Deegan

The Principles of Dividend Investing

I found this to be an interesting and informative article. However, for those investors that have a much smaller net worth and rely on their investments for retirement income, it has little value.

There is an entire different set of qualifications for investors in the latter category. I agree with finding companies with low debt. I mean who wouldn't? Unless there is an existing business that doesn't need to grow or maintain their assets they are going to need to borrow money. My primary function in investing is to preserve the value of my assets. The secondary function is to provide income.

Looking at entities that pay in excess of 7%, with minimal debt, one can find utilities, energy companies and pipelines that have excellent fundamentals with the added bonus of being in Canada. The Canadian dollar is maintaining its value and is an excellent hedge against the falling dollar.

Included in my portfolio are WTSHF, PMBIF and Atlantic Power ATLIF. The symbol for Atlantic power recently changed from ATPWF since it converted from an investment trust to a corporation.

11 Companies Increase Dividends

Before investing in any of those stocks, I would put money in Pembina Pipeline, Atlantic Power or Westshore Terminals. All have shown they can make it through the downcycle and still maintain their dividends. And, yes, I own all three. Any fool can find stocks to talk about, but finding stocks to buy is an entire different story.

Colgate-Palmolive: Dividend Stock Analysis

I believe the change in taxes comes in 2011 for Canadian Trusts. I do not know about ALA.UN since I haven't researched it. I do own PMBIF, Pembina Pipeline which is paying 12% (monthly) and WTSHF Westshore Terminal which is paying 9.4%. Even with the change in tax law, if in fact it does change, because of the poor economy, there is talk of delaying the change or even canceling it, the dividends will remain high enough to pay the tax and still have a handsome ROI. In comparison to Colgate Palmolive which pays a paltry 2.8% even though they brag about doubling its dividend payment every 8 years. Big deal. I don't care how well they have their dividend covered and if they increase it by 10% every year. How does anyone live on 2.8% a year.

We are in this investing business to make money. Pembina Pipeline will likely assume a larger position in my retirement folder in the near future. I am watching to see what happens on the next treasury bond auction to see if China will continue to support our massive deficit spending..

Atlas Pipeline Partners Reports Strong Results

In 2008 Mgmt. told us how strong the co. was. 2009 they cut the dividend pmt. Just once I wish mgmt would be honest with the shareholders and tell us upfront was going on. Instead, they continue to play the game of telling us what they want us to hear rather than the truth. They forget it is our money that supplies them with the capital to build the co. with.

Major Buy Signal Now Flashing for Gold Stocks

Any individual buying gold should consider it "insurance" rather than an investment. While the probability of increases in the commodity price looks strong for gold we have to consider the reasons for the increases. The Chinese know the dollar is worth little or nothing and the only reason it hasn't collapsed is that the Euro is even weaker than the dollar. One of these fine mornings we may just wake up to find no one is accepting the dollar as the world's reserve currency. Then the insurance individuals are holding will be worth its weight in gold.

Atlas Pipeline Partners: A Painful Lesson in MLP Investing

As buyers of shares in a MPL or any corporation, we have to believe management when they give us information. That is what we rely on when we do our homework or due diligence. Anyone that believes the tax reporting for MLPs are so difficult it overrides their decision to buy MLPs of course should not own it. However, I do my taxes with Turbo tax and don't find it that difficult. After doing my due diligence I bought APL and will keep it, come what may. It booked out over $15. At this price I will probably buy another couple of thousand shares. If the stock tanks, so be it. In case you hadn't noticed, the entire country including this industry have slowed down. The question is, will the economy turn around before the company is overwhelmed by debt?

What Happened to 'The Change We Need'?

Blame Obama, Blame Obama thats the best you can come up with. The man has only been in office for a month. While I don't endorse govt. programs and deficit spending, I have to wonder, just why all you right wingers who hate BHO voted for Bush twice.

I could understand the first vote, but when Bush and the Republican party abondoned their principles during his first term, what was the sense of reelecting him? More than doubling the national debt and then during his final weeks in office giving Wall Street financiers $350 Billion without any or much oversight. I don't believe most of you righties understand the depth of the economic problems this nation faces.

No, I don't think Obama has the right answers but his job is to clean up the mess left to him by Bush and the Republicans. It is a big mess, and while they are directly responsible for a good part of the nation's problems, they originated many many years before Bush and even Clinton. So you can play the blame game if you wish, but that will not solve the problems the nation faces. As the saying goes "If your not part of the solution, you are part of the problem".

It is going to take some time, but we will see change like it or not.

