Economic concerns in Europe and uncertainty as to whether the
U.S. economy has turned a corner had the markets seeing red for
much of the day until some late-day buying, led by several
commodity plays kicked in.
Best Buy (
BBY
) came out with
bad news about guidance
as well as an announcement they will be shuttering 50 stores. BBY
is a stock we continue to steer clear of, even as the company is
portrayed as a value gem among some of Wall Street's bargain
shoppers. Fertilizer play Mosaic (
MOS
) was also lower following the company's earnings report.
Elsewhere, negative Wall Street analyst calls hurt shares of Whole
Foods (
WFM
), PNC Financial (
PNC
), and American Express (
AXP
). Again, it's been a strong quarter for many names, so a bit of
profit taking is certainly expected from traders. Back to the
rebound names, Peabody Energy (
BTU
), Cliffs Natural Resources (
CLF
), and Caterpillar (
CAT
) all saw buyers take a taste following the recent selling.
America's Love Affair With Cars
I was just reading an interesting nugget out of credit
information company TransUnion, which studied the payment patterns
of 4 million Americans with at least one car loan, one credit card,
and a home mortgage.
Among individuals who were late on any of those payments last
year, 39 percent were delinquent on the mortgage while current on
the car loan and credit cards, and 17 percent were late on credit
cards while current on the other two.
In Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko's book
The Millionaire Next Door
, the authors wrote about how little emphasis "under the radar"
millionaires placed on driving new cars. I have the same mindset
and my preference is to put my money to work while enjoying other
goodies. It's a personal choice of course, but pricey monthly car
payments should be toward the bottom of anyone's list, if the goal
is to build wealth. If you have already reached a level of success
where money is not as big a concern, then by all means indulge.
Hoarding money forever doesn't make much sense either!
Sharing a Vision
Legendary Microsoft founder Bill Gates has always believed that
smart people broken up into small teams can solve big issues. He
has been quoted as saying, "It is important to have someone you
fully trust, who is totally committed, shares your vision, yet who
has a little bit different set of skills that can also act as a
check on you and will make sure you have thought things
through."
I can think of two situations where this quote directly
describes my life as it is now. With Dividend.com, we have a small
team that coordinates all decisions and visions before we take the
necessary steps to move forward. It is a formula that has worked
wonders for myself and our organization so far.
Additionally, no one is closer to me on a personal level than my
spouse. Without my wife believing and supporting everything I have
wanted to do for our family over the past two decades, I couldn't
have achieved everything I have. So if you have a core support at
home and in your career, you can indeed conquer a lot of your
goals. For everyone out there who has seen success, my guess is Mr.
Gates' thoughts probably jibe with what you've seen in our own
life. For those who are still on their way to big successes in
life, keep these thoughts in your back pocket and see if you can
indeed use this roadmap to get where you want to be both personally
and professionally.
New MLP Report Just Released!
In
The Essentials of Investing in MLPs
, we outline the do's and don'ts of investing in high-yield Master
Limited Partnerships (MLPs). Our exclusive new MLP report outlines
everything you need to know about these popular high-yield
investments, including:
- Understanding their unique company structure
- What you absolutely need to know about their special tax
treatment
- Why MLPs may not be suitable for retirement accounts
- How to find the best high-yield partnerships
- …and much more!
Head to the
Dividend.com Premium
page to download this brand new report today!
25 Years of Dividend-Increasing Stocks
We recently updated our list of dividend stocks that have been
paying out dividends for 25 years or more. Be sure to check out
the latest list of names here
.
Dividends Really Matter
Financial blog DailyReckoning.com recently took a look at the
difference dividend payouts made in the overall return investors
saw throughout the prior decades. Here are some of the
highlights:
- The Nasdaq is down 28% since the end of 1999. Even the "blue
chip" S&P 500 stocks are down 15% during that time frame…until
you add back those "boring" dividends. With dividends included, the
S&P 500′s 15% loss flips to a 6% gain.
- Without dividends, the S&P 500 index would have produced a
loss for the 25 long years from August 1929 to August 1954. Then
again, without dividends, the S&P 500 produced a 5% loss during
the 13 years from September 1961 to September 1974. But with
dividends included, the S&P's loss became a 46% gain.
- Over the course of the last half-century, dividends have
contributed more than half of the stock market's total return -
56%, to be exact.
Of course, you can't discuss the potency of dividend investing
without making mention of how awesome compound returns are. I can't
stress enough the power of compound interest: you take a small
amount of money and turn it into a large amount over time. Finding
the right companies at the right price points which not only grow
earnings, but also grow their dividend payouts as well!
New Watchlist Article Out Today
Be sure to check out our weekly Top 50 High-Yield Watchlist
Names post that is out today, exclusively for
Dividend.com Premium
members. This list gives readers a good idea of what stocks we're
watching behind the scenes here for potential upgrades.
Go Beyond This Newsletter
We know many of you enjoy reading the daily newsletter, but
remember that with our
Dividend.com Premium
service, the newsletter is just one small component of what we
offer. Here are the "Big Three" benefits of our Premium
service:
- The
Best Dividend Stocks List
is used by tens of thousands of investors to help build their own
portfolios.
- Creating your own
Watchlist
allows you to track the performance, news, and upcoming dividend
payouts of the particular stocks you care about.
- Finally, we offer the most complete and easy-to-use dividend
data on the web. Many subscribers use this data as part of a
"Dividend Capture" trading strategy, but long-term investors can
use it to keep track of impending payouts. Just visit our
Ex-Dividend Calendar
for a complete outlook on which companies will be paying out
soon.
We don't ask for a credit card to use our free trial, and we
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keep enjoying the newsletter, but please give
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Thanks for reading, and 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
.