Happy Monday,
The market is still reacting to the war in Iran. Oil prices surged again over the weekend to more than $100.
Dow Futures show a 2% drop expected when the Market opens today.
This is your reminder to think long-term and not react emotionally. Market volatility can create opportunity to add to quality investments at a discount.
Today, I’ll share my latest monthly portfolio update.
Topics Covered:
Dividend Portfolio Update
Dividend Raises This Week
Oil Prices Surging - My Playbook
The Key Story
Dividend Stocks are Crushing the Market (Here's My Next Move)
Watch here: https://youtu.be/218Y0vbZ6b0
Dividend investing is absolutely crushing it in early 2026. Last month, my personal dividend growth stock portfolio hit an all-time high in total value at $322,000. It also earned record dividend income at over $2,200.
Right now, we are essentially looking at two different stock markets:
Software stocks are seeing a massive sell-off.
Dividend and value stocks are hitting all-time highs.
Here is a look at how some of my core long-term dividend positions are performing so far this year:
Altria Group (MO): Up 20% year to date.
Exxon Mobil (XOM): Up 23% year to date.
Hess Midstream (HESM): Up 13.9% year to date.
MPLX LP (MPLX): Up 9.5% year to date.
📉 The Warren Buffett Lesson & What I'm Buying
The market is currently panicking around AI uncertainty, which is compressing software multiples and driving prices down.
As Warren Buffett teaches, uncertainty creates opportunities, and investors should be greedy when others are fearful. Because of this indiscriminate sector selling, I am using the dip to aggressively buy tech—specifically Microsoft (MSFT).
My Latest Buy: I spent $4,300 to buy 11 shares of MSFT at an average cost of $397.77 per share.
The Valuation: Microsoft is currently trading at a forward P/E ratio of 23, one of the lowest multiples it has traded at recently. * The Growth: This multiple is essentially the same valuation as Exxon Mobil, but analysts project Microsoft's annual earnings per share to grow rapidly, averaging between 18% and 19%.
📊 March Madness Sale & New Spreadsheet Tool
I've been working on a secret project for months, and it's finally live.
We just launched Dividend Data for Spreadsheets. This is a brand-new Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel add-in.
It lets you easily access all our live terminal data directly in your spreadsheets to build powerful portfolio trackers.
To celebrate the launch, we are running our March Madness Sale:
You can lock in 50% off our annual Pro and Max plans.
This is the best deal we will ever offer, and you lock in that discounted price every single year.
Get 50% Off PRO: https://www.dividenddata.com/march-madness-sale
Dividend News
🚀 Dividend Raises This Week
DELL - Dell raises dividend by 20% to $0.63
WM - Waste Management raises quarterly dividend by 14.5% to $0.945/share
ASO - Academy Sports and Outdoors raises dividend by 15.4% to $0.15
ACM - AECOM raises quarterly dividend by 19.2% to $0.31/share
KFY - Korn Ferry raises quarterly dividend by 14.6% to $0.55/share
ROST - Ross Stores raises dividend by 10% to $0.445
Oil Prices Rising!
Oil Prices Surge as War Rages! - My Energy Stock Playbook
The Key Lesson: Don't Chase Oil Majors at All-Time Highs
While major producers like ExxonMobil and Chevron are printing money right now, oil is a highly cyclical business. If you are investing for the long term, buying at the peak of an oil price surge is often the worst time to start a position. I prefer to be contrarian and buy these companies when they are deeply out of favor.
Instead of chasing the oil majors, my strategy focuses on a sneaky side of the energy sector: Midstream Oil & Gas.
Here is why I prefer midstream companies in this environment:
They are heavily shielded from direct oil price fluctuations.
They collect reliable fees for transportation and pipelines (often backed by minimum volume commitments).
They offer high dividend yields combined with fantastic dividend growth histories.
3 Energy Stocks on My Radar
In the new video, I analyze businesses from completely different sides of the energy market to highlight these dynamics:
Texas Pacific Land (TPL): A unique, high-margin royalty producer that is up 75% YTD and practically prints money when oil is high.
Hess Midstream (HESM): A dividend growth machine with a forward yield near 7.8% that raises its payment every single quarter.
MPLX LP (MPLX): A midstream giant with a 7.37% yield that recently accelerated its dividend increases by 12.5%.
(Bonus: I also touch on Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) and Energy Transfer (ET)!)
If you want to see the full analysis, my thoughts on exactly when to buy the oil majors, and my long-term oil price prediction, you need to check out the video.
How did you like today’s newsletter?
If you want to follow along with the stock research tools I use in the video, we are currently running our March Madness Sale at DividendData.com. You can lock in 50% off an annual Pro membership, which includes our terminal and our brand-new spreadsheet add-in.
📅 Keep Investing. Stay informed.
– Zach
Founder, Dividend Data
P.S. Questions or suggestions? Reply to this email—I'd love your feedback!
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Disclaimer: Dividend Dividend (Dividend Data LLC) is not a professional financial service. All materials released from Dividend Data (Dividend Data LLC) are for educational and entertainment purposes. Dividend Data (Dividend Data LLC) is not a replacement for a professional's opinion. Contributors to the Dividend Data (Dividend Data LLC) might have equities mentioned in the newsletter