For the tenth month of 2024 the DOW lost 144 points, or about 0.34%. Year to date the index is up 11.50%. Interest and dividend income was $5,373 for the month. Withdrawals for living expenses came to $1,310. Overall, my account balance decreased by 1% from the prior month. Expenses increased this month due to auto insurance. I’m currently paying $689 per year for two vehicles. That may seem low, but it doesn’t include comprehensive coverage. It is just enough insurance to allow vehicle registration in Minnesota. With coverage so weak, it forces me to drive only when necessary and to be a very cautious driver.
In the past month I bought 100 shares of Avista Corp (AVA) and 200 shares of Fidelity Total Bond ETF (FBND). Avista is a utility company headquartered in Spokane, Washington with a 5% dividend. I decided to start moving funds from a money market fund to a bond ETF because an ETF trades like a stock and this one pays a monthly dividend. With a money market fund your trade doesn’t execute until the next day. FBND currently has a 4.84% yield and has about 25% of its holdings in US treasury notes. I’m also hoping that as interest rates go lower, the price of this bond fund will increase.
Semiconductor stocks have had a difficult time in October. I expect some of it is due to money rotating into sectors that will benefit from rate cuts. But also, any company that doesn’t have a business plan which includes AI is getting punished by traders. Samsung (-26.76% YTD) is one that comes to mind. Another tech company having a hard time is Super Microcomputer, which is down -65.84% in the last 6 months. Super Micro disclosed Wednesday that its accounting firm had resigned. The auditor said it was “unwilling to be associated with the financial statements prepared by management.” This is a big red flag for any investor and shows how investing in individual stocks can have unexpected risk.
With only 3 days left until the election, polls show Harris with a 1.4% lead. This is an extremely close election with 50% of the nation guaranteed to be dissatisfied with the outcome. They say that with whoever gets elected, it will have little impact on the stock market. But any amount of uncertainty is always bad for stocks. It is always easier to be pessimistic than optimistic when faced with uncertainty. My only hope is that whoever wins, we somehow learn to accept the outcome and look for the positive aspects. The job of president is almost beyond the capability of humans these days. But we still need someone intelligent enough to fill the role.