FOLLOW UP ON ANNALY MORTGAGE MANAGEMENT

My sale of Windstream shares and purchase of Annaly Mortgage Management are complete.  Looks like I may be positioned to collect my first dividend payment from Annaly (NLY) either by the end of this month or sometime around the first part of 2011, depending on the ex-dividend date.  Either way I stand to collect over three times as much in dividend payments as I was making with Windstream.  As long as interest rates remain favorable I should be able to hold shares of the REIT for quite a while and continue collecting the increased dividend income.  At the same time I'll still be collecting a nice dividend payment from Windstream (WIN) shares that were paid for out of capital gains.  Was also able to keep back some of my original cash investment to hold as a reserve in my money market account, should I need the extra cash or find another investment I'd like to take advantage of. 

WINDSTREAM: ANOTHER FREE STOCK

My stake in Windstream Corp. (WIN:NASDAQ) is up by 28.84% since my initial purchase.  I've put in an order to sell most of my shares so I will regain all of my initial cash investment.  The remaining shares were paid for with profits (capital gains) from my investment in Windstream, making them essentially free stock.  I will have none of my own money tied up in these shares, so all past and future dividends plus any gains in share price from now on, are just icing on the cake.  Counting Windstream, I'm up to 5 different companies I've repeated this strategy with.  I'm looking to do more as opportunities present themselves, with a goal of building an entire portfolio of free dividend paying stocks.

As for the money I've pulled out of the stock, I've placed an order to purchase shares of Annaly Mortgage Management (NLY:NYSE).  NLY currently pays a dividend of $2.72 per share which represents a yield of 14.95% on their recent share price of $18.20.  While an increase in interest rates could hurt NLY's profits, I'm hoping to collect a nice return on dividends while rates are low, then trade out of the stock should rates begin to rise.  The goal here is to boost monthly cash flow from dividends with this one. 

TIME OFF WORK

Took a couple extra days off work this week.  Just needed some down time, so I went to the Isle of Capri casino in Booneville.  Played the slot machines for a couple of hours, lost $50, but I had a good time.  Decided to go to Sedalia for some shopping at Big Lots.  Didn't find anything there, but I did pick up a nice addition to my Egyptian collection, later in the day, at Hobby Lobby.  So it's been a relaxing weekend overall.

Going forward this week we'll be looking at the GDP report and the report on consumer confidence.  Experts aren't expecting much of either report, so any surprise gains could bode well for stocks.  Also, a great deal of money has been moving out of government bonds lately and the money has to go somewhere.  If a decent percentage is reinvested in the market we could see some additional gains.  I'm looking for the big push, one way or the other, to come after the November elections.  However, we could see movement before the elections as investors factor in expected election results.  Just have to wait and see.

Collected some good dividend payments in the past few weeks, including my last payment for this month from Windstream (WIN: NASDAQ).  They have a current dividend yield of 8.03% on their recent share price of $12.45.  However, I would caution that their current earnings may not support continued payment of such a high dividend.  Right now I'm holding on to the stock since I bought in at a lower price and my yield is closer to 10%, but I am watching it very closely.  If earnings do not pick up I may be selling my position and moving the money elsewhere.