You don't have to have been an investor for long to understand that there are no guarantees in the financial markets. However, when companies have consecutively raised dividends for 50, 43 and 40 years like Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Abbott Labs (ABT) and Sysco (SYY) below, you can be nearly certain that they will do so again. Investors can take advantage of this relative certainty by using these investments to grow dividend income over time. This method of investing in companies that continually raise dividends is a powerful method of compounding returns over time, making the dividend picks below a safe and consistent means of building wealth.

Johnson & Johnson has long been a favorite with dividend investors, raising its dividend for 50 consecutive years dating back to 1963. JNJ is one of the premier global healthcare product manufacturers. The company, which boasts a roster of highly valuable consumer healthcare

Walgreen Company, (WAG), which is a leading drugstore chain in the United States and increasingly abroad, offers tremendous value to long term value and income investors. The price of Walgreen's shares were hampered early in 2012 by a lack of an agreement with major prescription fulfillment partner Express Scripts (ESRX). However, shares recovered sharply in July due to an agreement that has the company continuing to partner with the company.

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2012 has seen Walgreen make a major international acquisition with the purchase of Boot's, which is an English chain of drugstores. Walgreen recently announced that the company has priced a massive debt offering, borrowing $4 billion for exceptionally low rates (just 4.4% on the longest-dated tranche, due 2042). Although the large debt issuance increases the debt on Walgreen's books dramatically (two-fold), the extremely attractive rates the company secured are testimony to the company's financial strength

You don't have to have been an investor for long to understand that there are no guarantees in the financial markets. However, when companies have consecutively raised dividends for 55, 50, and 35 years, you can be nearly certain that they will do so again. This method of investing in companies that continually raise dividends is a powerful method of compounding returns over time, making the dividend picks below safe and consistent means of building wealth.

Emerson Electric (EMR) Emerson Electric, which is a highly diversified electronics company that provides the equipment necessary to make major infrastructure and industrial facilities operate efficiently. Among dividend investors, the company is well-known for its dedication to increasing its annual dividend, which it has done for 55 consecutive years. Most recently, EMR raised its dividend 16% to $1.60 annually. At the current share price of $51.52, the dividend yields 3.2% for investors. EMR

Groupon (GRPN) continued to execute its impressive long run growth with Q2 2012 earnings reported on August 13th, posting earnings of 4 cents per share (8 cents per share adjusted) on revenue of $568 million. The earnings exceed analyst expectations, while the revenue fell 1% shy of the consensus among analysts. The revenue fell near the midpoint of guidance from the company, which is most impressive considering the company gave guidance back in May, well before the worst of the European economic impacts were known.

Considering the company slid by nearly 50% since May as shown below, investors would be forgiven for expecting something less than a free-fall on the basis of the quarterly report.

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However, investors are overlooking the positives from the report, and have sent the shares down to an all-time low of $6 during after hours trading. The company guided appropriately on revenue and

In a recent article, I identified 2 stocks that were assessed as principal plays for investors seeking long-term exposure to the consumer food revolution that has occurred in the United States. That article, which identified two companies that offer long-term value, is available by following this link for access. Each of the investments in the previous article are "downstream" plays, or consumer retail environments. However, there are firms more "upstream," or in the production and distribution elements of the gourmet food industry, that also provide a way for investors to invest in this long run consumer evolution toward fresh ingredients and epicurean tastes.

The Hain Celestial Group (HAIN): Hain, which was founded in 1993, has a long tradition of offering niche food products, with a particular focus on organic offerings. The Melville, New York, (Long Island) based company manufactures and distributes its natural and organic products to distributors, supermarkets,

Dividend investors are typically well aware of large-cap dividend payers such as Kraft (KFT) and Walgreen's (WAG), which offer relative stability. They are also generally well aware of large dividends in sectors such as Energy Master Limited Partnerships (MLPS) and global shipping companies, both of which offer above-average yields but with significant price volatility due to their roles extracting and transporting commodities.

While opportunities abound in those areas, there are a number of small and mid-capitalization companies in a wide array of industries that receive less attention but offer lucrative opportunities for both equity price appreciation and attractive dividend yields. Small companies with attractive yields offer a twofold advantage in terms of returns: potential significant gains in share prices and the prospects for a growing dividend. Three of these firms are brought to the attention of investors below.

