STOCKS LOWER AFTER CUT ON DEBT WOES

U.S. stock markets ended lower today after Moody's downgraded Ireland's debt rating, while debt woes here at home continue to be a drag on stock performance. 

With not a lot of relief in site on debt worries, I tend to agree with Duke Energy (DUK) CEO, James Rogers, that the U.S. should pass incentives to bring U.S. profits home.  Our corporations have over $1 trillion in profits overseas and would be more likely to bring those profits home if U.S. tax laws were changed.  If companies had some incentive to bring this money home and invest in the U.S. modernizing and upgrading facilities, it would create jobs and provide more economic stimulus than the Obama taxpayer funded program.

On a personal note, I've added shares of Kraft Foods (KFT) to my IRA account and plan to continue an active stock purchase plan for the foreseeable future.  As long as the market lags and prices are down, I'll be looking to build on current positions and maybe add a few new ones to my taxable account as well as my IRA.     

FIRST OF JUNE

Here it is the first day of June, collected dividends from Conagra (CAG), Intel (INTC) and AFLAC (AFL).  Reinvested the dividend from AFLAC to purchase more shares, taking the dividends from Conagra and Intel to go toward purchasing shares in B & G Foods (BGS).  B&G had a dividend yield of 4.45% on their recent price of $19.11 and they turned more than 20 cents of each dollar in sales into profit, compared to 13 to 14 cents for Kraft and Nestle.  So I'm thinking they will be a good addition to my portfolio.  B&G is in the packaged food business, with such brands as Ortega taco shells and Polaner fruit spreads.  While it's a much smaller player than either Kraft or Nestle, they seem to have a knack for turning a profit.  I'll be adding B&G as a long term holding to my regular taxable portfolio.

The stock market took a dive today with the Dow ending 279.65 points lower or a drop of 2.22% based on fear of slowing recovery in world economies.  Pretty much what I was talking about in yesterday's post, although this summer's slowdown may be even more severe than usual.  With tremendous adversity comes tremendous opportunity for those who can stomach the risk.  I'll definitely be in the buying mode throughout the summer, should prices continue to decline.