The new month has started well for investors, as 2012 continues
to carry an early bullish bias. Today's moves have a hint of
short-covering, with fairly large bounces in stocks that had been
trading closer to 52 week lows.
Some of those early winners were following earnings results.
They include names like Whirlpool (
WHR
), Broadcom (
BRCM
) (
story here
), and Manpower Group (
MAN
) (
story here
). Franklin Resources (
BEN
) led the financials higher, followed by gains from investment
banking plays Morgan Stanley (
MS
) and Goldman Sachs (
GS
). Several well-known brands reported earnings and raised dividends
as well, including The Hershey Company (
HSY
) (
more
here
) and Tupperware (
TUP
) (
read
more
).
Eurozone Unemployment Levels Reach Decade Highs
The Financial Times recently reported joblessness in the 17
countries that use the euro rose to 10.4% at the end of 2011, the
highest level since the single currency was introduced a decade
ago. There are now 23.8 million jobless across the 27-country EU,
adding new pressures to domestic economic demand. You can bet
interest rates will continue to be capped overseas, as they are
here in the U.S.
Your Job Never Ends
As much as we tend to think about retirement being the ultimate
end to everyday stresses, it unfortunately is not as carefree as
most would think. Having spoken personally to many retirees, I can
tell you they stay as focused as ever when it comes to their
money.
As we all know, life is an ongoing process. Your wants and need
change dramatically as you age. For example, my old-school Italian
parents just bought their first flat-screen TV a few days ago (a
51″ model). When I asked them about it, their focus was on how much
they paid for it, and not so much the picture quality or anything
like that. Despite prices coming down after the holidays, and down
significantly over the past few years in general, my parents looked
at the cost as a very big deal. It's understandable - once
someone's weekly income stream ends, their tendency is to think
about everyday costs as just chipping away at their life
savings.
That's why I continue to pound home the point of staying active
and getting invested in quality assets that can produce income over
the years. I know that we will never stop thinking about financial
issues, so the key is to build as big a cushion as we can,
regardless at what point we get started.
Year-to-Date Results Just Posted
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 have done through the first month of 2012. As always, you
can find these and other members-only articles on
Dividend.com Premium Articles Page
.
2011 Was a Big Year for Dividend Stocks!
It is always great to see the media tip their hat to what has
been a great year for dividend-paying stocks. We've been seeing
several major media outlets publishing articles about how dividends
were a big investing theme in 2011 and likely in 2012.
The truth is that we tend to see solid years more often than not
in the dividend world, but the business media focuses their
attention instead on the high-risk momentum action. Only in times
of extreme duress does the media seem to focus on our dividend
niche. Regardless, we won't be distracted from our job of finding
the best dividend names to put fresh capital into.
I'd like to thank all our
Dividend.com Premium
subscribers and newsletter readers for helping spread the word
about our service. It means a lot to us, and telling loved ones
about Dividend.com is the best possible gift you can give to us
this holiday season.
Our
Beat The Markets with Dividend Stocks
eBook Has Arrived!
We just debuted our brand new 275-page eBook, exclusively on
Dividend.com! In this digital-only book, we look ahead to 2012 and
the main factors that could affect dividend investors. A $39.95
value, the eBook is a
free download
for paid
Dividend.com Premium
subscribers.
Beat The Markets with Dividend Stocks
contains a full economic forecast for 2012, including in-depth
analysis on 65 of the biggest dividend stocks out there. It's a
great way to get prepared for your investing next year! So head
over to the
Dividend.com Premium homepage
now to download your copy.
A Dividend Capture Strategy for Active Investors
We now offer complete U.S. dividend data for all
Dividend.com Premium
members, so anyone that focuses on "Dividend Capture" trading
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
also access a 9-page report we published on the essential elements
to any successful dividend capture strategy. Be sure to check it
out here on the
Premium homepage
.
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
.