and if they take a tumble I would not hesitate to get back in both of them.

GENERAL ELECTRIC (GE)

You can't ask for a more solid company than GE. I added more shares today at $34.65. It trades at a P/E of 17.28 and pays a $1.12 dividend to yield 3.2 percent.

General Electric Company (GE) is a diversified industrial corporation. Its Infrastructure segment produces jet engines, turboprop and turbo shaft engines, and related replacement parts for use in military and commercial aircraft; wind turbines; aircraft engine derivatives; gas and steam turbines, and generators; oil and natural gas compressors and turbines; diesel-electric locomotives and parts; and productivity solutions for industrial and municipal water systems. It offers various financial products and services aviation and energy sectors. The company�s Commercial Finance segment provides loans, leases, and other financial services to manufacturers, distributors, and end-users for various equipment and capital assets. Its GE Money segment provides financial services to consumers and retailers, such as credit cards, loans, mortgages, deposit and savings products, and other products. GE�s Healthcare segment manufactures equipment for magnetic resonance, computed tomography, positron emission tomography imaging, X-ray, patient monitoring, diagnostic cardiology, nuclear imaging, ultrasound, bone densitometry, anesthesiology and oxygen therapy, and neonatal and critical care and therapy. Its NBC Universal segment provides network television services; produces television programs and motion pictures; operates television broadcasting stations; owns various cable/satellite networks; and operates theme parks. The company�s Industrial segment offers home appliances; lamp products; electrical distribution and control products; motors and control systems used in end-industrial and consumer products; commercial lighting systems; plastics and structured products; protection and productivity solutions; handheld and portable field calibrators; equipment for detection of material defects; stand-alone measurement instrumentation; and systems for validating or certifying commercial and industrial processes. GE was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut.

LUNDIN MINING CORP. (LMC)

I took a new position today in Lundin Mining Corp. (LMC). They are buying up mines at a rapid pace and appear to be under the radar of most analyst's. Purchase price was $13.40.

Lundin Mining Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, extraction, and processing of base metal, silver and gold mining, and mineral exploration properties in Sweden, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Eritrea, Iran, and Canada. The company produces zinc, lead, and silver at the Zinkgruvan Mine located in the southwest of Stockholm, Sweden. It also owns the Galmoy Mine in Country Kilkenny, Ireland; the Neves-Corvo copper mine in Portugal; the Aljustrel mining license and operating permits and the assets of the Aljustrel mine; and Storliden zinc/copper mine and the Norrliden copper/zinc/silver deposit located in Sweden. In addition, the company has interests in the exploration permits located in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden covering an area of approximately 97,000 hectares; 20% back-in right with respect to certain claims in NP Project in northern Finland; 38% interest in the Mehdiabad zinc-lead deposit in Iran; and 100% of the Akie zinc-lead property in northeastern British Columbia. Further, the company has an option to acquire 100% interests in Rakkurijarvi discovery and other prospects in the Norrbotten district of Sweden. Lundin Mining has strategic partnerships with Sunridge Gold Corporation, Sanu Resources, Ltd., and Mantle Resources, Ltd. The company was incorporated in 1994 under the name South Atlantic Diamonds Corp. and changed its name to South Atlantic Resources, Ltd. in 1996. Further, it changed its name to South Atlantic Ventures, Ltd. in 2002 and to Lundin Mining Corporation in 2004. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

PEABODY ENERGY (BTU) WASHINGTON MUTUAL (WM)

I took profits in Peabody Energy (BTU) today and sold at $44.98 for a 10 percent profit in 6 months.
I used that money to buy Washington Mutual (WM) at $39.01. WM pays a 5.4 percent dividend and is down near it's 52 week low because of the sub-prime loans. The exposure to sub-prime loans is a very small percentage of Washington Mutuals business and I feel it's gotten beat up a little too much and will reinvest my dividends while I wait for it to go up.

Washington Mutual, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer and small business banking company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Retail Banking, Card Services, Commercial, and Home Loans. The Retail Banking segment offers deposit and other retail banking products and services, which include checking and interest-bearing checking accounts, personal checking, savings, money market deposit, and time deposit accounts to consumers and small businesses; loan products comprising home loans, home equity loans, lines of credit, and mortgage loans; and investment advisory and brokerage services. The Card Services segment�s operations consist of issuing credit cards, holding outstanding balances on credit cards in portfolio or securitizing and selling them, servicing credit card accounts, and providing other cardholder services. The Commercial segment provides finance to developers and investors for multi-family dwellings and other commercial properties, services multi-family and other commercial real estate loans, and provides limited deposit services to commercial customers. The Home Loans segment originates and services home loans, manages capital market operations, fulfillment and servicing of portfolio of home equity loans and lines of credit, originates and purchases mortgage loans to higher risk borrowers, provides financing and other banking services to mortgage bankers for the origination of mortgage loans, and offers insurance-related products and reinsurance services. This segment offers various real estate secured residential loan products and services primarily consisting of fixed-rate home loans, adjustable-rate home loans, hybrid home loans, option ARM loans, and mortgage loans to higher risk borrowers. As of December 31, 2006, the company operated 2,225 retail banking stores and 472 lending stores and centers in 36 states. Washington Mutual was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