Click Software Technologies (CKSW): Israel-based Click Software Technologies provides software solutions for

United Technologies (UTX): United Technologies is a leader in technology and infrastructure for the building supply and aerospace industries and, at a market capitalization of over $70 billion, is a lesser known name than similar market capitalization stocks such as Kraft Foods (KFT), United Parcel Service (UPS), and ConocoPhillips (COP), all of which have market capitalizations of $72 billion. The Hartford, Connecticut based company has a rich tradition dating to the mid-1800s and employs nearly 200,000 worldwide. Although the parent company United Technologies may have limited name recognition, it operates a host of subsidiaries that are household names in the United States and across the world, such as Otis Elevators, Sikorsky Helicopters, Carrier heating and cooling building systems and Pratt & Whitney aerospace engines.

UTX has well diversified revenue streams, with its Pratt & Whitney unit edging out its Otis subsidiary in terms of revenue, as shown in the graphic

Consumers in the United States are demanding increasingly niche and high value added food products. The food revolution in the United States stretches from the explosive growth of portable food trucks that cover the urban landscape, the tilt of menus across the spectrum of restaurants toward gourmet or niche items, and the growth of gourmet food and kitchen supplies at retail establishments.

It is often said that small investors (i.e. non-money managers or institutional investors) lack the ability to compete with larger investors due to a disparity of information. However, there are many approaches that small investors can take to either level the playing field or minimize the impact of limited information over time. Below, I offer 3 principles that guide my investing protocol that will allow you to capitalize on the strength of being a small investor.

1. Invest in small, under-the-radar companies and those you have familiarity with. Success on Wall Street is about the access to and use of information. Although the rules put in place by the SEC and other regulatory bodies are intended to reduce unbalanced, or "asymmetrical" information, it is well known that insiders, including those involved in companies and Wall Street traders, have far more information at their disposal than independent investors that must

Dividend investors are often preoccupied with current dividend yields, which allow them to forecast largely predictable cash flow from their investments. However, far too few dividend investors focus on the often-lucrative approach of identifying future dividend payers and forming positions in them prior to the announcement of dividends. This can be lucrative due to the increase in share price that often accompanies new dividend issuance, which is typically viewed as positive for a stock for two primary reasons. First, the issuance of a dividend is an indication of confidence in future cash flows on the part of management. Second, dividend issuance allows companies to appeal to a broader set of investors, which often increases demand for shares on the public markets. Below, two companies that are highly likely to commence cash dividends in the near future are profiled. Investors in these shares prior to the announcement of dividend issuance are

Most investors have heard the mantra: Invest in best-of-breed companies. That strategy, however, typically results in investors sinking into larger market capitalization stocks and potentially missing smaller competitors that may be priced more attractively for their growth prospects. One investing angle that has proven very lucrative over time is identifying relatively undiscovered second-tier consumer product companies. Unlike their better-known competitors, many of these companies do not have name recognition, despite the fact that many of their products are well known by households in the United States.

Many second-tier companies are followed by few analysts and can have a solid string of earnings reports before being noticed by the broader market. Furthermore, second-tier companies often have first-tier brands within their portfolio. Ever heard of Chloraseptic, or Comet? They are two of the major brands owned by Prestige Brand Holdings (PBH), a New-Jersey based company.

Zynga (ZNGA), the maker of social media games on Facebook (FB) and mobile phone platforms, released its quarterly earnings July 25th and shocked investors with just a $0.01 profit after items, well short of the expected $0.05 profit. On news of that announcement, Facebook, the primary platform for Zynga's games, tumbled 6%. Groupon (GRPN) also lost 7% on the announcement, falling during early trading to $6.67. This brings up the following question: Why would an online discount voucher, retailer, and local e-commerce leader like Groupon go down sharply because a digital game maker saw disappointing results?

The answer? A witch hunt stock market that is trading on emotion and over-correlating results across industries. It's the epitome of a depressed market that often signals a bottom -- a nervous, jittery market that is taking out only loosely related companies with spurious business correlation.

Not that the market was treating Groupon based

Burger King (BKW) went public once more on June 20, which continues a long saga of fits and starts in the public markets for the company. When a private equity firm, 3G, took Burger King private just three years ago for $3.3 billion ($4 billion when including the assumption of debt), investors hammered the stock and sent it near historic lows.

Investors should note, however, that the new Burger King listing on June 20 is not a traditional IPO, as the shares are being listed by an investor in the United Kingdom, Justice Holdings, that purchased 29% of the shares outstanding for $1.4 billion. The impact of this type of listing is that fewer shares are made available than in the typical IPO process. Now that the company has been repackaged with a new stock market listing, the challenge to investors is whether there is value in the

Part of the appeal of small capitalization stocks (such as Central European Distribution and ID Systems below) and mid capitalization biotechnology stocks (such as Arena Pharmaceuticals below) is that they have the potential for outsized returns. However, these types of investments face challenges and must be considered in the broader context of a stock portfolio. The investments below face unique challenges and opportunities that may make them compelling choices for that small share of an equity portfolio that seeks outsized returns and accepts higher risk.

