Build Invest Live

Earnings season has started, and two of my portfolio companies have already announced. One is MSCI which decided to drop almost 14% in a single day, and the other is Visa who just keeps doing what it’s doing. In this video we go through the earnings reports and dig into what happened with both companies.

00:00 What happened with MSCI?

07:50 Visa is so boring and that’s so great

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A new book called the Everything War aims to uncover troubling examples of Amazon’s business practices and competitive nature. In this video we go through what has been released so far and the author’s comments to see if it’s anything new or worth worrying about.

00:00 The Everything War - is Amazon in trouble?

01:34 What are the accusations?

04:58 What is Big River Services International?

07:53 Is Amazon actually not Customer Obsessed?

09:48 How does this relate to the FTC lawsuit?

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In this video we walk through the Seeking Alpha Stock Screener and how to create custom screens that help you find new stocks to research.

00:00 Seeking Alpha’s Stock Screener

06:02 Creating your own screener step-by-step

⍺ Get $50 off Seeking Alpha Premium: https://buildinvestlive.com/seekingalphascreener

CPI came in hotter than expected last month, but in general people believe the economy is doing better than expected. But there are 3 signs I saw that the economy might actually be worse than we think. In this video we go over those 3 signs, what it might mean for stocks, and what we should be doing about it.

00:00 Inflation might be worse than we expect

04:06 Credit Card delinquencies

05:49 401k withdrawals

08:18 What should we do about it?

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A common question in personal finance and investing is where should we put our cash? Whether it’s an emergency fund or even cash we’re holding to invest with down the line. Most people choose between savings accounts, CDs (certificate of deposit), or money market funds. In this video we break them down, talk about the pros and cons, and I share what I’m actually doing with my cash.

00:00 Savings Accounts, CDs, or Money Market Funds

02:26 What are the Pros and Cons of each?

11:40 Who are they best for?

13:21 What am I doing with my cash?

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I try to be really transparent on this channel sharing my portfolio progress every single month as well as all my buys and sells. But rarely do we ever go back to see how previous decisions panned out over time…until today. In this video we go through my previous decisions to buy, trim, and sell stocks and see how those decisions performed versus the market performance.

00:00 How I measured best and worst decisions

03:52 My Top 10 Worst Decisions

12:16 My Top 10 Best Decisions

19:16 Takeaways and Lessons Learned

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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy released his letter to shareholders and it had a big takeaway about Amazon’s future. In this video we go through his letter and talk through what it means for Amazon’s business. Also, I added a new stock to my portfolio this week that we break down in detail, and lastly Jamie Dimon the CEO of JP Morgan Chase also released his shareholder letter with some ominous warnings for the stock market.

00:00 Andy Jassy’s letter to Amazon shareholders

09:12 Amazon’s growth story

10:51 I just added this stock to my portfolio

16:56 Jamie Dimon is prepared for higher rates

Andy Jassy’s letter to shareholders: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-ceo-andy-jassy-2023-letter-to-shareholders

Art of Business - Why Lululemon is Ahead of Its Time: https://youtu.be/tItUlA1C_So?si=xRpWuJVvxlTN-axk

Jamie Dimon’s letter to shareholders: https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmc/jpmorgan-chase-and-co/investor-relations/documents/ceo-letter-to-shareholders-2023.pdf

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We’ve all had stocks in our history that turned out bad. Maybe they didn’t fit our goals or expectations. Maybe they were a good company but a stock that didn’t perform. Or maybe they were just a bad company that we didn’t know any better what to do. In today’s video I talk about what I consider the worst stock I ever bought, as well as the excess cash problem that big tech companies have, as well as Walmart and Chipotle’s stock splits and why I think they’re great.

00:00 Worst stock I ever bought

07:16 Big Tech’s Cash Problem

12:57 Walmart and Chipotle’s stock splits

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Investing is scary for the majority of people. But what if I told you that NOT investing might be even scarier? In this video we break down why doing nothing with your money is a surefire way of getting poorer over time.

00:00 Investing is scary for most people

01:56 Why is your money losing value over time?

03:43 What we can do about it

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Robinhood just announced their 3% cash back card and people are wondering if it’s too good to be true. In this video we break down what the card is about, how they can afford to pay you 3%, and who the card is good for and not so good for. Spoiler alert - the answer is in their financial statements

00:00 Robinhood just released a 3% cash back credit card

08:23 How can Robinhood afford to give you 3% back?

14:42 Who is the card good for?

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In this video we walk through my entire dividend growth portfolio to reveal how much my portfolio earned over the last month, the dividends I received, what my annual dividends are on a $273,000 account, what stocks I bought and sold, and the overall performance using Schwab portfolio tools.