American Century Global Gold Inv (BGEIX)

I put a buy order in today for the Mutual Fund American Century Global Gold (BGEIX). It closed yesterday at 19.15 and my buy will go in at today's closing price.
The investment seeks capital appreciation and current income. The fund invests 80% of assets in securities of Gold Companies engaged in mining, processing, exploring for or otherwise dealing with other precious metals. It is nondiversified.
It's top ten holdings are as follows: 1. Goldcorp 2. Barrick Gold 3. Newmont Mining 4. Yamana Gold 5. Kinross Gold 6. Agnico-Eagle Mines 7. Gold Fields 8. Oxiana Resources 9.Lihir Gold 10. Bema Gold Corp.

BlackRock Dividend Achievers Trust (BDV)

I added shares of BDV yesterday at 14.77 per share. I had a limit buy and it hit the mark yesterday only to rally back and end the day at 14.90. It pays .90 cents per share dividend which equals about 6 percent at todays price.
The top ten holding are as follows: 1. AT&T 2. Bank of America 3. Chevron 4. Citigroup 5. Altria 6. GE 7. Merck 8. Wells Fargo 9. Pfizer 10. Washington Mutual

BlackRock Dividend Achievers Trust operates as a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The trust invests in common stocks of automotive, basic materials, conglomerates, consumer products, energy, financial institutions, health care, industrials, real estate, technology, and telecommunications companies, as well as in money market funds. BlackRock Advisors, Inc. serves as the investment advisor for the trust. BlackRock Dividend Achievers Trust was founded in 2003 and is based in the Wilmington, Delaware.

HALLIBUTON

I added to my position today in Halliburton (HAL) at $29.99 per share. I bought Halliburton about 3 months ago at $29.37 and it was slammed today when they announced forecast first-quarter earnings below Wall Street estimates due to decreased drilling and completion activities in Canada and the northern United States.
This seems like a good time to add to positions or start a new position in a company with great long term potential who are making huge buybacks of their stock. Short term bad news can be a great time to buy a stock if nothing long term is affected and you still believe in the companies future. Do you think the demand for oil is still there? Wall street tends to slam a stock really hard on the least bit of bad news and over reacts creating a buying opportunity. We'll see over the long term but I think by the end of the year I'll be happy with my purchase today.

SHUFFLE MASTER (SHFL)

I took a small position in Shuffle Master today at $18.50 per share. On the heels of bad news this week I think they will bottom out here and start an uptrend in the next 6 months to 1 year. The 52 week price range is $16.50 to $40.75 per share.
The maker of automatic card-shuffling and casino chip sorters said it uncovered an accounting error related to profit recorded on inventory purchased from subsidiary Casinos Austria Research & Development GmbH & Co.
The error resulted in a $1.2 million overstatement of net income for 2006, and the company said it will restate its fourth-quarter and full-year 2006 results.
Shuffle Master also does not expect to file its first-quarter financial report on time, and warned its earnings and revenue results will miss analyst expectations for the first quarter.
Shuffle Master, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, sale, and marketing of technology and entertainment-based products for the gaming industry. It operates in two segments, Utility Products and Entertainment Products. The Utility Products segment offers automatic card shufflers for use with card table games, including batch and continuous shufflers, and single deck/double deck shuffler, as well as chip sorting machines for roulette. It also develops other products to automatically gather data and to enable casinos to track table game players, such as Automated Bloodhound and Table iD. In addition, this segment leases shufflers. The Entertainment Products segment develops and markets a range of proprietary table game entertainment content to casinos and other licensed operators. It offers live proprietary poker, blackjack, baccarat, and pai gow poker-based table games and side bets, as well as various electronic content delivery system platforms, including Table Master, Vegas Star, Rapid Table Games, and wireless Casino On Demand. The company sells its products to casinos and other gaming establishments through direct sales force and distributors worldwide. As of October 31, 2006, the company installed approximately 22,000 shufflers, 4,000 table games, and 21,000 electronic wagering seats. Shuffle Master was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

CATERPILLAR

I put a buy order in this morning for Caterpillar (CAT). My trade executed at 63.00 per share. I have been watching this company for the past 6 months and have seen it come down to the lower end of the trading range on fears of the construction business slowing down. The 52 week price range is $57.98 to $82.03. The low 60's seems like a good entry point for a premier company like Caterpillar. It trades at a P/E of 12.39 and pays a dividend of 1.90 percent.

