New Investments

Yesterday I mentioned my interest in two micro-cap stocks that are thinly traded. They are ALCO and ISTR. The first is consumer-staples-related and the second is a regional bank. The risk is always greater with small-cap, micro-cap, and nano-cap stocks. However, the rewards can also be quite healthy. Here are the overviews from Seeking Alpha for both investments.

ALCO (Alico, Inc) is a consumer staples agricultural company located in Florida.
ISTR (Investar Holding Corporation) is a financial sector investment. It is a micro-cap stock.

ALCO and ISTR Dividends

Rarely do I see companies with numbers like ALCO and ISTR when it comes to a five-year dividend growth path. Of course, history is no guarantee of future earnings and dividend growth. On the other hand, the payout ratio for both investments is rational and leads me to believe that a dividend cut is unlikely. ISTR also has a remarkable frequency in the increase of the dividend. Most companies increase their dividend annually. ISTR has certainly done something different.

ALCO has a 5-year dividend growth rate that is far above normal.
Just like ALCO, ISTR has an amazing, almost unbelievable, 5-year dividend growth rate.
ISTR Dividend History. You will rarely see this type of increase pattern in an investment.

This Week’s Covered Calls and Puts

This week I bought 500 shares of Ford to add to my holdings. I then sold covered calls on those shares for income. If the shares are called, I will also have a capital gain. I also sold a put for 100 shares of Wal-Mart (WMT) because I am willing to buy the shares at my put price. Here are all of my covered call and put trades for the week. I continue to make some good additional weekly income using options.

This is just one day of activity.
My week 25 income from this type of trade is up slightly from last week’s income.

Full Disclosure

I own 100 shares of ALCO and 100 shares of ISTR as long-term investments. I also have significant holdings in Ford that are a long-term position. The buys I have done recently are for the purpose of creating income using covered calls.