00:00 Portfolio recap for March 2024

03:28 Dividend income

04:55 Stocks I bought and sold this month

08:42 Best and worst performers

12:28 Overall thoughts on the previous month

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Get 25% off of Seeking Alpha Premium until 4/3/24: https://buildinvestlive.com/seekingalpha

Check out my new Discord! - https://buildinvestlive.com/community

Seeking Alpha Premium Review - https://youtu.be/GxH71RI0ETs

Nvidia and Bitcoin have dominated the news in 2024 with their large gains, but there’s an asset that has actually outperformed them both. In this video we go over what that is and why, Apple’s planned partnership with Google Gemini, Jensen Huang’s recent comments about resilience, as well as some exciting announcements.

00:00 This asset has outperformed Nvidia and Bitcoin

05:44 Why is Apple using Google Gemini for AI?

08:12 Jensen Huang wants you to suffer

11:06 2 quick announcements

SCHD is one of the most popular dividend ETFs out there, but its performance versus the broader market has some SCHD investors wondering if it’s still worth it in 2024. In this video we break down why people are questioning SCHD and how we can know if it’s the right ETF for us.

00:00 SCHD versus the market

06:29 SCHD’s reconstitution and methodology

08:18 How do we know if it’s the right ETF for us?

NVIDIA has driven the sentiment in the market for at least the past year. It’s also up over 200% and has outpaced the S&P 500 by 7x over that timeframe. I’ve ignored Nvidia for a long time just assuming that it was a crazy bubble stock, but I finally decided to dig into it and see what it’s all about. This is what I found.

00:00 Analyzing Nvidia

02:02 Understanding Nvidia’s business

04:53 What are some risks to their business?

06:05 Understanding AI chips

09:16 Understanding semiconductor companies

15:06 Valuation for NVDA

16:27 Overall thoughts

Financial scams are everywhere. No matter where you go on the internet or social media apps, people are constantly trying to separate you from your hard earned money. In this video we talk through a WSJ article about scammers using the likeness of billionaires such as Bill Ackman and Cathie Wood to try to con Facebook users and what we can do as investors to protect ourselves.

00:00 Scammers are impersonating billionaires on Facebook

08:24 How the scam worked

09:33 Why we will see more of these

10:47 What can we do about it?

If you want to read the WSJ article for yourself, it’s here: https://www.wsj.com/tech/fake-bill-ackman-cathie-wood-scam-a8df6ce7

In 2021 stocks and bitcoin were at all-time highs, and retail investors poured money into the markets. That didn’t end so well. Here we are again in 2024 and Nvidia, AI, and Bitcoin are driving all-time high market prices again and retail investors are getting back involved. Will it be different this time?

00:00 Retail investors are back for Nvidia, AI, and Bitcoin

04:00 Is this market like the 2021 bubble?

08:10 What should investors do about it?

As investors we spend a lot of time doing research, analyzing performance and valuation, and trying to understand the financial news. But did you know that there’s a simple one ETF investment plan that actually works for most people? In this video we talk about that plan, why it works well for the majority of people out there, and how it stacks up to other popular alternatives.

00:00 The Simple 1 ETF Investment Plan

01:46 What does the data say about investor needs?

04:35 Why the S&P 500?

07:59 Alternatives to the S&P 500

10:41 Why this method works

Apple’s stock has been struggling in 2024 and all the news surrounding it has been negative. Is Apple’s Era actually over? In this video we talk through some of the recent issues, determine what’s noise and what’s worth worrying about, and I give my thoughts on the stock’s future.

00:00 Apple Antitrust issues with Spotify

04:44 The Apple Car project is shut down

05:57 What is Apple doing about AI?

10:49 Apple vs Meta

13:11 What are Apple’s growth prospects?

In this video we walk through my entire dividend growth portfolio to reveal how much my portfolio earned over the last month, the dividends I received, what my annual dividends are on a $264,000 account, what stocks I bought and sold, and the overall performance using Schwab portfolio tools. 00:00 Portfolio recap for February 2024 02:39 Dividend income 04:30 Stocks I bought and sold this month 06:40 Best and worst performers 10:10 Overall thoughts on the previous month

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Read Warren’s most recent letter here: https://berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2023ltr.pdf

Warren Buffett released his Berkshire Hathaway annual letter to shareholders over the weekend, his first after the passing of his long time friend, Charlie Munger. In this video we go through the annual letter, talk about the major takeaways, and what it means for the future of Berkshire’s stock.

00:00 The Architect of Berkshire

03:32 Expectations for Future Growth

08:25 Even Warren is Wrong Sometimes

11:26 The Show Goes On

The Wall Street Journal had an article about how People Under 40 don’t really like or relate to Dave Ramsey. As I was reading it, I felt like there were quite a few good lessons we could take from it. In this video we go through the article, talk about the points I thought were interesting and what valuable advice we can take from it.

00:00 My thoughts on Dave Ramsey

01:35 Younger people have increased amounts of debt

04:03 Learning about money

05:39 Are credit scores important?

07:20 Is the debt snowball a good method?

