PORTFOLIO VALUE UP FOR THE FIRST HALF OF MAY!

I've seen some nice gains in the value of my portfolio for the first half of May.  I'm doubting the trend will continue, since I'm expecting to see the usual summer slump in June or July as people get busy with vacations and summer activities.  Don't put much stock in jobs report.  Seems like they pull those numbers out of the air and things aren't improving like they'd have you believe.  It's true that I started a better job, although the hourly pay is lower than my previous job.  The number of hours I get to work on the new job and the job conditions make it a much better job, but it's still low pay and not 40 hours a week.  So I'm not convinced the Obama administration has been very effective in their economic efforts.  The bright side of any slump in the market is that I'm buying not selling shares.  So a slump in the market means I can buy more shares for less money.

Collected oil royalties from ROYT last week.  Their price has fluctuated with the erratic behavior in the oil markets, but I believe it will be a good investment in the long run.  In the mean time, it's nice to collect the dividends every month, even if it's not a big money dividend.  Small amounts on a monthly basis can really add up over time.  Reinvesting it all for now to build up additional shares while the price is so low.  It's possible that they could eventually go under, but I don't think it's likely.  This has been a speculative investment from the get go, so I didn't invest any money I couldn't afford to lose.  Don't really think I'm in danger of losing much and if things go the way I think they will, I could make a nice tidy profit.

May is a 13 dividend month for me, so it's one of the lower income months.  Really looking forward to the 18 dividends coming in June.  Twice a year, my portfolio generates 20 dividend payments per month.  The rest of the year it's 13, 17, 18.  Even at 13 dividends per month, that's an average of one dividend every 2.39 days!  Just think if you got paid from your job that often.  With 192 dividend payments per year, I actually average a dividend payment every 1.9 days!  So with reinvested dividends, I get paid every 1.9 days and the dividends go up every time I get paid.