The bailout news over the weekend regarding Spain had a big open
for the markets written all over it, but the early pop quickly
fizzled. Looking at the financial sector, we noticed the first
signs of investor concerns creeping in late morning as market
watchers began to chime in with thoughts that Spain will not be the
last major country bailout.
W.W. Grainger (
GWW
) ended lower following
the company's May sales update.
GWW's weakness follows the lead of competitor Fastenal (
FAST
), which was cautious in its own sales update last week. McDonald's
(
MCD
) shares fell as
analysts came out with estimate cuts
following the company's second consecutive
monthly sales disappointment from Friday
. Main competitor Yum Brands (
YUM
) was also down in unison. Apple (
AAPL
) shares gave up much of its intraday spike following the company's
updates during its worldwide developer's conference. Finally, oil (
USO
) prices reversed early gains to close nearly $4 off its morning
highs.
The Proof is in the "Decision"
I'm not sure how many of our readers are boxing fans, but I've
followed the sport for many years. Over that time, I've grown used
to seeing bad judging decisions, so when I read that Manny Pacquiao
lost a controversial split decision Saturday night to new WBO
welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, I just shrugged my
shoulders. One of the best analysts in the boxing game, HBO's
Harold Lederman, scored the fight 11 rounds to 1 for Pacquaio. That
scorecard gives you an idea of how much Pacquiao dominated the
fight - yet he still somehow emerged the "loser."
I remember back in the 80′s, my friends and I used to pay to see
"closed-circuit" boxing events at a local theater. We normally
enjoyed these events, until we saw Mike Tyson annihilate Michael
Spinks back in 1988. Tyson knocked Spinks out in the very first
round, and I really felt like I wasted my money on that fight. From
that point on, my friends and I lost a lot of our taste for the big
events.
Obviously, the sports media has jumped all over the latest
boxing controversy. Discussions have arisen about how boxing fans
were burned on Pacquiao's controversial loss. A large amount of
commentators will mention that "fans don't have to buy the
Pacquiao-Bradley rematch (coming to pay-per-view in November) if
they don't want to."
The business media reacts similarly to big controversies. Just
look at Facebook's (
FB
) IPO debacle, and how the media has stepped up to console the poor
investors who who've lost money as a result of buying FB shares.
How long does this commentary last, though? Just as the sports
media will soon move on to promoting the next big boxing match, so
too will the financial media begin touting the next great tech
IPO.
We all have the ability to decide what we spend our hard-earned
money on. We can also pick and choose our own sources of
information. Back in the 90′s, I remember watching CNBC/Bloomberg
all the time, as I was going through my initial education of life
as a trader. I quickly learned the more I tuned in, the less
success and confidence I had that I was making the right investing
decisions. Remember, the objective of the media is to keep viewers
coming back day after day. They accomplish this aim by providing
various one-sided (and sometimes controversial) opinions on
investing topics. It's just a chase for ratings.
I hope that as an investor, you've learned your lessons early on
about who to trust for your information. Just as I no longer waste
my money on much-hyped boxing events, I also steer clear of the
latest flavor-of-the-day investing ideas. I trust you can do the
same.
Why Aren't the Dividend Stock Ratings Higher?
We're sometimes asked by subscribers why our recommended stocks
don't have higher ratings. It's pretty simple. When you are in the
type of economic environment we have now, where $125 billion
bailouts (i.e. Spain this past weekend) take on a celebratory tone,
we have to ask ourselves if what we are putting our money into is
more "smoke and mirrors" than solid investment ideas. For the most
part, the markets have been super-volatile since the birth of
Dividend.com (back in early 2008), and we feel we have ridden out
the ups and downs as well as anyone has when it comes to investment
research and opinion.
Determining our position in the economic/investing cycle is our
biggest focus, and the answers to that situation are never clear.
That said, we also know investors are struggling to find income
sources they can rely on. With record-low interest rates continuing
to deplete many savers' holdings, people sometimes get desperate in
the pursuit of yield. We understand the frustration and it is never
our intent to sour investors on income-producing ideas. We simply
must maintain a strict investment research criteria regardless of
investor sentiment.
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.
I hope everyone had a chance to check out our
Dividend.com Premium
members-only weekend articles , including new features that
highlight some of the biggest winners and losers from the week that
was, such as 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.
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
.