09:14 We can learn from everyone

I added two stocks to my portfolio last week. One is at a 40 P/E and the other already almost doubled over the past year. What am I doing? In this video we break down the stocks in detail, talk about fundamentals and valuation and what I’m monitoring for them going forward.

00:00 MSCI’s Business

04:45 MSCI’s Valuation

07:46 GOOGL’s Business

11:55 GOOGL’s Valuation

Investing in individual stocks is hard. But did you know that finding and picking stocks to buy is probably the easiest part of the process? In this video we go through the 3 aspects of investing in individual stocks and walk through an example of how each one impacted my decisions with my UnitedHealth Group (UNH) position.

00:00 Choosing based on fundamentals

03:13 Holding through new information

07:07 Monitoring company performance

10:57 What does this all mean?

Stocks dropped after the latest CPI report indicated that the battle with inflation might not be over, and rate cuts by the Fed might be delayed. In this video we explore what analysts are saying about the move, the outlook for the economy, and what it might mean for stocks

00:00 Hotter than expected inflation numbers dropped stocks

04:18 What is the impact if inflation stays higher?

07:38 How much do the inflation numbers impact stocks?

11:06 Is the beginning of something worse?

Hershey (HSY) reported earnings last week, and while the market seemed to like their 15% dividend raise and increased share buybacks - the rest of what they announced was concerning to me. So much so, I’m going to sell my position. In this video we go through what Hershey reported, why I had originally picked it as a top stock for 2024, and why my outlook has changed.

00:00 My opinion on Hershey has changed

01:20 Hershey earnings recap

06:30 Why did I have it as a top pick for 2024?

10:49 How has my outlook changed?

In this video we’re pouring a drink and answering viewer comments

00:00 This is why I blur out names

01:50 A real value investor

03:36 Is trimming SCHD smart

05:11 I keep FOMO investing

08:29 Why not Amazon at $80

12:22 Oof.

14:48 Holding or selling

15:53 Adding during dips

19:37 Greetings from…

20:49 Realty Income

21:41 Highly recommend

22:33 Pay it forward

In this video we walk through my entire dividend growth portfolio to reveal how much my portfolio earned over the last month, the dividends I received, what my annual dividends are on a $260,000 account, what stocks I bought and sold, and the overall performance using Schwab portfolio tools.

00:00 Portfolio recap for January 2024

03:06 Dividend income

04:13 Stocks I bought and sold this month

07:08 Best and worst performers

09:05 Overall thoughts on the previous month

Earnings season has started and that means we should prepare for big price movements and misleading headlines. I had 2 stocks in my portfolio that missed expectations, but one went up 7% and the other dropped 3%. In this video we break down what happened with each one.

00:00 Earnings season is here - what happened with American Express (AXP)

07:17 Why did Visa drop 3% after earnings?

One the things I learned from reading Peter Lynch is that every stock has a story, and as an investor part of what I need to do is understand that story. In this video we go through all of the stocks in my portfolio and I break down how it’s down, what I think the story is, and what I’m monitoring with it going forward.

00:00 Our stocks each have a story

00:47 UnitedHealth Group (UNH)

03:16 McDonald’s (MCD)

05:29 Visa (V)

07:33 Apple (AAPL)

10:04 Valero (VLO)

11:59 American Express (AXP)

14:02 Amazon (AMZN)

16:12 Hershey (HSY)

18:36 Caterpillar (CAT)

20:04 Starbucks (SBUX)

22:00 How deep do we need to go?

Since the end of 2023, the stock market has been on a nice run. Most think it’s due to the market pricing in future rate cuts - but based on the data, it looks to be something else. In this video we dig into what that is and what it means for 2024. Also - I’m bullish chicken sandwiches.

00:00 Stocks have been going up, but will it last?

05:23 GDP Growth for 2023

08:52 What does this mean for us as investors?

10:42 The year of chicken is here

Some stocks just don’t work with traditional valuation methods. Even using basic metrics like Price to Earnings (P/E) ratios can be impacted by how certain companies spend and do their accounting. In this video we talk about a stock that I just added to my portfolio that I think is quite a bit cheaper than it looks on the surface - Amazon (AMZN)

00:00 I just bought Amazon at a 80 P/E

02:36 Understanding Amazon’s business

06:52 What are some risks to their business?

10:35 How to value Amazon

13:37 Overall thoughts

Dividend ETFs are extremely popular, but how do you choose the right one? In this video we break down some of the most talked about dividend ETFs, evaluate their performance, and analyze their methodologies to see what might work best for us.

00:00 Revisiting Dividend ETFs

03:14 Comparing historical returns and dividend growth

07:36 Analyzing their methodologies

11:05 How to choose the right dividend ETF

Bitcoin ETFs were finally approved last week and it has investors curious if they represent a good entry or alternative to investing directly into bitcoin. In today’s video we break it down in detail to talk through what these new Bitcoin ETFs might mean for investors.

00:00 Bitcoin ETFs are finally approved

06:15 Why would anyone want to invest in Bitcoin?

