Volatility has returned to the markets today, with an
up-and-down tape indicating all eyes are on Washington and their
fiscal cliff talks. Until some sort of resolution is announced, we
expect this sort of behavior to continue.
Looking at specific market movers, we see shares of Guess (
GES
) rallied (but did finish well off its highs) on news of its
special dividend payout, despite another dismal earnings report. It
looks like investors are simply ignoring company fundamentals in an
attempt to game the special payout. In other news, shares of
Cracker Barrel (
CBRL
) ended lower following that company's lackluster earnings results.
Tiffany & Co. (
TIF
) got hit as well following an earnings disappointment as well as
lowered profit guidance for 2013.
Shares of Walt Disney (
DIS
) gained a bit as the company announced a 25% hike in the annual
dividend payout (bringing its yield to a still-low 1.5%). Wall
Street analyst calls are also moving things as we approach the
afternoon hours. We had shares of IAC Interactive (
IACI
) in the green following positive comments, while shares of
semiconductor giant Intel (
INTC
) continues to be on the receiving end of cautious chatter.
Finally, tough day for retail giant Kohl's (
KSS
) - down nearly 12%, as monthly sales data out disappointed
investors.
Second Chances are Getting Harder to Come By
In life, we get a certain number of opportunities. Some are
stepping stones to bigger and even better moments, while others are
a sideways move at best. The mediocre opportunities (meaning
entry-level jobs) have been plentiful for centuries, but even those
are getting harder to come by these days. The reality is that a
only a minority of the population will put themselves in a position
to excel, whereas the majority will spend a great deal of time
contemplating, procrastinating, or even fumbling the best
opportunities they have been given.
We are now at a point where second chances have become very
costly. Think about it. Your child picks a college, a particular
major, graduates, and then decides he needs to go back to school
after finding out the field he has interested in is not offering
the opportunities they were expecting. The student loans pile on
and the debts grow larger. Some will never get the chance for a
do-over in college because of financial restrictions. They must
instead make the best of what they have available.
As we always say, time is of the essence when it comes to your
money. The longer you search for the best opportunities, the longer
you delay to journey toward getting on the right side of the
wealth-building equation.
Choosing the right path is also essential. We see gifted pro
athletes and celebrities all the time who follow the wrong road and
wind up squandering fortunes - or dooming their chances for success
before they ever really make it big. Regular folks like us face
similar pressures to perform. The window of opportunity to excel is
relatively small, and who knows if we'll ever get another big break
down the line.
Keeping your confidence high and staying passionate about
wanting to succeed is also integral. You owe it to yourself to be
in a situation where you will make a difference. The longer you can
stay away from needing a second chance, the farther ahead of the
pack you will remain. Deliver greatness, and make that be the
calling card that will continually open doors for you.
2013 Dividend Guide Just Days Away!
We just wanted to let everyone know that we are working hard on
a new 2013 Dividend Guide, loaded with our thoughts on what to
expect in the coming year for dividend stocks. Again, this is only
available to Dividend.com Premium members for download, so be sure
you are signed up to receive the guide once it's released! Last
year's Beat the Market with Dividend Stocks eBook was a smash
success, and this year's version will be even better. We anticipate
releasing the new guide within the next couple of weeks.
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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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
.