Five Truths About My Investments

There are five truths you can know when it comes to the ways I invest. The first is that I pay attention. Hence, the scripture passage I used to create this blog. Proverbs 27:23-24 “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever…” Attention includes alerts that can be set up in Trader+.

The second is that I am focused on dividend growth stocks and ETFs, but not to the exclusion of other stocks (even those that don’t pay a dividend) or options contracts. I include dividends as part of my Easy Income Strategy.

The third is that I tend to buy more investments than I sell. For example, YTD 2026 I sold a total of $83,763.71 of investments we hold, but I have purchased $133,980.57 of assets.

The fourth is I like quality. I prefer to avoid junk investments of all types, shapes and sizes. Therefore, while others love to chase questionable investments, I avoid them. The fifth is that I am not afraid of investing in REITs, BDCs, and options contracts. There are many different types of BDCs and REITs, so it pays to understand them before buying them. Also, I have yet to find any good ETFs for those types of investments. I think focus pays when it comes to some types of investments.

BDCs are Business Development Companies

Some of the investments in this category include GAIN, MAIN, ARCC, SAR, CSWC, and OBDC. GAIN and MAIN have long been two of my favorites. I have purchased shares of the first three at various times for our grandchildren’s UTMA accounts. However, just because I like an investment doesn’t mean that I won’t sell some of all of my shares.

The Gain from GAIN by Selling Some

When I saw that GAIN (Gladstone Investment) had a share price over $15 per share, I decided to sell all of the GAIN shares in the UTMA accounts and to lighten up on our GAIN holdings in our other accounts. This is not an indication that I think there are issues with GAIN. We still have over $60K invested in GAIN at this time. The monthly dividend is nice, and the future looks bright. Having said that, I am running low on cash, so adding a bit more cash can fuel other investment opportunities.

How Did I Know GAIN went above $15 Per Share?

I set price alerts on many of our investments. I also have percentage up/down alerts ranging from 3% to 6%. It is helpful to get a real-time alert so that I can explore opportunities for buying and selling our investments or investments I would like to own. If I find an investment in Seeking Alpha with a desirable STRONG BUY Quant rating, I will often set an alert on that position. That can be done on the Fidelity website or in Trader+.

Other BDC Holdings

If you are curious about some of our other BDC holdings, here is what we currently own. We have a total investment in ARCC of $112K, an investment of $155K in MAIN, a $101K investment in CSWC, and $66K in OBDC. The current value of our remaining GAIN shares is 63K. It is safe to say that our total BDC holdings are over $500K.

Recommendation

If you trade options, I highly recommend that you set alerts. The alerts can go to your email and/or you can get a text message.

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