08:30 Is buying an ETF like buying Bitcoin?

09:41 How high can Bitcoin’s price go?

12:39 Who should be investing in Bitcoin?

In this video we talk about a growing tax narrative that could be terrible for investors, the growing opinion that streaming is actually worse than cable, and diving into why tech sold off at the beginning of the year

00:00 This is a really bad idea for investors

05:44 Is streaming actually worse than cable?

11:00 The slow start for tech in 2024

In this episode we talk about what the financial news is telling us to expect in 2024, talk about what went well and not so well for my portfolio in 2023, and what steps I’m taking to be better in 2024

00:00 The financial news is mostly noise

06:09 What didn’t go well for me in 2023

09:49 What went well for me in 2023

11:48 What I’m doing different in 2024

In this episode we break down my top 4 stocks for 2024.

00:00 Criteria I use for my top picks in 2024

00:58 Hershey (HSY)

06:41 Valero (VLO)

11:21 Visa (V)

14:49 Caterpillar (CAT)

In this episode we walk through my entire dividend growth portfolio to reveal how much dividend income I made over the last month, what my annual dividends are on a $254,000 account, what stocks I bought and sold, and the overall performance using Schwab portfolio tools.

00:00-Portfolio recap for December 2023

02:42-Dividend income

04:29-Stocks I bought and sold this month

07:53-Best and worst performers

10:33-Overall thoughts on the previous month

The Federal Reserve just had their FOMC meeting last week and the markets rallied as they held rates steady and signaled that there would be 3 rate cuts in 2024. But is that really what they said?? In this episode, my last episode of 2023, we break down what Jerome Powell and the FOMC participants ACTUALLY said and what we should do about it as investors. Also, we touch on the Google vs Epic Games suit and I let you know what you can expect from me and this channel in 2024.

00:00-The Federal Reserve just pivoted….right?

04:47-How is this being reported?

06:35-What should investors do about it?

07:37-Google vs Epic Games

09:35-What to expect from this channel in 2024

Is it really possible to time the market? If you listen to people online, most will say that dollar cost averaging (DCA) is the only way since timing the market is impossible. But others are constantly trying to “buy the dip” any time prices go down. So who’s right? In this episode we break down one of the most shared articles on the subject and I give you my thoughts on if you can actually time the market or not.

00:00-Even God can’t beat Dollar Cost Averaging (apparently)

01:56-What the research found

05:12-The issues I have with the article

07:25-Understanding price vs value

09:37-What does this mean?

If you want to read the article yourself it’s here: https://ofdollarsanddata.com/even-god-couldnt-beat-dollar-cost-averaging

The channel has grown a bunch over the past 6 months, including the amount of comments, emails and messages I get about stocks, ETFs and myself. In today’s episode I answer your most asked questions.

00:00-These are your most asked questions

00:54-What is my background?

09:32-What do I think about this portfolio?

13:46-Can I analyze a stock or ETF?

14:18-Am I going to start a discord?

Charlie Munger recently passed away at the age of 99. A legendary investor known for his wisdom and one-liners, Charlie left behind many great nuggets of information for future generations. In this episode we go through some of my favorites and the 3 simple rules for success in life and investing that I’ve gotten from Charlie Munger.

00:00-Charlie Munger passes away at 99

00:45-Challenge Your Own Thinking

04:11-Numbers Don’t Tell The Whole Story

08:08-Personal Accountability Will Take You Far

12:12-A Lesson to the Youth

In this episode we walk through my entire dividend growth portfolio to reveal how much dividend income I made over the last month, what my annual dividends are on a $245,000 account, what stocks I bought and sold, and the overall performance using Schwab portfolio tools.

00:00-Portfolio recap for November 2023

02:40-Dividend income

04:16-Stocks I bought and sold this month

07:21-Best and worst performers

09:42-Overall thoughts on the previous month

According to some analysts, the bull market is back for stocks. In this episode we talk about what people are predicting, what it means for retail investors, and what if anything we should be doing about it.

00:00-The bull market is back for stocks

01:35-Mark Avallone’s take

05:39-When will the Fed cut rates?

08:25-What does this mean for retail investors?

Caterpillar is a global leader in the sales and manufacture of heavy machinery. Not to a mention a stock that has 30 years of consecutive dividend growth that has consistently beat the S&P 500. In this episode we walk through Caterpillar’s business and do a detailed stock analysis to see if CAT is still worth buying.

00:00-Caterpillar - Building for dividend growth

02:18-Who are they and what do they do?

05:44 -What are some risks to their business?

08:49 -How are their Operations?

10:55-CAT valuation

14:46-Overall thoughts

Every investing website tries to get you to pay for premium features, but as an everyday investor is it worth it? In this episode we break down Seeking Alpha Premium in detail so you can understand what additional features you get, the value that they provide, and if it makes sense for you.

00:00-Seeking Alpha Premium Is it worth it?

01:45-What’s available for free?