Central European Distribution Corporation (CEDC): This New Jersey based Eastern European spirits maker and distributor has all of the hallmarks of a fallen angel opportunity: a share price of 40 just 2 years ago, a turbulent past couple of years, and being forced to restate earnings and experiencing massive losses related to mark-to-market pricing of prior acquisitions. However, major infusions of capital have held

You don't have to have been an investor for long to understand that there are no certainties in the financial markets. However, when companies have raised dividends for 29, 55, and 57 consecutive years, you can be nearly certain that they will do so again. Investing in companies that continually raise dividends is a powerful method of compounding returns over time, making the dividend picks below safe and consistent means of building wealth.

Exxon (XOM) is an integrated oil and gas firm and is the world's largest company in terms of revenue. XOM has raised its annual dividend for 29 consecutive years and has paid out an annual dividend consecutively for over 100 years. The company's diversity of business lines and strong competitive position in a highly capital intensive industry motivated Standard & Poor's to identify XOM as a company with an exceptionally low risk assessment and an earnings quality

Although investors typically focus on fundamentals or technical analysis when assessing investments for their portfolios, the events surrounding the 4th of July holiday provide an opportunity for investors to focus to some degree on sentimentality and a desire to support businesses that instill patriotism. Now that the fireworks have died down on the holiday, we will conclude our 3-part series on publicly traded patriotic companies in the United States.

Each in this series of 3 articles articulates an alternative method of assessing patriotism, which can be accessed through these links: The first article focused on United States based global industrial leaders that are key exporters to the world. Article 2 identified patriotic companies that are transformative global consumer brands. Article 3 today identifies patriotic firms that have chosen to manufacture in the United States rather than less expensive locales abroad.

The United States has a rich tradition of

The social media infrastructure investment world has been abuzz of late, with a series of acquisitions. In May, Intuit (INTU) paid $423.5 million for Demandforce, a privately-held customer relationship management (C.R.M) firm. Microsoft (MSFT) followed suit with its acquisition of privately-held Yammer for $1.2 billion, which represented a price-sales ratio of 20. Yammer competitor Jive Software, Inc. (JIVE), which had declined from a post-IPO high of $28 per share in April to $14 in early June on lock-up expiration fears, has been on a tear since the acquisition of Yammer, rising nearly 50% in less than a month with above average volume to a current share price of $21.

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It's a good time to take stock of the company and the prospects for the stock, and evaluate whether there is any further potential for price appreciation for Jive. Jive provides software solutions that enable more efficient communication

Although investors typically focus on fundamentals or technical analysis when assessing investments for their portfolios, the 4th of July holiday provides an opportunity for investors to focus to some degree on sentimentality and a desire to support businesses that instill patriotism. There may even be a basis for patriotic stocks to outperform the broader market, at least during times of global conflict.

This is the second of three articles recommending companies that reflect patriotism in the United States. Each of the series of 3 articles articulates an alternative method of assessing patriotism. The first article focused on United States based global industrial leaders that are key exporters to the world. Article 2 today identifies patriotic companies that are transformative global consumer brands. Article 3 identifies patriotic firms that have chosen at great pains to manufacture in the United States despite opportunities to do so cheaper abroad.

One method

Starbucks (SBUX) has had an impressive run over the past three years. Since shuttering a number of underperforming stores in the United States, revenue, profit, and financial metrics have strengthened across the board. Net income tripled from FY 2009 to FY 2011 and investors have been richly rewarded, with shares quintupling over that time frame.

Recently, Starbucks described plans to expand vertically by acquiring La Boulange bakery and establishing its own baking operation. This follows its trend of recapturing value added across their product lines, as it did in 1998 by purchasing Tazo Tea, taking back in-house their retail coffee distribution agreement with Kraft in 2010, and acquiring Evolution Fresh in 2011. Although Starbucks has a spotty record when it comes to diversifying away from their core business (see: past experiments at online furniture sales, chat rooms, and music publishing through HEAR Music), they have

Dividend investors are typically well aware of the mega-cap dividend paying stocks such as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Procter & Gamble (PG). They are also generally well aware of large dividends in sectors such as Energy Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) and global shipping companies.

While opportunities abound in the above-mentioned well-covered areas, there are a number of small and mid-capitalization companies in a wide array of industries that have received far less attention, but offer lucrative opportunities for yield. Three of these firms are brought to the attention of investors below:

US Ecology (ECOL): Lacking solutions to the problem of nuclear waste is a long-term economic issue that will be a concern for the long term, regardless of changes in the U.S. economy. This company is in the waste management business, but it doesn't compete with the largest firm (Waste Management: WM) in that