The market was having a fairly uneventful Election Day trading
session until news broke early this afternoon that Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi would be soon resigning officially. At
that point, investors moved into equities fairly quickly.
Shares of Rockwell Automation (
ROK
) traded higher following
the company's earnings beat
. On the flip side, shares of auction house Sotheby's (
BID
) finished in the red as a result of their
highly disappointing earnings numbers
. Fast-food giant McDonald's (
MCD
) closed the day basically flat, losing its early gains following
their
monthly sales update, which was better than
expected
.
Wall Street analysts impacted the tape with some of their calls
this morning. Stocks like Emerson Electric (
EMR
) and Anadarko Petroleum (
APC
) closed higher following positive analyst comments, while shares
of Expedia (
EXPE
) and Illinois Tool Works (
ITW
) saw the opposite reaction following cautious analyst notes.
High Net-Worth Chinese Citizens Want to Emigrate to U.S.
According to a survey recently released by the Huron Report,
more than half of China's millionaires are either considering
emigrating to another country or have already taken steps to do so.
Guess which nation ranked as the #1 destination, with 40% of
respondents? That's right, the United States. Despite the economic
turbulence we've seen in the past couple of years, the U.S. is
still the place where people from all over the world want to
be.
Election Day is Here - Let's All Vote
As we descend upon Election Day today, frustrated voters
everywhere will head to the polls. The voting public is definitely
more in the loop than it has ever been. Despite this fact, I've
seen little besides the standard cookie-cutter campaign agendas
from my local candidates: cut taxes, cap property taxes, create
jobs, and help reform the state capital. Almost every politician
runs on these same tired principles. That said, there is always
some hope that a real difference-maker will be elected and actually
enact some meaningful improvements during their tenure. Let's all
keep some optimism alive as we vote today.
There Will Never be an Equality for Income Levels
Headlines about income inequality continue to be in vogue these
days. The discrepancy between the rich and poor is undeniable, and
I can guarantee one thing: we will never see a fair balance of
wealth. Some of the reasons behind this fact are built into our
employment system.
In my teenage years, I took a job at the local post office. In
that environment, no matter how hard you worked (or how much you
slacked off), your pay raises would roughly correspond with those
of your coworkers. No wonder why morale was so low! There was
absolutely no incentive to achieve better results. In fact, my
fellow postal workers became angry with me for working so hard
because it made them look bad.
I quickly realized I needed to challenge myself more and not be
capped by the system. Hence, my entrepreneurial spirit was born. I
needed to be in a situation where the harder I worked, the more
money I made. Starting my own business was the only way I could
make that happen.
Whether you believe there should be "income equality" or not,
you can improve your own balance sheet by taking charge of your
finances. Making the right financial and career moves will put you
in the driver's seat.
We Can All Improve Our Lot in Life
I firmly believe that everyone possesses the ability to improve
their financial situation. History is full of rags-to-riches
success stories, and the formula is pretty simple, really: buy
income-producing assets, build a great business or service, or
become an innovator in your field.
If you live within your means and your career starts on the low
end of the pay scale, then keep a tight lid on your living
expenses. Select a place you can afford to live and forgo some of
the material possessions you don't yet need. That's called
sacrifice, and almost anyone who has built themselves a fortune
will point to many sacrifices along the way as key factors in their
success. Whether you're forgoing some of the latest fashions or
gadgets, or simply working extra long hours, the road to success is
paved with sacrifice.
Finding the right strategy for investing is also essential. Of
course, we feel that dividend investing the best possible avenue
for the vast majority of all people out there. Once you've come up
with an investing game plan, putting what you've learned into
practice is the second step. We advocate investors develop a
monthly system of putting money to work in their brokerage
accounts. Automate this process as best you can, so you remove any
mental barriers. Embrace investing as a constant learning process.
Be willing to keep an eye on what your investments are doing.
Staying in the loop is an integral part of growing your money.
Just dabbling in the markets will not get you to where you need
to be. Develop a routine and stick with it! If you have a habit of
jumping in and out of the markets, dividend investing is the best
remedy for that affliction. You'll gain a new perspective on
long-term investing and the power of compound interest.
Dividend investing does not require a special talent, education
level, years of experience, luck, or much money either. It simply
requires a commitment from you as an investor that to keep
consistently put money to work in the best ideas available (that
would be from our
Best Dividend Stocks List
). It's that simple!
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Income, Income, Income
At Dividend.com, we maintain our focus on the best
income-producing investments the markets have to offer during time
of heightened volatility. We want to make sure we have only the
most pullback-resistant names on our
Best Dividend Stocks List
. Also, if we see the market putting in what looks like a decent
bottom, we will be prepared to scale up the list of stocks we like.
Stay tuned and be sure to look for Dividend.com Premium member
alerts along the way. Don't count on the government or your
employer to set you up for a remarkable retirement. Take control,
do your own research, and achieve your goals yourself!
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
.