02:14-What are the best Premium features

12:05-Are there free alternatives

13:26-Who is Seeking Alpha Premium best for

15:40-What does it cost and how to get it

Studies show the biggest obstacle to being a successful investor is literally ourselves. We’re the problem everyone. In this episode we talk about how and why we get in our own way as investors and what we can do about it.

00:00-The biggest obstacle to being a good investor is yourself

01:17-Investing vs Trading

04:19-Buy and Hold Investing

06:30-Dealing with new information

08:29-What can we actually do about this?

When it comes to picking stocks and stock analysis, there is one thing that is always true. Everyone’s wrong. In this episode we talk about why there is no one “right” answer when it comes to picking stocks and the questions we need to address as investors to ensure we’re evaluating stocks with the right perspective.

00:00-Picking stocks is about questions, not answers

00:30-What is your investment time horizon?

04:24-What are your investment goals

06:21-What is your investment strategy

11:18-Confidence comes from knowing our plan

PayPal, Disney, and Crocs have been beaten down by the market in 2023. As earnings season wraps up we revisit these 3 stocks after earnings to see how they’ve performed and if our original analysis holds up.

00:00-Is PayPal a value trap or the next META?

05:22-Is Disney starting to get the Magic back?

09:00-Crocs’ growth story is both good and bad

15:30-How should we approach this as investors?

Texas Roadhouse is the fastest growing restaurant chain in America, and their stock has easily outperformed the S&P 500 in total return over the past 10 years. In this episode we walk through Texas Roadhouse’s business and do a detailed stock analysis to see if TXRH is still worth buying.

00:00-Texas Roadhouse - Say Howdy to dividend growth

02:18-Who are they and what do they do?

04:43 -What are some risks to their business?

07:44-How are their operations?

09:41-YTD Performance

13:10-TXRH valuation

16:53-Overall thoughts

In this episode we walk through my entire dividend growth portfolio to reveal how much dividend income I made over the last month, what my annual dividends are on a $230,000 account, what stocks I bought and sold, and the overall performance using Schwab portfolio tools.

00:00-Portfolio recap for October 2023

02:45-Dividend income

04:42-Stocks I bought and sold this month

08:46-Best and worst performers

09:37-Overall thoughts on the previous month

Apple is reporting Q4 earnings this week and investors have a lot of questions. After starting the year up 57%, Apple has dropped over 12% since August. In this episode we talk about what to expect with Apple’s earnings release and how investors should be looking at the company.

00:00-Apple is about to announce Q4 earnings

02:02-Apple’s and Revenue Growth

08:30-Apple and China

11:45-Apple and AI

Coca-Cola is one of the most recognizable brands in the world and their stock has paid and increased dividends for 60 straight years. But Coca-Cola has trailed the S&P 500 in total return over the past 30 years. In this episode we walk through Coca-Cola’s business and do a detailed stock analysis to see if KO is still worth buying.

00:00-Coca-Cola - Still the real thing?

02:13-Who are they and what do they do?

06:01 -What are some risks to their business?

10:05 -How are their operations?

12:49-YTD Performance

15:44-KO valuation

19:50-Overall thoughts

American Express just announced strong Q3 earnings and the stock dropped by over 5%, what is going on? In this episode we break down American Express’ performance, how it matches up against their 2023 forecast and talk about what might actually be holding the stock and other bank stocks back.

00:00-American Express crushed Q3 earnings

07:07-Why most people misunderstand American Express’ business

11:17-So what is causing the downtrend for Amex?

14:01-What does this mean for Investors?

Vanguard’s VTI, VOO, and VGT are 3 of the most popular and talked about ETFs out there. But a lot of people are making a very basic and common mistake with them. In this episode we break down the problem and dive into all 3 ETFs so you know how to fix it.

00:00-A common mistake people are making with these Vanguard funds

01:43-Understanding fund overlap

05:16-VTI or VOO, which one is best?

09:13-Understanding what VGT actually is

11:36-Why does any of this matter?

If you’re depending on the headlines to understand your stocks, you’re going to be disappointed. News articles aren’t providing the full picture and truth that we need to really know what’s going on with the companies we own. In this episode, we dive into a detailed example of Starbucks, to show how the news headlines you see are misleading, and what we can do instead to get a clear picture on how our stocks and their management teams are performing.

00:00-This is how stock headlines mislead you

03:29-What did Starbucks expect for 2023

05:00-Starbucks Q1 results

07:03-Starbucks Q2 results

08:32-Starbucks Q3 results

10:55-What does this tell us?

Popular food stocks are down big over the last month and according to the news it’s because of the rising popularity of Ozempic and other weight loss drugs. In this episode we talk about what they are and what impact they are having on the most recent market downturn.

00:00-What is Ozempic and how could it impact stocks?

02:36-Why is this a big story?

05:38-What’s really going on with stocks?

08:37-What should we be doing about it?

