November was an interesting month for the markets, with the election of Trump, there were some very pronounced gains in certain sectors of the US market. The rally following the election brought the S&P500 to new heights, but post-election honeymoons have an expiry date. No one knows for sure when that will be, but if anyone asks, I don’t care. The purpose of my investments is for the long-term, so short-term volatility doesn’t matter.

Now that we have that out of the way, why don’t we see which sectors went green and which went red in November. The image below represents the S&P500 from November 7 until December 7. I’m a visual person, so when I found the S&P500 map at Finviz.com (thank you twitter), I found it easy to see the sectors that seem to have enjoyed the largest boost since the U.S. elections: financials and energy. I hope you find this stuff as useful as I do!

The markets that I track were up across the board in November (Nov 1-Nov 30):
S&P +3.4%, NASDAQ +2.6%, TSX +2.0%.

While it is great to see lots of green figures in my portfolio tracker, I’m more interested in seeing dividend increases and growing my passive income. I had been on the investing sidelines for awhile, but I finally made a move adding 4 shares of Coca Cola (KO) to the Niche Fund. More to come on my recent purchase in a separate post! I have been building up my other savings recently so this has been my excuse for fewer dividend growth stock investments of late.

November was a quiet month on the dividend income front, I received a dividend payment from Royal Bank. My November dividend income amounted to $4.98.

November dividends received: 

RY $4.98
Total: $4.98

When compared to November 2015, my dividend income grew by +4%, from $4.78 to $4.98. My 2016 total now stands at $109.70! Many of the firms in my portfolio have increased their dividends since I initiated a position. Each time they do, it contributes to growth in my portfolio without making any new equity purchases.

The holdings in my Niche Fund pay quarterly dividends so some months will have more income reflected than others. November was a quiet month…

My Dividend Income page has a calendar showing when I expect to receive dividends from each of my holdings.

Did you make any stock purchases in November? Do you find it a slow month for dividends? What stocks are on your watchlist for December?