I’ve been receiving some feedback regarding the site’s recent inactivity. My apologies! It’s been a busy time over the past two months and I’d like to just provide a bit of an update.
Table of Contents
Musical
While posts to this site have been lacking, progress has (at least) been made in other areas. Namely, at the start of the year I outlined my 2016 Goals which included gaining proficiency with the piano.
While I’ve pulled a bit of an audible as far as the piano is concerned, I did purchase a guitar and I’ve been practicing that over the past month extensively. I can already play a large number of the songs that I most enjoy. It’s incredible what learning a few basic chords can do; the majority of major hits are fundamentally rooted in the Major Chords A, C, D, E, F, and G. If you can play those Major Chords, you’ve got the foundation for excellent music.
So again, while the piano is on hold at the moment, I’m very content with how things are progressing musically.
Fitness
I’ve been preparing for the Ottawa Marathon and training is beginning to ramp up; longer runs coupled with a healthier diet is the path to results. I’m optimistic that I will be able to surpass last year’s personal best time of 3h46m. I’ll be sure to give you an update on that when it’s all said and done.
Stocks
My goal this year has been to diversify my portfolio. To that end, I did purchase both Canadian National Railway Company (CNR) and Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) earlier this year. Both have rather low dividend yields, though CNR has a fantastic dividend growth history. CP lags in the dividend growth category but has at least been steady through the years. On dips I would consider adding more to CNR while CP is likely to sit on the shelf.
For the moment I’ve simply been banking some cash in high-interest savings and waiting. The market has rallied big time for the companies that I follow. Finding real value is difficult at the moment and so I’d rather sit it out for a bit before committing any large sums.
It is important to remember the role that price plays in the investment sphere. Overpaying for stocks leads to mediocre or poor returns over the long term. There is certainly a cost to analysis paralysis and sitting on the sidelines for too long, but sometimes patience is indeed what is called for. While I am always looking to increase the monthly/quarterly dividends that flow my way, I don’t want to do it at the expense of the principal amount I am investing.
Conclusion
The site has been on a bit of a Pause, but it isn’t going anywhere.
I have been working in other areas and will be back to regular updates sooner rather than later. Thank you to those who have inquired and I hope you enjoy the nice weather that’s soon to come our way!
What have you been doing through the early part of the year aside from investing?
Full Disclosure: Long CNR, CP