Paul Tudor Jones was on CNBC yesterday talking about his thoughts on the stock market and why he thinks it’s a challenging environment for equity investors right now. In this episode we break down his comments, what we should be thinking about as investors, and ultimately what we can do about any of it.

00:00-Paul Tudor Jones is not a fan of stocks right now

01:38-Stock headwind 1 - Global conflict

05:42-Stock headwind 2 - U.S. Fiscal Situation

08:31-The bond markets and possible recession

10:04-Paul Tudor Jones recap and thoughts

Hershey’s is one of the largest and most recognizable chocolate manufacturers in the world. Hershey’s stock has almost doubled the performance of the S&P 500 over the past 30 years, but is down 30% from its high in May 2023. In this episode we walk through Hershey’s business and do a stock analysis to see if HSY is worth buying.

00:00-Hershey’s - Decadent Dividend Growth

02:13-Who are they and what do they do?

05:58-What are some risks to their business?

09:49-Hershey’s vs Mr Beast

12:48-how are their operations?

15:02-HSY valuation

18:05-Overall thoughts

In this episode we walk through my entire dividend growth portfolio to reveal how much dividend income I made over the last month, what my annual dividends are on a $222,000 account, what stocks I bought and sold, and the overall performance using Schwab portfolio tools.

00:00-Portfolio recap for September 2023

01:50-How Schwab calculates returns

03:55-Dividend income

06:09-Stocks I bought and sold this month

09:50-Best and worst performers

12:01-Overall thoughts on the previous month

All over the financial news and media we’re hearing about a potential recession. What it might mean for the economy, what it might mean for investors, but why are there so many different points of view on it? And what, if anything should we be doing about it? In this episode we break down what it means to be in a recession, what impact it has on stocks, and how we should approach it going forward.

00:00-Are you tired of hearing about recessions yet?

01:43-How is a recession determined?

05:20-Why do recessions matter?

05:53-How have stocks done in the last 3 recessions?

08:01-What should investors do about it?

If you buy dividend paying stocks, you have probably come across people on the internet who are quick to question your ability to do simple math. The question of dividend stocks vs growth stocks is one that people are really passionate about, but like most things the answer isn’t as easy as it seems. In this episode we break down the misconceptions about dividend stocks and how they compare to growth stocks.

00:00-Do Dividends come out of the stock price?

04:26-Dividend stocks have no good ideas for growth

06:37-You can just sell shares for income

08:04-Growth stocks will always outperform dividend stocks

10:10-Stock investing and emotions

Dollar General is the largest retailer in the U.S. by number of stores with over 19,000. It’s stock has also been an awesome growth story more than 3x the S&P 500 in Total Return by end of 2022. But in 2023 Dollar General has lost over 56% of it’s value. In this episode we walk through Dollar General’s business and do a stock analysis to see if DG is a buy now.

00:00-Dollar General - Dividend Growth on Sale

02:18-What’s going on in their business?

11:10-What are some risks to their business?

15:57-DG valuation

21:06-Overall thoughts

The Federal Reserve decided to keep rates unchanged at the latest FOMC meeting but provided guidance that more rate increases might be on the way. What does this mean for stocks? In this episode we break down what Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments mean, the impact they are likely to have on stocks, and what we should do about it as investors.

00:00-The latest FOMC meeting kept rates unchanged

02:13-Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the labor market

05:24-The Fed’s plan to get inflation down

07:40-What to expect as it relates to interest rates and stocks

11:27-So what should investors do about it?

A question that every investor struggles with is knowing how many stocks you should own in your portfolio. In this episode we listen to 2 of the greatest investors of all time (Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch) and break down the different scenarios so you’ll have a better idea of what the answer is for you.

00:00-What you’ve heard about diversification is wrong

01:32-Warren Buffett’s thoughts on Diversification

06:32-Peter Lynch on stock investing

07:58-Peter Lynch on diversification

08:58-How well we understand our stocks matters

10:18-How to decide how many stocks you should own

Believe it or not, Crocs aren’t just the quirky shoes your daughter and all of her friends wear to school. They’re a $5 billion business that has some of the most popular celebrity endorsers in the world, and a stock that has outpaced the S&P 500 by over 4X in the past 5 years. In this episode we walk through Crocs’ business and do a stock analysis to see if CROX is a buy now.

00:00-Comfy, Casual, Crocs

01:54-What’s going on in their business?

05:59-What are some risks to their business?

09:17-CROX valuation

13:39-Overall thoughts

TSLY is the YieldMax Options Income ETF based around Tesla (TSLA) stock. With their extremely high dividend yields and online popularity, YieldMax ETFs like TSLY have seen a huge influx in money going into the funds. In this video we’re going to do a deep dive on TSLY, how it works, and what kind of investor it makes sense for.

00:00-YieldMax ETFs like TSLY are growing like crazy

02:44-TSLY ETF Approach and Methodology explained

09:41-How does TSLY compare to JEPI?

11:46-Risks investors should know with TSLY

13:16-Who exactly is TSLY for?

