No Free Cake

Where Are the Original Dividend Aristocrats Now?

Anonymous2 - I think it highly unlikely you will find a mutual fund or ETF that will "immediately sell" or purchase a stock such as you decribe. Most of the larger MF/ETFs with a dividend focus rebalance their portfolio quarterly and reconstitute annually. That's why you'll see non-dividend payers in their portfolios for so long.

Keep in mind that MFs and ETFs generally grow fairly large and thus can only take positions in companies with enough trading activity to satisfy their volume. This means smaller and midsize companies make up a smaller component of an MF/ETF as it grows larger.

If you want to be nimble I"m afraid you'll have to do it yourself.

Where Are the Original Dividend Aristocrats Now?

You have a minor typo for PG - you refer to TMK in the section on PG.

The Fed: Backed into a Corner?

Isn't this the same dilemna the Japanese central bank found themselves in?

10 Dividend Stocks for Enterprising Investors

NPK paid a regular dividend of $1.00 in Feb. It paid an additional $4.55 special dividend at the same time. See:
www.gopresto.com/infor...


On Nov 07 10:46 AM User 168560 wrote:

> NPK, National Presto, according to TD Ameritrade and Yahoo Finance
> pays a dividend of $1.00! Not $4.55.

Nine Companies Increasing Dividends

You said MSEX operates as a food company. Hmmmm.

Yahoo says this:
"Middlesex Water Company, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates regulated water utility and wastewater systems in New Jersey and Delaware."

A regulated water utility sounds like, well, a utility. I think of food companies as consumer sector.

The Best Trades Could Be the Ones Not Entered

money4eds, the author pointed out one of his key criteria which is "payout ratio" which is very high for PAYX. This is a key number for dividend investors.

A metric I like is the "Dividend Coverage Ratio" which relates to how well the free cash flow (operating) covers the dividend payment. There are various ways to look at this but suffice it to day that ADP has a much stronger FCF than PAYX.

Currency-Basket ETF: A Portfolio Imperative

Interesting stuff as always.

For something like this would have been nice if you'd mentioned it isn't very liquid. Over the past couple of days this ETF has had periods of 20 minutes where no shares trade hands. Even fairly small orders move the price. Certainly don't use "market" orders with this one.

Four Stocks Rewarding Investors with Dividend Raises

Shishir, RAI has a strong free cash flow, even after dividends, for trailing twelve months (and all of at least last 3 years). You might want to explore further the divergence between earnings and cash flow. Using earnings at face value can often be misleading.

As for OKS, it's an MLP. Payout Ratios don't apply the same to MLPs. You should do some more research on this.

And, as Dividend Growth Investor pointed out in a previous article:

"Actually the reason for COP's "negative earnings" in 2008 was a goodwill impairment , which is a non cash charge. Companies these days are required to evaluate their goodwill versus the carrying value of the goodwill to determine if an impairment is necessary. Without this item, COP would have achieved record earnings in 2008.."

Dividend Boosts for 3 Big Names

Shishir, RAI has a strong free cash flow, even after dividends, for trailing twelve months (and all of at least last 3 years). You might want to explore further the divergence between earnings and cash flow. Using earnings at face value can often be misleading.

Three Dividend Stocks with a Perfect Risk Score

You might want to consider including "price over time" in your metrics. It's great owning stocks which increase dividends, but, if its price deteriorates over time you are just treading water or worse. Sure there will be swings, but, just a glance at a long-term price chart will tell you if you own an appreciating asset or a depreciating one.

For example, look at a price chart for KO, which you own, since 2000. Or, to a lesser extent, WMT since 2000. Do they look like companies that are healthy and growing? Quote any statistics you want saying they are - in the long term if the price doesn't reflect that it doesn't matter.

If a company is steadily raising its dividends it should eventually "force" its price up. After all, if a dividend keeps growing but the price stays the same the yield will get so high that it should (will) bring in more investors. If the increasing dividend isn't bringing in new money, something is amiss.

Disclosure: I don't own KO or WMT but do own PEP.

A Different Take on September's Employment Numbers

Geez folks, relax. He's just pointing out more details behind an oft-reported number. No value judgement, no prophesy, just some further details.

Your comments say far more about you than it does about Bob's straightforward article.

Is India a Benchmark Bet on the Global Economy?

Welcome back Rakesh. It's been awhile since you've written here. Always look forward to your material.

The Return of the Financial Dividends

Keep in mind that some banks kept a minimum dividend because some investors - certain institutions and trusts - are prohibited by their charter from owning non-dividend paying stocks.

This is partly behind the reason the government backed off their requirement to have banks stop paying dividends altogether when creating the bailout regulations.

A company that cut its dividend to .01 or .05, to me, is the same as elimination and I'd have to review each situation on its own to see if I'd be interested after the dividend was restored.

5 Excellent, Non-Pipeline Income Stocks

With TOO, part of the distribution may (will) be "return of capital". Although not being taxed at the time of distribution, it does reduce your cost basis and will increase the gains tax when sold (if at a profit of course). This is because, I believe, it's actually a partnership choosing to be taxed as a C-Corp. Consult your tax professional for details.

This isn't good or bad, just something to be aware of. It's not the same as a "normal" dividend from a vanilla C-Corp.

See their site for details:
www.teekayoffshore.com...

Dividend Stocks vs. Fixed Income: Which Is Better for Retirement?

"Fixed income securities guarantee a return of your investment some time in the future, whereas stocks don’t provide that."

Not true. You could argue that US Treasuries and US agency bonds "guarantee" a return but that's certainly not true for other fixed income securities.

I'd also take exception to your statement of "Stocks are great vehicles to own during average and high inflationary periods, ...".

You need only look at the US in the 1970's, which is the most recent period of high inflation, to realize that equities performed poorly during high inflation. I agree that modest inflation doesn't impair equities.