Sold some Wyndham Worldwide, Verizon. Bought Tanger Factory Outlets, Apple Hospitality

Last month I sold half of my Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) position. I had a big capital gain and Wyndham had ballooned to the largest holding I had by a longshot. It was just too big and I felt the need to reduce exposure. I still like Wyndham, and so I still hold a position roughly half of what it was. There's plenty of dividend growth ahead, even if revenue and EBITDA growth is slower than expected. It was time to raise some cash.

Speaking of which, I'm using these high stock market levels to get out of several businesses I no longer want to be in. Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is another one of those. Long story short, the telecom industry is in a period of profound disruption and I am rather unsure whether Verizon's strategy of acquiring the Huffington Post and AOL is the forward-looking way. Nimbler peers such as T-Mobile, which do not have the burden of a gigantic dividend to pay, appear much more able to respond and lead the curve. 

On the other hand, I nibbled a little more on Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE: APLE). I like being invested in hotels, and this, I felt, was an undervalued, income-oriented choice. I continue to like Apple Hospitality because it is underowned, underloved and has a solid business model of owning and building name-brand hotels in suburban markets which are somewhat insulated from the global economy.

Bought BP, Inc, Public Storage

My British asset buying spree continues as long as the British Pound remains in the dumps. I continue to see the Pound as a fundamentals safehaven, at least vis a vis the Euro. Therefore, I've continued buying Pound-denominated assets. I've bought my fill of British Telecom, and so this time I added shares of BP, Inc (NYSE: BP). I've written articles about this several times, and I am very confident in this company's much-needed turnaround as well as its low capital expenditure on brownfield projects. The dividend is solid, and the price is dirt cheap when measured in Dollars.

For a family member's account I added shares of Public Storage (NYSE: PSA). I added Public Storage because this person has less risk tolerance than I do. I like PSA, it is trading at around its average valuation, and this is an excellent dividend growth business.

Bought BT, United Technologies

First of all, I apologize to anyone who might happen to have been following this journal regularly. I just realize I forgot to continue updating my stock activities here, and have neglected to do so for the past few weeks. For that I'm sorry, and I will try to turn a new leaf by being more regular starting today.

Since New Year's I purchased BT Group (NYSE: BT) for a family member. I did so because I feel the British Pound is grossly undervalued vis a vis the Dollar, and especially the Euro and Yen. As long as that condition persists, I will continue buying British assets, and this one has to be near the top of the list. I like BT's generous dividend. However, I don't feel comfortable buying more for myself because it is already a very significant part of my portfolio. Diversification.

Speaking of which, I also added shares of United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) for my personal account. I have a very long investing horizon, and wanted something a little more cyclical for myself. If the economy is going to accelerate under Trump, then Industrials will be a good place to be and this is one of my favorite among them. My choice was ultimately between this and Stag Industrial, but I decided against adding yet more REIT exposure. Once again, balance and diversification govern my decisions. I do not want a repeat of 2014 when I overloaded on energy. That will never happen again.

SOLD all shares of AT&T. Bought Leggett & Platt, Public Storage REIT, AbbVie Inc

As I mentioned in my articles on Seeking Alpha, I got rid of all my AT&T stock as soon as I heard of the AT&T - Time Warner deal. The acquisition, combined with DirecTV, I feel is just too much to digest. I don't know what the business will look like in two years, and I don't like that uncertainty so I sold it all. I'd been buying AT&T since 2013, had a nice capital gain, plus some very nice dividends.

I replaced AT&T with a combination of Leggett & Platt and Public Storage REIT. Both of these names are way down, especially Public Storage. Leggett & Platt, in particular, has a 45 year history of raising its dividend, and so I found it a fitting replacement for AT&T. As for Public Storage, it remains a growth name despite some slowness in the industry overall. I'm fine with that.

Later I also loaded up on AbbVie with excess cash I had floating around. AbbVie was down huge on what I thought were actually pretty decent earnings. I like AbbVie, I like its 12% dividend hike, and I really like that 4.6% yield. Had I known AbbVie were going to drop so much I would have saved some of my AT&T money and plowed some of it into AbbVie instead.

