What a crazy August we just experienced. Volatility reared its head once again causing the market and many individual stocks to rise and fall seemingly on a whim. It was very difficult to make any sense of the market especially when trying to pick a stock to buy. Of course, the benefit of volatility is that new investment opportunities line up. Volatility enables us to potentially buy stocks at sale prices that we intend to hold for the long haul.

During the month of August I started to look at some potential new stocks to add to my portfolio especially since I started to sell some of my current holdings in an effort to “streamline” what I own. Looking back at my August stock considerations I was considering one of my old recent favorites, Altria Group, Inc. (MO) along with two newcomers Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (LEG) and LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB) that have both been trading lower and thus offering some pretty compelling current yields. With that being said:

I have added to my taxable account 10 shares at $44.05 for a total investment of $440.50 in Altria Group, Inc. (MO). With this recent purchase my taxable account holdings in MO now totals 180 shares with a market value of $7,873.20. I also hold 35 shares of MO in my ROTH account with a market value of $1,530.90.

I have added to my taxable account 18 shares at $72.88 for a total investment of $1,311.84 in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB). This is a new holding in my account.

I don’t add new stocks to my portfolio often but when I do I tend to make them very long term positions. Looks like LEG has started to run the last couple of days in August too. Maybe that will be a September consideration of mine especially if it remains at around $37 or below.