Robbie Thomas
Financial Talk, War Talk & Bond Market Follies
It’s a nice day to get rolling on some Q4 2023 Financial Talk from me, Rockin’ Robbie Thomas. Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20! Hell yeah, I like Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20, he has a lot of hits… wait, Robbie Thomas? Who the hell is Robbie Thomas!?
Israel vs. Hamas Conflict
With this situation, my best guess is that Oil prices will jump. I drive a 2010 Ford Focus so I need the gasoline. One of my credit cards offers a 6% cash back to me if I fill up at Exxon Mobil. Plus, I’ll be filling up at Costco Gas. Besides this, I will be researching how War affects the stock market and also keeping an eye on my GTLR ETF that doesn’t pay dividends. That attack on that festival is awful with people being taken away by Hamas.
I’ve seen quite a few videos from the PBS NewsHour. PBS NewsHour is my weapon of choice when it comes to International News. I also have noticed Lester Holt was there at Tel Aviv, and later, PBS sent Amna Nawaz there as well. Like the Ukraine-Russia conflict, I don’t think this uptick in violence in Israel is going away anytime soon. Buckle up.
Also, watch Capitol Trades and keep an eye on US politicians buying defense stocks.
Bond Market Follies
Prior to the Israel conflict, I saw that VCIT and AGG were dropping for quite a few weeks. VCIT is a bond ETF and my largest investment. I do my finances every two weeks and I’ve seen that AGG had dropped straight for 16 weeks. VCIT, in the last 14 weeks, there has been one plus in between those, the other six were minuses. With that being said, I won’t be buying VCIT and AGG for a while. I’m also keeping an eye on FHMI and I will still buy. But I have seen much minuses with FHMI lately. I’ll be buying FLOT and TFLO in the next couple of months. I’ve noticed politicians buying Treasury Bonds and Bills a lot lately.
Also, here.
What I’m Doing
I’m down to five days a week at my job and I’m having a hard time finding any other menial work via Bacon and Instawork. But all of the jobs are at least 30 miles away from me and some are in Cleveland or Middleburg Heights, Ohio. I’m not travelling 2 hours away for $14-15 bucks an hour. I did a few creative works that got me a couple of bucks and playing games on MistPlay. However, it isn’t bringing in the big bucks!
The six days a week is helpful when paying bills and also saving and investing. I’ve been on 5 days a week for a while before, so I’m not stranger to this. But, the 6-7 days a week is more helpful to me. Last month, I threw $500 in my savings account. This month, I’m going to try and throw $500 in the stock market, but I’m reducing which stocks and ETFs I’m buying. This is the list of stocks, ETFs and Mutual Funds I’m buying for now:
- VWO (ETF)
- SPHD (ETF, pays monthly)
- FLOT (US Treasury ETF, pays monthly)
- TFLO (US Treasury ETF, pays monthly)
- O (Like the drop in the stock and will be buying, pays monthly)
- SCHD (High Dividend ETF)
- FHMI (Municipal Bond ETF)
- VYMI (ETF)
- DX (Stock, pays monthly)
- STWD (REIT Stock)
- NLY (REIT Stock)
- BTI (Stock)
- VWELX (Vanguard Mutual Fund)
- VDIGX (Vanguard Mutual Fund)
- VFH (Vanguard ETF)
- VGK (Vanguard ETF)
Will I be buying a share in all of these each month for the next 3-6 months? Highly unlikely. I’m just going to throw in what I can throw in. Another investor podcast I listen to called One Penny At A Time says he isn’t going to throw money in the stock market in October and November due to some personal business he has to attend to, but things can change.
It’s a real pisser due to me wanting to work hard in October, get some hours at my job and get some money saved. But this economy is getting awful in recent times. I’m glad I save money, a lesson learned in 2008.
As of dividends I got, we will go by year and last month:
13 Oct 2022: $990 / September 2022: $163 / Per day at that time: $3.54
13 Oct 2023: $1532 / September 2023: $208 / Per day: $5.43
WARNING: Do not take this advice and put all your eggs in the basket on a single stock or fund that I mentioned. When it comes to investing, I’m Single-A ball at best (short season A-ball). Please do your research and due diligence. I don’t want an e-mail or comment with: “Hey shit-for-brains! I put all my money in a stock you mentioned in a blog, and the CEO got caught naked with a 7-year-old boy in Thailand.”
I’m not an advisor!
Happy Birthday to Uncle Chris Thomas, he would’ve been 59 today.
Peace, Love & Fractions,
Robbie T.