guiron

High Yielding Stocks Going Ex-Dividend in January

"Of course, from there, the stock may go up or down. If it goes up quickly over .25, then it "looks like" someone just got a free dividend, but that's not what happened at all."

Fair enough, but that does bring to light another strategy entirely, and that's to buy at the ex-dividend date when the stock takes a hit, then enjoy the same gains without taking a tax hit. This only works when the market is bullish or the stock is. As you say, whether the stock goes up or not is anyone's guess, but in a rally the stock is more likely to reclaim its dividend hit.