12 Attractive Companies That Also Pay a Dividend

It seems to me there are two ways to make money buying stocks. One is with their growth and the 2nd is with dividends.

History has shown us that we can't rely soley on long term growth for an industry. I speak in general that the payment of dividends is managements way of showing the public they are capable of managing a company for the long term.

After all, if it weren't for the stockholders, management wouldn't have a job. Dividends reward the stockholders for taking a risk in their managment of a company.

The WSJ Is Right - U.S. Should Return to a Gold Standard

The naysayers always have an answer to the questions they don't understand. Can a currency be based on gold? The answer for them is of course it will not work.

Every college freshman is taught that to completely analyze a problem one needs to be able to ask and answer the 5 "W"s. Who, What, When, Where and Why.

One doesn't need to get very far into an analysis of the question to determine that there are a number of different ways a currency could be based on gold. Yes, of course it will work. The powers that be just don't want it to work since they won't be able to fund wars and other huge govt. expenditures without inflation of a fiat currency.

Money is more than a medium of exchange and a measure of comparitive market value it is a means to store value. Gold can easily be a foundation for a currency to achieve these means.

Think about it. Anyone with more than a pea sized brain should be able to come up with a workable system that is better than the fiat currency we are currently using. As it is, we are close to a currency meltdown and the loss of the middle class. When that happens, we will be in no postion to be telling the world what a currency will be based on. They will be telling us what the new world's reserve currency will be and it certainly won't be a revised version of the U.S. dollar.

Gold's Shine

I would like to get more gold, but it is getting more difficult to get. I have been sticking to gold and silver eagles since they are official US currency..

I do have orders in, but with delayed delivery of up to 3 weeks. I thought this might change after the 1st of the year, but it doesn't appear there has been any decrease in demand. I don't understand why the price doesn't increase more when the demand is so strong it is unavailable on the street.

U.S. Dealing with a Boatload of Debt - Moody's

I was going to add that with Paul Volcker on Obama's economic team I had hope. However it appears he has little or no influence over what policy is and is going to be.

How short are memories are. Those who fail to understand our history are doomed to repeat it.

U.S. Dealing with a Boatload of Debt - Moody's

Larry Livingstone tries to make a comparison of US debt as a % of GDP with that of Japan.

The difficulty in making that comparison is the quality of the debt. While the US has a zero or some would say a negative savings rate, Japan has and had a very high rate of savings even when their economic problems started in the 1980s.

While the Japanese population had a clear understanding of the problem, the US with its eternal naive optimism, or as others might conclude, complete failure of understanding the difference between vodoo economics and "Deficits don't matter" economic policy (there isn't any).

Is there a college or university in this country that teaches anything other than Keynesianism?

Hedge Fund to Measure Returns in Gold Rather than Currency

The hedge fund manager Mr. Kuchanny, had better have a good source for gold in the form he intends to pay his clients in. Many sources of gold have dried up and unless he has the ability to buy directly from a mine and work with a refiner, he may find his ability to buy gold on the open market very limited.

Betting Against the U.S. Dollar

The dollar is doomed. In a year or two it will no longer exist as the world's reserve currency. Who knows what will replace it. I expect to see a new currency come out of the ME that will be based on oil or gold or even both.

Why would the Arabs or the Chinese trust the US dollar? They see that this country is living beyond its means. Besides the Chinese are starting to have problems of their own with huge masses of unemployed. They all need a place to sleep and food to eat. The govt. is going to have to supply it to them somehow.

Maybe they will use some of their dollars to buy US foodstuffs since commodities are in the dumps. Really everyone should buy some gold or silver "just in case" the dollar collapses.

What Is Going On With Gold?

I haven't read much about the price of gold and silver being manipulated by the govt. lately. While many in the field know it is happening, no one seems to quite have a handle on just how it is being done on a world wide scale.

At some point the demand will increase to the point where there is no bullion availabe for sale. Were close to that point now with the long waiting lists to purchase any form of gold or sliver under 100 ounce quantities.

I buy it as a form of insurance that my retirement will be secure. If it isn't needed, I still have the metals and will be able to sell them probably for more than I paid for them.

However, with the huge deficits run up by the Bush administration and now even larger deficits on the horizon from the Obama administration, I find it difficult to believe that we won't have massive inflation. Just who in the world will buy our treasury bonds? China and the Saudis don't want them. In fact they are buying large quantities of gold. With the arabs looking to start a new bank and a new currency just what will that currency be based on? My bet is that it will somehow be linked to the precious metals. That will be the currency that oil will be priced in after the dollar falls from it place as the world's reserve currency.