The 2Q09 report indicates that Roberts is having success at implementing his lean manufacturing concept at CSL.

Two more dividend aristocrats raised their distributions last week, bringing the total number of raisers in the elite index to 30. This is quite impressive, given the fact that there are almost 5 more months to go before the year is out and that there are only 51 components in it.

Dover Corporation (DOV), manufactures industrial products and components, as well as provides related services and consumables in the United States and internationally, increased its quarterly dividend by 4% to 26 cents per share. Dover Corporation is a dividend aristocrat, which has increased its quarterly dividend in each of the past fifty-four consecutive years. The stock currently yields 2.90%.

As the market started turning back it naturally inspired many investors, traders and fortune tellers with crystal balls. I would rather not forecast where the S&P 500 is going to be in the next year or two, but I can certainly say we are almost at the end of the recessionary period. The housing market appears to be bottomed out in many markets; according to realty.org, first quarter median house value in the US is at $169,000, which I believe is a healthy price for home buyers. Though it feels bad to see your own price decline in value, it is a well needed correction.

Consumer revolving credit declined from the peak of $961 Billion in 2008 to $928 billion and is in now in a declining path. Savings (both M1 & M2) have improved from $7.2 Trillion in early 2007 to $8.4 Trillion dollars. In the first quarter of 2009, U.S. current-account deficit decreased to $101.5 billion, the smallest deficit since the fourth quarter of 2001 ($154.9 Billion). As of May 2009, Manufacturing and trade inventories declined 8 percent to $1.368 Trillion from last year's May inventory of $1.487 trillion. The latest numbers appear to be very positive, so we are probably at bottom of the recessionary period.

This is part 3 of a 4 part series looking at each of the companies selected and listed by Fortune in their 2009 Fortune 40: The Best Stocks to Retire On list.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

This is part 2 of a 4 part series looking at each of the companies selected and listed by Fortune in their 2009 Fortune 40: The Best Stocks to Retire On list.

Part 1 | Part 2

The S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats is part of the S&P Dividend Aristocrats index series. This constituents in this index have followed a policy of raising dividends each year for at least 25 consecutive years.

In addition, all the constituents are members of the S&P Composite 1500 Index. The stocks are equally weighted and are re-weighted quarterly.

• paid increasing annual cash dividends for the past ten years

• 2009 estimated coverage and 2010 ratio of at least 2-to-1 (based on street estimates divided by the current 12 month indicated dividend rate)

Source:

Standard & Poor's (.xls)

Every year Fortune releases a list of the 40 best companies to invest in now to retire on. This long-term portfolio is designed to protect your hard-earned nest-egg as you approach retirement.

Last year Fortune’s portfolio of 40 best stocks to retire on returned -23.07% from 6-20-08 to 6-16-09, relative to the -30.8% returned by the S&P500 during the same time period. This year they are replacing 23 stocks to form the new portfolio.

It has been an amazing run for most investors and traders over the past three months. Those who bought at the bottom reaped tremendous gain. I initiated a buy for Carlisle Companies at $22.30 (CSL) on 4/29/09. The stock immediately shot up to $24 and I recommended selling it on 5/4/09. On average, the "market" typically return 10% annually, so I had to take a 7.6% profit in Carlisle after just 3 trading days (market were closed on 4/2 - 4/3). It may be a quick "trade" but it was a rational thing to do. I was not trying to time the market, but simply take what the market had given me.

After selling all my holding, I gave the following advice:

We previously looked at the first 10 companies that made up the list in Fortune’s 40 best stocks to retire on. Here we look at the next 10.

40 Best Stocks to Retire On: No.11-20.

1. Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO)
2. McKesson Corp (MCK)
3. 3M Co (MMM)
4. Microsoft Corp (MSFT)
5. Parker Hannifin Corp (PH)
6. Walgreen Co (WAG)
7. Applied Industrial Technologies Inc (AIT)
8. Carlisle Companies Inc (CSL)
9. Cascade Corp (CAE)
10. National Presto Industries Inc (NPK)

These companies are all very well established in their respective industries. The four companies that I felt were substantially below their fair value were CSCO, MSFT, PH and CSL. MMM was also below its fair value but due to a bad year, declining margins and low FCF growth, I’ve left it out of the group.

Fortune released a list of 40 companies in June 2008 that they labeled as the 40 best stocks to retire on. Although ValueExpectations.com’s research is focused on long-term investing, we believe reviewing companies on a ongoing basis helps to avoid potential pitfalls with bad investments and allows one to take advantage of companies that might be mispriced. For this reason we have ranked all companies in the Fortune 40 portfolio based on Valuation Attractiveness.

Good companies don’t always make good investments! If you believe this is a list of quality companies then that is a wonderful start. But understanding what you are paying for those companies is equally important. Few would argue that Mercedes Benz produces an excellent engineered vehicle and a quality product. However, if that Mercedes Benz cost $1,000,000, it may be a great vehicle, but not necessarily a good price.

I wrote about Carlisle (CSL) on September 11, 2008 (click here for the article). Due to time constraint, I didn't write about the action I took shortly after that writeup which was selling Carlisle on September 25, 2008 at $33.02. After dividends, it was a gain of 10.34%, or 28.55% on an annualized basis (143 days of holding).

I'd like to visit this stock again after the market deteriorated. Carlisle is currently trading at just $20! That is a big discount from where I purchased the stock. Because I am an active investor/trader, it is easy for me to take my gain or cut my loss. For many of the readers, this may not be something that can be done easily thus I want to emphasize the importance of the price paid for an asset is something one must pay attention to.

Q4 2008 Earnings Call

February 05, 2009 9:00 am ET

The Income Bargains Screen

At the end of each week, our market direction radar scans the Hillbent 3000 universe (minimum average daily volume of 100k and largest 3000 market capitalization stocks) for the top 3 and bottom 3 sectors based upon aggregate performance and analyzes their winners and losers.

Using this weekly sector report on a regular basis allows Hillbent.com’s readers to efficiently monitor sector rotations and investor sentiment biases.

North American manufacturers face more stresses that will likely persist in 2009 and even possibly 2010, according to Moody’s Investors Service, due mainly to a worsening global recession that is now spreading from Europe to Asia.

Not surprisingly, manufacturers are trying to get in front of the downturn by cutting costs through restructuring or layoffs. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) was the latest to offer voluntary buyouts to managers and slash their pay by up to 50 percent next year.