whisperonthewind

The 10 Best U.S. Dividend Stocks

I'm with Iowa Corn, a steady monthly income holds a big draw - both in replenishing a hungry portfolio as well as helping some of us survive on unemployment. Currently, almost everything I own has a dividend of 6% or more, and those dividends are reinvesting in 50% of my holdings and building a money market account for the other 50%. That way, when I find a stock that is doing exceptionally well, I can pull some cash from that well instead of from my economy-stressed income. And should things get worse, I have a readily available cash pot to look to, rather than a credit card.

Four Companies Poised to Benefit from America's Smart Grid

AT&T provides my telephone and internet service, and at one time I also had their stock. However, my problem with the company is that they are so dependent on new technology that some problems get overlooked.

Recently I "lost" the dial tone on my telephone, rendering it incapable of placing and receiving calls. Although the internet and phone lines were from the same wall jack, the internet was terrific. No phone. After two weeks of complaints, two weeks in which they insisted they had tested my line and it was clear, I insisted they come out and check INSIDE. I had tried three different telephones, two different cords, two different jacks, and even tried plugging the telephone directly into the wall instead of into the internet connector. No luck.

(It may be interesting to note that ATT had been in the area for weeks, setting up telephone service for a new bank close by. It may also be interesting to note that I had asked them to just CALL the phone number and they would see that there was no service. They chose to rely on their electronic line checker thing.)

They finally came out to the house (to shut me up, I'm sure), and the first thing they did was check to see if I really had lost the dial tone - honestly! - and the second thing was to see if THEY could get a dial tone. No luck. It actually took them almost two hours to find the problem... in the main box where they had been doing repairs over the last few weeks! The same box where they were setting up the new bank telephone system.

If they had called me when I first asked them to - a 15-second test that would have proven to them that I was seriously having phone issues - we could have fixed the whole problem quickly. Instead, I had to make several phone calls, they tested and cleared the line each time.

I like the phone service, and the internet, but I'm not really happy with their customer service. And no, there isn't really a customer service phone line to call. Their "Customer Care" line is for billing issues, not service issues, and not complaints.

Windstream's Dividend Is Attractive, But Is It Safe?

You are in serious need of a grammar proofreader.

Top 10 Online Trading Destinations: August 2009

I prefer Sharebuilder over TDAmeritrade. I have accounts at both, and over the years I've discovered that Sharebuilder likes their customers. They are very pleasant on the telephone (average wait time for a real person is measured in under two minutes, and most recently in seconds), very helpful via email, and when mistakes are made they are rectified quickly.

At tax time, it's extremely easy to access and download a custom report for your account, in a variety of formats. I've used both Excel and OpenOffice as well as viewing online.

Now, if TurboTax would only get together with Sharebuilder so I could just upload my Sharebuilder info to them...

Keeping a Close Eye on Impending Risk of Oil Price Spike

We slap a tariff on China, we punch Iran with sanctions, and this results in friendship? What is this administration thinking of? We are already at war with two different countries. If we add two more (and that's assuming North Korea just sits on the sidelines and keeps score), then what? Is this how we put the country's autoworkers back to work?

At what point do we stop and take a breather - settle down and work on getting jobs for our own people?

I'm not anti-war, but there is a limit. Are we, or are we not, a kinder, gentler nation? Exactly how is this CHANGE? War is war. Or are we to sit back and say, "Hooray, Obama brought our boys home from Iraq. Now they can go to Afghanistan/China/Iran instead!"

People, what are we doing???? The price of oil won't matter, because we will be fighting off everyone in our own backyard. Or is this how we finally decide to drill here at home?

YouTube: Anyone Still Doubt Google's Wisdom?

I'll take Google as a search engine, but I never click on any ads or paid advertising - it's against my principles.

I'll take Hulu as a video site, and I DO click on some of the ads because they are for products I usually buy.

And so far, I haven't found anything on YouTube, aside from the cute baby videos and the funny pet videos (and the occasional how-to video) that I care to watch, and I never click on their ads either.

I do remember Prodigy, and I loved Netscape. Firefox has come closer to Netscape than the rest. I don't have stock in any of the companies in your list.

Why I'm Skeptical About Asset Allocation

Several years back, success was defined as having a bunch more when you cashed out than when you started. After the last two years, a lot of people feel they've been successful if their portfolios have come back within the -10% range.

Investing is risky anyway, and some of us are braver than others (or more stupid, depending on your viewpoint). I tend to pick a couple highly risky but hopeful stocks, a couple very boring but reliable stocks, and the rest are emotionally chosen, based on what I like on any given stock purchase expedition.

I must be successful, since I'm now within that -10% range. Since at one point I was down almost 40%, I think my way is working. For now. Who knows how I'll feel tomorrow?

Battery Investing for Beginners

One other comment: Because I live alone, it is not practical to own two vehicles, so whatever vehicle I drive has to be able to work for the local driving as well as the long distance driving.

Battery Investing for Beginners

I like the smaller cars, and currently own one that gets about 35 mpg, city driving, and better than that on the highway. I will get an even smaller car eventually, maybe next year. I most likely will choose not to get a battery operated vehicle - no matter what kind of battery they offer - because although I don't always drive more than 20 or 30 miles in a day, I do drive more than 100 miles in a day at least once a week, and several times during the year I drive more than 800 miles in a day. I like to drive! I would be willing to drive a CNG vehicle or even one the runs on hydrogen, but I am not willing to be grounded to 100 miles per charge. My closest family member lives more than 100 miles away, and my kids live in different states (where there are jobs), several hundred miles away, so to limit myself to a battery would mean plane, bus, or train plus car rental. It would be cheaper to pay for the gasoline for those drives.

When the rest of the real world catches on that they'll be limited to a 100 mile round trip, the battery idea will be relegated to the golf cart/wheelchair crowd. I'm not ready to join that crowd yet.

Overreaction by the Financial Sector to the Upside

Compared to August 2008, everything is at least 18% worse. That only proves that everything crunched. Putting a negative spin on that decrease overshadows the increase we've seen. It may be too much of an increase, there may still be some negative numbers to unwind, but comparing anything to August 2008 will only start another panic. Yes, we saw that. We lived it. We are still digging out of the rubble. But perhaps we need to start looking for the sunshine instead of always predicting rain.

Spin at the FDIC

What did you do, kissa, copy your little bit and then paste it into all the articles? Or is this a spam bot?


On Sep 25 09:30 PM KISSA wrote:

> FDIC keep their Bank Watchlist secret from the public and there is
...

Oil Going Off the Boil

kissa, we get it.

Citi's Cities

If my bank is not in my area, I would have to choose a different bank. It's much easier to establish a relationship with a bank right now than it is to follow a bank to a different area. There are many things I do AT the bank that can not be done electronically. Two of those, for example, are: a) Use my safety deposit box and b) Get a Medallion Guarantee.

On top of that, I know the bank tellers (or whatever they call them now, CSRs?) by name and they know me by name, so losing them would be like losing my favorite local market. I would miss them, but I would not follow them. I would move my account.

Cramer's Mad Money - The Obama-Proof IPO (9/23/09)

Obama-proof... will ANYTHING prove to be Obama-proof? And if we really believe there is something Obama-proof, are we fooling ourselves?

ETFConnect Is No More

One thing is true: Those of us who had not visited recently will now visit just to see what the changes are. And for those who are more interested in CEFs than ETFs, this could be a beneficial change. Imagine having the info you really want right there, instead of having to dig through the comparisons that you could actually make on your own.

I think for those who prefer the ETF info, they should just come up with their own website instead of sitting back and whining. Deal with it, people. According to our president, change is good.