UTF - Dividend Harvesting Portfolio Week 172: $17200 Allocated $1532.26 In Projected Dividends

2024-06-20 09:00:00 ET

Summary

• This week, I added to my positions in CSCO, PFE, and UTF.
• In the 2nd week of June, the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio generated $21.73 of dividend income.
• The Dividend Harvesting Portfolio has already generated 65.31% of the total dividend income from 2023.

The markets seemed to like what Fed Chair Powell said at the FOMC press conference this week, even if the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio declined in value. The S&P 500 appreciated by 1.82%, while the Nasdaq gained 3.43%. Fed Chair Powell came out and did exactly what I thought he would do, and he stuck to the narrative of needing more data before feeling confident about implementing a rate cut. Based on the updated data, the new independent assessments indicate that we will finish 2024 with rates at 5.1%, then they will decline to 4.1% in 2025 and 3.1% in 2026. It looks like CME Group is lowering the probability of a July rate cut even further, as the chances are now sitting at 10.3%. What I find interesting is that the Fed continues to say they don't make decisions based on politics, but the chances of a rate cut in September have jumped to 61.1%, which is right before the November election. My feeling continues to be that the appropriate time to implement the first-rate cut is at the July FOMC meeting, as they will have 2 months to see how the economy reacts. I believe the Fed is doing more harm than good by staying restrictive, as higher carrying costs on debt are more devastating to Americans than inflation at 3.4% or 3.1%. On a federal level, we need rates lower because we are now paying close to $900 billion annually in interest on the national debt. Only time will tell how this unfolds, and I will continue to allocate capital and build out the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio one week at a time....

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