Bought Bristol-Myers Squibb, Swapped Pacific Coast Oil Trust for Permian Basin Trust

 After looking at Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and liking the stock, I've decided to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. I opened a small position for an account I manage on behalf of a family member. As I've said on Seeking Alpha and elsewhere, I consider Bristol-Myers a quintessential example of 'Growth at a Reasonable Price.' 

In addition, I've sold all my shares of Pacific Coast Oil Trust (NYSE: ROYT). I just don't see the oil price regimen going anywhere right now, and that spells bad news for a trust that has a fairly high cost of production and needs to distribute in order to not be dissolved. ROYT ran another deficit last month, and time is beginning to run out. Even if ROYT does survive, there are only so many years worth of waterflood reserves in the ground. 

I switched it out for Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: PBT), and did so because Permian Basin Trust can at least distribute some cash to shareholders at these prices. PBT has a much lower cost of production, with a much longer reserve life using existing, waterflood technologies. 

Sold last of Ventas, sold small position in J&J

Quick update, I've been doing some selling. Last week I sold the remainder of my Ventas (NYSE: VTR) shares. Shares just kept getting higher and higher, and I had some very substantial gains, so I took them. I also did the same thing with a small position I held in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

Here is what I plan to do: I plan to leave about half of the proceeds in cash, and reinvest the other half, with some additional monthly contributions, into Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). It was either Phillips 66 or Schlumberger. I haven't taken this action yet, however.

Raising Cash, Selling Dead Weight

Over the last two weeks I sold a couple of things. First, as I mentioned in my articles, I sold my small position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). It's getting well above its average valuation and I wanted to lock in those gains.

I also sold half of my position in Aflac (NYSE: AFL) in a different account which I manage. I'd been long Aflac for several years, and as the company nears its ten-year average valuation, I've lightened up some and raised cash. I am still long Aflac and, in fact, I think it might have some more gains ahead of it.

I've also been selling some "Dead weight" in legacy energy positions. I got rid of a tiny position in Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE: KMI) which was lingering in an IRA which I manage for myself. Glad to be rid of that. Also, I sold a legacy position in Mid-Con Energy Partners (NYSE: MCEP). Frankly, I don't believe things are looking too well for that name if crude oil is going to remain in the 40s long-term, which looks increasingly likely. I may put some of the remaining capital into Williams Partners (NYSE: WPZ), or I may just hold onto the cash.

In this environment I am valuing cash more and more, and raising it where I can. There are some good values out there, such as AbbVie, British Telecom, Williams Partners and IBM, but I personally do not have much dry powder, so I am inclined to hold onto the cash I have at this point.

Bought Cisco Systems, British Telecom

More Brexit fallout, I pulled the trigger and added some British Telecom (NYSE:BT). (Using the old logo because I really hate the new one.) That dividend is about as safe as it gets, for Pound terms at least. British Telecom is a business I really believe in, in an economy I really believe in. IT was a choice between this and Vodafone, and frankly, since I have much more confidence in Britain than I do continental Europe, I chose BT. I will continue investing in the British economy for as long as people harbour irrational fears about it.

I also added shares of Cisco Systems (NYSE: CSCO). I added Cisco Systems because it is well undervalued, has a stellar balance sheet, modest growth and a nice 3.8% yield.

Sold some AT&T, replaced it with Omega Healthcare Investors

Last week I sold half of my shares in AT&T (NYSE:T) and replaced it with Omega Healthcare Advisors (NYSE: OHI).

I had bought shared of AT&T all through 2013, 2014 and 2015, and it was my biggest holding in most accounts I manage. With this move up my portfolios had become very overweight with this telecom giant. With AT&T passing its average ten-year valuation, and with dividend growth certain to be moderated by delevering, I went ahead and sold half of my AT&T.

I replaced it with Omega Healthcare Advisors, the biggest 'pure play' skilled nursing facility REIT. I did so because Omega is significantly undervalued, has a higher yield than AT&T, and because I could use to have more healthcare exposure in my portfolio. I've written an article about Omega on SA last month.