Just a quick update as it’s been around 3 months since I set up my second experimental Dogs of the FTSE portfolio.
Before we look at how the ‘mutts’ have done, note that this is not part of my main investment strategy – it’s just a bit of fun, although I do reinvest all dividends I get from these ‘dogs’, which go towards helping to increase my overall portfolio.
As at close of trading on 11th May 2018, the portfolio was showing a 12% gain from its starting value.
Including dividends received, it’s a 14.15% gain.
Over the same period, the FTSE 100 Total Return was 8.03% so the Dogs have gotten off to a great start on both counts!
All the dogs are showing gains, apart from BT, who recently announced the loss of 13,000 jobs. Some good dividends paid out already, notably from Evraz and Persimmon.
Well, that’s it really, until the next update – riveting stuff 🙂
Glad to hear the Dogs of the FTSE have rewarded you so far!
I’ve been meaning to put some money into the Dogs of the Dow for some time, but have never gotten around to it. I’m hoping to use your post as inspiration to figure out the current Dogs of the Dow this weekend and then execute on the trades next week!
Thanks ROMT – Good luck with the Dogs of the Dow!
Hi Weenie,
Thanks for keeping this going – always interesting to see how things go but a great start to the year. Treat it as fun money as it were and just see where it ends up 🙂
FiL
Cheers FiL and yes, I just see this as fun money – the dividends are a nice bonus to add to the more ‘serious’ portfolio! 🙂
This is an interesting experiment you’ve got going weenie – marks and spencer has always been a store I’ve been keen to visit when I’m overseas 🙂
Thanks WFT and I’m glad you find it interesting. I do shop at M&S, mostly for food but usually if I’m treating myself as there are cheaper supermarkets around.
Great start – watching with interest!
Thanks FT9T5!
I love these tests you run Weenie – it’s really interesting to see how they end up doing, and it looks like great fun!
And that is good growth so far, I wonder how much is the pound weakening?
Weak pound, politics, weather – seems all these factors may or may not have an impact. All makes it that much more interesting (and yes, fun!) 🙂
Great to see they are giving you a solid return so far. Very impressive to put your money where your mouth is with this experiment! all the best.
Thanks RMIL – as I mentioned, I have more interest in maintaining the updates with money at stake, though not enough that it would be ‘game over’ for me if the strategy were to go pear-shaped!
Hi Weenie,
So this seems a technical analysis strategy that assumes a high yielding companies share price will inevitably rise to meet what the market perceives to a “sensible” yield. So you get income and growth.
But if a share price of company X plummets then their P/E ratio will rise which will get in on your list. I imagine the yield on carillon was pretty great a few weeks ago, imminently before their bankruptcy. If the P/E is high, does this mean dividends will fall to reflect the price or the price will rise to reflect the dividend?
M and S is fundamentally a doomed business. No woman under 50 will buy clothes from there because they are terrified of seeing a member of the purple rinse brigade in their zimmer sporting the exact same skirt. They have struggled with their target market for years. Even in the teaching profession you’d get ridiculed for buying a suit from M and S. You either go to Matalan or somewhere expensive. M and S clothing has a serious identity crisis. Socks and underwear is all it has going for it as a clothes retailer. It’s future for me lies as a high end high street food retailer, online home furnishings and then bolting on diversified business like currency exchange and banking. I think M and S as we know it is doomed and I would definitely short it if I could. I don’t know what today’s news about store closures has done to the price but the outlook for this business is not good.
If only vanguard gave you an option of opting out of certain companies on their trackers as I am unfortunately exposed to any collapse of m and s also!!
Hi QT
Yep, there’s the risk you describe, ie a plummetting share price resulting in a high P/E ratio and the stock ending up on the list. As I’m only making the purchases once a year, I’d have to be unlucky to have Carillion-types on the list at that particular time (although I did have Capita on there which imploded in its own way!). I haven’t really monitored if dividends have fallen while I’m holding the ‘dogs’, although under the strategy, at the purchase stage, I’m allowed to not include any which have announced dividend cuts.
Yes, M&S is doomed as we know it, although as someone under 50, I do occasionally buy the odd item of clothing from them (that’s not underwear or hosiery) – I don’t frequent places where there are members of the purple rinse brigade in their zimmers so have no worries about being spotted in the same item haha!
With recent announcements of loads of shop closures, I have no idea how this stock will look in a year’s time. This is the second year it’s in my Dogs portfolio so it’ll be interesting to see if it stays there for a third year or gets binned, hopefully at not too much of a loss!
I love the name Dogs of the FTSE. Really pleased with that 14.15% gain. I know you mention that this is a bit more of a for fun portfolio and not your main investment strategy. Do you think it will stay like this or can you see yourself putting more into this?
Chris
Hi Chris
Yes, this is likely to just stay a fun portfolio – if there was too much money involved or it was money which I needed, it would no longer be fun if it didn’t perform, hence the reason why I didn’t feel too badly when the 2017 portfolio didn’t end so well!
Hi weenie, great to read your blog! I wonder what trading platform you use for this strategy to minimise trading fees?
Hi happyinscotland
Thanks for reading!
I currently use AJ Bell Youinvest for this experiment. I purchase the stocks using their regular investment facility so it only costs £1.50 per purchase. Selling does cost £9.95 per sale, so not great.
However, once I’m able to, I intend to use the soon-to-be-available Freetrade app to continue with this portfolio, where it will be FREE to buy and purchase.
If you sign up to join the waiting list for Freetrade yourself (public on-boarding of the app is imminent) via the following link – http://freetrade.io?kid=MBPF8, I’ll be pushed up the waiting list so I can perhaps write about it quicker, haha!