Caterpillar, Inc. manufactures construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. The company operates in three primary lines of business: machinery, engines, and financial products. The machinery line of business designs, manufactures, markets, and sells construction, mining, and forestry machinery, such as track and wheel tractors, track and wheel loaders, pipelayers, motor graders, wheel tractor-scrapers, track and wheel excavators, backhoe loaders, log skidders, log loaders, off-highway trucks, articulated trucks, paving products, telescopic handlers, skid steer loaders, and related parts. It also offers logistics services for other companies. The engines business line designs, manufactures, markets, and sells engines for the company's machinery; electric power generation systems; on-highway vehicles and locomotives; marine, petroleum, construction, industrial, agricultural, and other applications; and related parts. The financial products line of business includes provision of various financing alternatives to customers and dealers for the company machinery and engines, and solar gas turbines, as well as other equipment and marine vessels. It also offers various forms of insurance to customers and dealers to support the purchase and lease of Caterpillars equipment; and invests in independent power projects using the company's power generation equipment and services. Caterpillar markets its products through various distribution centers and dealers worldwide. The company was founded as Caterpillar Tractor Co. in 1925 and changed its name to Caterpillar, Inc. in 1986. Caterpillar is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.

WASATCH STRATEGIC INCOME FUND

I put new money to work today in a mutual fund named Wasatch Strategic Income Fund (WASIX). The Wasatch funds are a favorite of mine and I have been a holder of Wasatch Micro Cap for 7 years. It has returned an average of 17.45 percent a year for the past 5 years and 22.71 percent per year for the past 10 years. It is now closed to new investors and this is customary to the Wasatch group. They feel that to get the returns they want they don't want a huge amount of money flooding in because they can't put it to work and get the returns they want. So they close the fund and work with the money they have as very few investors cash in their shares because the returns are so good.
Occasionally they will open a new fund as they did last year with Strategic Income. The fund may invest in equity and fixed income assets, with at least 65 percent of assets in income producing securities. Stocks generally will account for most of the Fund's investments, with those chosen falling into three main categotries: Blue Chip, Dividend Growth, and Value.
I also have shares in Wasatch Small Cap Growth, Wasatch International Growth, Wasatch Small Cap Value, and Wasatch Heritage Growth. The only one open to new investors is Wasatch Heritage Growth which is a fairly new fund.
I think this is an excellent time to invest in a income-oriented type of fund. The current economic enviroment of slow but steady growth is one that historically has been positioned for dividend-paying stocks. As the Boomer population bulge continues to age, I think dividend paying stocks are likely to gain in popularity, which in turn could lead the prices of these stocks to rise.

USO and Halliburton

I sold my shares of United States Oil (USO) on Jan 4 at $48.81. This compnay is basically an ETF (Exchange Traded Trust) that tracks the price of oil. Oil seems to be on a downward trend which is great when you go to fill up your car but not for an investment in USO. I booked a loss of 9.5 percent and am sticking with my rule of never losing more than 10 percent in any one investment.
To replace USO I bought Halliburton (HAL) on Jan 8th for $29.37.
The stocks 52 week range is $26.33 to $41.99 so I'm buying in at the lower part of the range. It has a P/E of 11.03 and a dividend of 1.1 percent.

Halliburton Company provides various services, products, maintenance, engineering, and construction to energy, industrial, and governmental customers worldwide. It operates in six segments: Production Optimization, Fluid Systems, Drilling and Formation Evaluation, Digital and Consulting Solutions, Government and Infrastructure, and Energy and Chemicals. Halliburton was founded in 1919 and is based in Houston, Texas.

I like the broad diversification of this company. It also helps that this is one of Jim Cramers (Mad Money) top three picks for 2007. Instead of betting on a pure oil play like USO this stock gives me exposure to the Energy market but not just to the commodity.

YEAR END REVIEW

1996 was a great year for Stocks. My performance was 13.8 percent which I consider excellent considering my overall portfolio consists of about 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds , preferred stocks, and money market accounts.
The Dow Industrials returned 16 percent while the S&P 500 returned 14 percent. The NASDAQ's performance was 9.5 percent.

Using the rule of 72 my portfolio would double every 5.2 years if I could achieve a 13.8 percent return every year. I know this is unrealistic without taking on much more risk than I care to incur. So I will start the new year with the same approach I have used for the past 14 years, broad diversification throughout my portfolio and reinvesting dividends and interest.