SCHD is underperforming in 2023, both against the S&P 500 and against other Dividend ETFs. In this episode we break down why SCHDs performance hasn’t matched previous years and what it means going forward.

00:00-The SCHD is underperforming its peers

01:30-Comparing to other Dividend ETFs performance

03:13-How interest rates affect dividend stocks

06:10-Comparing criteria of each Dividend ETF vs SCHD

09:42-What this means for the future of SCHD

Nike is an iconic brand that has made sneakers into big business. Over the past 20 years they have just about tripled the return of the S&P 500. In this episode we walk through Nike’s business and do a stock analysis to see if NKE is a buy now.

00:00-Nike - Turning sneakers into big business

01:56-What’s going on in their business?

08:48-What are some risks to their business?

11:20-NKE valuation

15:33-Overall thoughts

In this episode we walk through my entire dividend growth portfolio to reveal how much dividend income I made over the last month, what my annual dividends are on a $224,000 account, what stocks I bought and sold, and the overall performance using Schwab portfolio tools.

00:00-Introducing monthly portfolio recaps

02:23-Dividend income

05:10-Stocks I bought and sold this month

07:35-Best and worst performers

10:15-Overall thoughts on the previous month

JEPI is JP Morgan’s Equity Premium Income ETF. It’s one of the most popular ETFs that has seen a ton of money flow into it. It also has a devoted online following that sings it’s praises. In this video we’re going to do a deep dive on JEPI and I’ll show you why I think it’s wrong for most investors.

00:00-JEPI is one of the most popular ETFs out there

02:53-JEPI’s ETF Approach and Criteria explained

09:56-How should we expect JEPI perform in certain markets

12:29-How has it actually performed?

17:17-What scenarios does JEPI make sense in?

20:23-Additional risks you take with JEPI

I just added Visa and Starbucks to my portfolio. Sometimes as investors we try to get too clever with it and start looking at stocks nobody is talking about, or trying to find companies at insane valuations. It’s just human nature - we want to feel like we have an edge that others aren’t seeing. But sometimes the best investments are the most obvious ones, we just have to get out of our own way.

On today’s Build Invest Live podcast, we do a stock analysis and deep dive on my decision to buy Visa, and how it’s a great example of getting in our own way of success as investors.

00:00-I just added these 2 stocks to my portfolio

03:06-Visa’s business and fundamentals are amazing

07:25-Visa (V) valuation

11:27-Visa stock analysis recap

12:40-Risks to Visa’s business

17:29-Visa vs Mastercard vs American Express

18:58-Why investors ignore the obvious

I bought Apple at the top before Q3 earnings and since then AAPL stock has dropped 10% and people have had fun dunking on me in the comments. But how did Apple actually perform last quarter and has anything really changed in my Apple investment thesis? In this episode of the Build Invest Live podcast, we’ll revisit my investment in Apple, talk about their Q3 performance, as well as why I’m glad I had people telling me I’m dumb in the comments. We’ll also go do a portfolio earnings round up on my other holdings that announced recently, namely WalMart.

00:00-Portfolio Earnings Roundup

00:33-Stock Portfolio update - How am I doing?

02:08-Revisiting my AAPL stock buy

02:56-An important lesson about comments and criticism

04:49-How did Apple perform compared to my investment thesis?

07:36-Why not wait to buy?

09:30-How did Walmart (WMT) do in Q2?

Should you invest in index funds or individual stocks? If you’re confused about this, I don’t blame you. On this episode of the Build Invest Live podcast we break down the pros and cons of investing in index funds vs individual stocks and talk through the things you need to consider to determine what makes the most sense for you. (00:00)-Index funds or stocks, why is it so confusing? (01:09)-Professionals can’t beat the market (02:27)-My personal story with index funds (03:58)-But can you actually beat the market? (05:30)-2 simple examples of beating the market (08:02)-What does Warren Buffet say about it? (09:27)-What are your chances of success? (10:42)-Efficient Market Theory and the stock market (13:01)-These are the type of questions we need to ask ourselves (14:20)-Everyone else’s opinion doesn’t matter

In this episode I reveal my $227,000 Dividend Growth portfolio, including all my different holdings, the actual strategy that I’m using to pick stocks, the dividend income I’m earning, and the different account types and tools I’m using now that I’ve mostly transitioned everything to Schwab.

00:00-Transparency matters

01:32-What’s my portfolio strategy?

03:22-Schwab account summary

05:18-Portfolio holdings

10:28-Portfolio dividend income

11:28-Portfolio performance

13:09-Portfolio tools

Apple was one of those companies that I never bought because I’m always waiting for it to come down in price and meet my value criteria. With big tech being overvalued right now, it definitely wasn’t a time for me to finally buy, was it? Well, it was. On this episode of the build invest live podcast we’re going to walk through my thought process on buying Apple at the top and why I think the biggest company in the US is still going to be a long-term winner even at these prices. Also, we’ll go through some earnings results on companies in my dividend growth portfolio, and take a look at how it’s performing overall.

