Sunday 30 August 2015

Whither the Dividend Drive? An Update on the View from the Bunker

I write to you from the cold heart of a literal figurative bunker. Hunkering down from the world for a bit.

As a result, you may have noted little in the way of posts of lately.

Other than a quick article on Neil Woodford's big buys and sells in July I have not posted much over the last couple of weeks. This included the "Weekly Worthies" lists as well which have--sadly--had to go on hiatus.

Why? Well let me explain.

Loss of interest?

Far from it. I am still as fascinated and interested in sharing my journey with you. Indeed, I have about twenty different articles started--but needing finishing--waiting to be shared.

So why do I find myself sitting in the damp bunker of blogging silence? (I really should fit a dehumidifier).

The Market Crash? Sort of.

Some of the more seasoned amongst you may think I have dropped below the radar as a wise move in the context of the recent China-related crisis (hot on the heels of the Greece-related crisis).

After all, the best way of not doing anything silly is not to realise there was an opportunity to do something silly. It certainly works.

Hopefully all of you out there reading this have avoided selling out in panic as the share prices plummeted. I certainly did. But my bunkered existence is not fully explained by this.

Certainly, it is in part true. However, maybe not in the way you would think. I shall explain...

Work and Finances

At the moment I am finishing up a project (I am currently paid "per project"). However, I am currently set to overrun by a few months. As such, I will be without excess funds for a few months. 

Not great in itself. But it also means no real obviously free funds to invest. As such, I have not wanted to see all the bargains cropping up thanks to the crash only to realise I can't act on it (hence, it is sort of market crash related).

However, more obviously this has meant that time-wise I have been even more pressed than before. This is why I have had to pause my weekly worthies list. Quite simply, I have not had time to potter around the internet reading and commenting on articles. Sad, I know, but necessary.

Hopefully, by doing this I will be able to get back to "business as usual" sooner. 

I currently have a potential work project lined up to replace this. However, it is time sensitive and requires me to have this project wrapped up before I can move across. 

As a result, you can understand my little anxiety on this front. Current predictions would suggest that the dates do not--quite--match up. Hopefully a hefty push will get them to align once again...I hope!

What does this mean for the Dividend Drive?

So what does this mean for the blog? Nothing long-term, to be honest. I continue to find the blog an enjoyable and useful part of my investing life. That has not changed.

However, in the short-term expect to see less frequent posts.

I will keep my updates going (including any, probably infrequent, new buys) and most of my regular features. I may well be able to also occasionally put together a "worthies" list from time to time. But this will have to be "as and when."

In the meantime, do be patient. I am glad to see that despite my relative absence the page views have remained resolutely high. Thanks for that. I am glad that so many of you still find material on here of interest. Long may it continue!

Anyway, thanks for continuing to read and plenty more stuff to come yet!

Now, I am just going to close the bunker door and pretend I heard nothing about China and did not look at my capital paper losses...


Like what you have read?
Sign up to receive FREE email updates when new content is published:

Why not also follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook?

[Creative Commons image reproduced from flickr user Fernando Jiménez]

12 comments:

  1. All the best with the work DD and hope to see you back posting regularly again.

    Don't forget to let me know your picks (and portfolio name) for the Monkey Stocks League!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words, weenie. Hopefully it will "come out in the wash" soon. As I say, got plenty of posts partially composed ready to go. May be able to pull together a few moments to complete them!

      Yes, I have a list of them somewhere. I put them together a while back but them forgot to do anything with them!

      Hope work-related matters have improved for you as well. Not had time to catch up on your posts yet to see if anything has developed. Shortly I hope I can!

      Delete
  2. Hi DD,
    Hope the project goes OK and that you find at least a little leisure time to enjoy what's left of the summer :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Cerridwen. Much appreciated. I hope so too. As well as my main project I also have a fairly important side-project which seemed a good idea at the time (and was then!) but now is an additional obstruction!

      I managed to have a short four-day break in the New Forest recently with Miss DD which was greatly appreciated! Sadly, the weather was pretty miserable for half of it!

      Same to you. Hopefully we get a little spell of consistent nice weather soon.

      Delete
  3. Hope to see you back soon too. Was going to email you today to find out if you were okay. Good to know nothing serious.

    Looking forward to future updates as and when they arrive!

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the concern, M. Yes, hopefully won't be long before I am back to "business as usual". Can't wait for this project to be finished to be honest. It is great, but sometimes you reach the point where it just needs to be out of the door. Especially with the "end of pay" issue!

      Yes, I forgot to email you that mortgage spreadsheet in all the "bunkering". Did you manage to get access to an uncorrupted file? If not, I will get a copy and send it across.

      Delete
  4. Hi D²,

    Glad to hear that things are still okay, I've been low-key of late too so I can relate to that. Work and some side projects are taking a fair amount of time and I guess I find it easier to sit and write when it's not so hot as it is now.

    It's good that you're not worrying about the recent stock market shenanigans; it's all just noise over the long haul and if you reach the point where dividend income is sufficient then absolute market value doesn't matter by that time I think.

    Best wishes,
    -DL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, DL.

      I must admit, weather wise it is not that hot where I am! I can't decide if that is a good or a bad thing for my work! Yes, time is very much "pressed" at the moment. But I feel I am making headway. Hope the same applies to you. It is one of those things that feels worse when you're in it than when you have got to the end of it.

      Yes, in many ways circumstances have contrived to make the market volatility a non-issue for me which is good. Plenty of other things to concern myself with than worrying that I would be worrying about the market!

      Let's hope we're both claw back some personal time from the work and side projects soon. Crossed fingers!

      Delete
  5. Typical! As soon as I start regularly tuning in as well!

    In all seriousness good luck with your project and hope to see you return to regular posting soon. You never know, if the correction continues for a while you may still get a good chance to nab some bargains in a few months time as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I can only apologise, Fibrarian! There will still hopefully be enough coming out to tickle your fancy!

      Thanks. It is going well. However, the final stages of it always takes the longest as you have to tackle the hard knots you have been left with after pulling the rope in so many directions for a few years!

      Yes, you never know. It may stay depressed long enough for me to take advantage. I do hope so!

      Delete
  6. Keep on trucking mate. I did wonder where you had got to! I felt similar a couple of months back with some extra things I volunteered for. And probably will again in a month or so when an exam looms.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Mr Z. I certainly will do. Yes, it felt weird not writing on money matters for so long. I have made a lot of progress though which is good. Hopefully will get it all wrapped up quickly!

      Good luck with the exams and preparation. You feeling confident?

      Delete