In many homes there are gardens, most people like them for their color, for the ability to grow, the time spent doing it and sitting back and looking at the results. Unless you have a large garden, it does not take too much time in a week to do. It is also very possible to have many natural plants in your garden which means even less time to do and more time to watch. Recently Dale Jackson interviewed some investment managers and wrote an article Is it a weed or flower? Tend to your portfolio.

If you are a gardener, then it is possible to use the metaphor to link to investing. It is great to go to a garden center to buy more plants and plant them. You still must ensure they receive sunlight, have a good soil or nutrients and eventually the sun will shine everyday and the plants need watering. After the plants are in, not everyone will achieve peak performance there always is a laggard. You have the option to try to help it recover or replace it. Maybe the plant needs more sunshine, maybe you like the shape of it but the plant really likes shade and it is in the sun. There are many maybe, just like gardening, but you still do it.

Sometimes you will look at the individual plant and not look at the overall garden. If the overall garden is doing well, then maybe you are doing the right thing. In a diversified portfolio not all stocks perform the same, some are up, some are consistent and some might be down but not too much. If you bought a stock for the dividends and the dividends are being paid, but the stock is flat, it can still be a keeper. Perhaps in the next investment cycle it will be your best performer. The trick is therefore reviewing the basic fundamentals of the stock – cash flows, dividend payments, competition, etc. When they change, other alternatives are to be looked at and found.

Many natural plants have flowers, but in another person’s point of view they may be weeds. A weed is something you do not like. In some cases dandelion is a weed, but it produces a lovely yellow flower and then as it goes to seed, the lawn can be easily cut.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in this case the link was gardening and weed or a flower? Whatever hobby or interest you have, you can use the metaphor to your investing in order for you to make a decision. The fundamentals are important, over time you learn what you like and do not like and when to make changes. The reality is a good investment held over time will increase in value; seemingly an investment that goes below what you paid for is a method to losing wealth and you want to try to avoid it. Whatever method you use, if you think a few years out similar to the garden your can enjoy the blooms.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.