00:00-I bought Apple stock at the top

01:22-Why I sold Waste Management for Apple

02:21-AAPL Valuation

03:19-The 3 main reasons I like AAPL even at these prices

04:26-Apple’s advantage with AI

06:17-Earnings recap: McDonald’s (MCD)

07:18-What I like about MCD going forward

08:29-Earnings recap: Valero (VLO)

10:21-Portfolio update

Forever I’ve told people new to investing to simply buy an S&P 500 index fund and focus on increasing their income and investment. It’s easy and it works. But after reading all the comments from the previous SCHD video I started looking into the past performance of a 2 ETF portfolio that absolutely crushes the S&P 500. In this episode of the Build Invest Live podcast we’re going to go over that portfolio that just happens to combine the best parts of the S&P 500 with the dividend growth and reliability of high quality, undervalued dividend stocks.

00:00-Comments on the last video got me thinking

01:05-The SCHD and VGT combination

03:16-2 concerns to deal with

04:06-Adjusting for exposures

05:35-Alternative: SPY and QQQ

07:31-Alternative: SCHD and SCHG

08:54-Alternative: VIG and VGT

10:13-Overall thoughts on SCHD and VGT

11:53-Weekly dividend growth portfolio update

SCHD is the Schwab Dividend ETF that is extremely popular and has performed very well over the past 10 years - but it has a secret to its success that pretty much nobody ever talks about and I’m not sure they even know about it. In this episode of the Build Invest Live podcast we’re going to break down the secret to what makes SCHD different from other dividend ETFs, show you how a little bit of effort can get you a wealth of information that no one is paying attention to, and walk through a head to head comparison of SCHD with some of its peers.

00:00-SCHD has a secret that no one is talking about

03:14-How ETFs are constructed

04:12-How do I find this information?

05:17-SCHD Stock criteria

09:48-VIG stock criteria

11:51-VYM stock criteria

13:07-DGRO stock criteria

15:16-Why has SCHD underperformed?

15:57-Is SCHD still the King of Dividend ETFs?

Sometimes we just buy things because we want to. We know we shouldn’t do it. But we do it anyway. Well I just did that with a stock that didn’t meet any of my primary value criteria. And that stock is Walmart. In this episode of the Build Invest Live podcast I’m going to walk through my Walmart evaluation, how my own personal experience with Walmart influenced my thinking, and why I decided to buy in spite of my rules. We’ll also do a quick update on my dividend growth portfolio and spoiler alert - we’re starting to see signs of life.

00:00-Walmart didn’t meet any of my criteria, but I bought it

00:38-The 3 things that intrigued me about Walmart

02:40-Evaluation of Walmart’s stock

04:32-Comments from Walmart’s CFO

05:57-Why I ended up buying Walmart’s stock

06:33-My experience with Seeking Alpha

07:49-Update on my dividend growth portfolio

Sometimes we miss out on a stock that we like because we’re waiting for a pullback that never happens. Well last week I was finally able to buy a stock I’ve been watching and waiting on for years - United Healthcare. In this episode of the Build Invest Live podcast I talk about what led to the opportunity to buy, my stock evaluation criteria and how UNH matched up to it, as well as why I decided to buy now.

00:00-I finally bought United Healthcare

01:53-How did an opportunity to buy UNH present itself?

04:02-My dividend growth stock evaluation criteria

06:51-How Does United Healthcare match up to the evaluation criteria?

09:26-Digging deeper on Price to Free Cash Flow

13:01-Looking forward on my new UNH position

Millionaire status is all you hear about online, whether in articles, videos, or tweets. But achieving a million dollar net worth shouldn’t be your primary goal with investing at the start. In this episode of the Build Invest Live podcast we dive into how generating income to pay your monthly bills is a better goal and helps you build up the right habits to build wealth for the long term.

00:00-Millionaire is overused online

01:26-Why “just do this for 30 years straight” doesn’t work

05:27-Why millionaire status can be misleading

06:14-Net worth example

09:05-Connecting dividend income to your monthly bills

09:40-A better approach - an income snowball

15:39-Another way to get excited about investing for beginners

NVIDIA's stock soared after earnings because of a good quarter and off the charts guidance. Is this a good time to buy though? In this episode of the Build Invest Live show we talk through that as well as the Ledger Recover controversy and if your crypto is safe. Lastly a quick update on my Dividend Growth portfolio after the first 6 months.

00:00-Welcome to the Build Invest Live show

00:31- NVIDIA stock is soaring after earnings

01:38-NVIDIA valuation breakdown and should we be buying?

06:14-Ledger causes controversy with recovery feature

07:52-Can Ledger give up your seed phrase?

09:29-Why would Ledger do this?

11:49-Why self-custody is one of the biggest hurdles for bitcoin / crypto

15:29-Is your crypto safe on a Ledger?

17:10-My dividend portfolio update