The markets' early gains quickly evaporated as a
worse-than-expected ISM (manufacturing gauge) number raised fears
of a possible recession. According to the data, manufacturing in
the U.S. expanded at its slowest pace in two years during July,
barely breaking into the "growth" level. As news of Congress having
enough votes to vote on the debt ceiling resolution made its way
through the afternoon session, buyers came back in to help the
averages close off their lows.
Once again, we have removed two names from our
Best Dividend Stocks List
today. We will remain proactive when it comes to keeping only the
best possible names for investors to deploy new capital into the
markets.
As for the markets today, HMO's and other related healthcare
names were down as investors worried about possible fallout from
the debt ceiling/budget resolution as it relates to spending
cutbacks. Humana (
HUM
), which reported a stellar quarter, quickly reversed early gains
and is now trading lower. We are seeing other names like
UnitedHealth Group (
UNH
) and Aetna (
AET
) following suit. Another healthcare-related name lower was Teva
Pharmaceuticals (
TEVA
), although those shares were lower on disappointing drug study
news. Leading some of the late-day charge higher were shares of
Caterpillar (
CAT
), Verizon (
VZ
), and Chevron (
CVX
).
Traders are hiding in precious metals once again as the budget
resolution comes closer to fruition. I am keeping an eye on the
financials and so far am not seeing a ton a pressure that would
make the tape destabilize even more so than it already is.
As Congress edges closer (we think anyway) to raising the debt
ceiling, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds
that 46% of likely U.S. Voters now view most members of Congress as
corrupt. That's up seven points from June and the highest finding
yet recorded. Just 29% think most members are not corrupt, and
another 25% are not sure. Similarly, a whopping 85% of voters think
most members of Congress are more interested in helping their own
careers than in helping other people. It has become obvious that
pushing any sort of legislation through Congress is near impossible
without the heavy interest of lobbyists being tended to. My guess
is this trend will change over time. The voters will make that call
and my guess is we will see more one-term stays than ever. The
patience level in the U.S. has worn thin - and rightfully so.
Turning back to the topic of debt, household debt is causing
stress for nearly half the country, according to a new Associated
Press-GfK poll. The results of that survey found that one in five
adults worries about debt most or all of the time. If they bought
something on a credit card in the past month, more than a third say
they won't pay it off when the bill comes. The increased stress
represents a reversal from last fall's AP-GfK poll, which found
increasing confidence about personal finances. Debt-related stress
is up 17 percent from that November survey, bumping such worries
back up to levels seen in 2009 and in the spring of last year. The
poll found that households earning more than $75,000 had the
biggest increase in debt-related stress since November. But stress
levels continue to be highest within the most vulnerable groups:
households that have lost jobs, people with family incomes below
$20,000, single parents, and adults without high school diplomas.
Married moms and adults under 30 years old showed significantly
more anxiety than in the fall. About 4 in 10 people surveyed owe
more than $1,000 in credit card debt, while 1 in every 10 owes
$10,000 or more.
A quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson can sum up this topic - "A man
in debt is so far a slave."
Whether you seek assistance from a financial planner or life
coach/mentor, it is a great idea to consult someone who can call
you out for what could be reckless financial habits. The sooner you
embrace accountability, the easier the road to financial freedom
and good decision-making becomes.
Quick note: Be sure to check out the year-to-date watchlist
posts up on the site today. You can see how well many of the
dividend stocks we are tracking are doing through the first seven
months of 2011. As always, you can find these and other
members-only articles on
Dividend.com Premium
.
I hope everyone had a chance to check out our Dividend.com
Premium members-only weekend articles, including the new features
that highlight some of the biggest winners and losers from the week
that was, including analyst upgrades/downgrades and earnings/story
stocks. These articles are a great way to catch up on the week that
was in the markets. We also have a rundown of how various Dividend
ETFs performed on the week.
Our newly-expanded dividend data is all in place now, so anyone
that focuses on "Dividend Capture" strategies should have plenty of
good stuff to research each day. Just check our enhanced
Ex-Dividend Calendar
, which is the best in the business, to search for upcoming
payouts.
Speaking of dividend capture,
Dividend.com Premium
members can now access a new 9 page report we just released on the
essential elements to any successful dividend capture strategy. Be
sure to check it out!
Thanks for reading everybody. I'll see you tomorrow!
Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the
Best Dividend Stocks
, as well as a detailed explanation of
our ratings system here
.