I'm Glad I Waited...

Back in October/November 2008 when I began looking to expand my portfolio (it consisted then of about 5 stocks), there were a lot of stocks I was looking at. Today, I went back and looked at 2 of them, and I am very glad I waited.

When I looked at Atlas Pipeline Holdings (AHD) and Atlas Pipeline Partners (APL) they were trading at around $13 (AHD) and $22 (APL). Now AHD trades for $1.36 and APL for $3.40! That's about an 85% loss for each one! One of the primary reasons I was considering them was because of the relatively high dividend (I believe it was around 20%?). Well, the dividend for AHD dropped from 51¢ to 6¢ (though the stock has fallen in price that the yield is about the same), and APL went from 96¢ to 38¢ (with another dividend drop expected).

Just goes to show you that you shouldn't chase high dividends. Though I must admit that at these prices it is tempting to put maybe $100 in one of them.