By Diane Alter, Contributing Writer, Money Morning - • Print | Email
With so many factors triggering market uncertainty, like the timing of the Fed taper and a lackluster earnings season, investors continue to love their dividend stocks – especially with so many raising payouts in October.
It's an interesting time for dividend seekers. According to Fidelity Investments, corporate cash balances sit at some $1.8 trillion – the highest in history. Yet, payout ratios are still at 50-year lows. That suggests there's plenty of room for dividends to rise.
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By Tony Daltorio, Contributing Writer, Money Morning - • Print | Email
It's a strategy that isn't discussed often in the financial media, and on top of that, it has an odd name. So if you're wondering why you need to know how to invest with DRIPs, just wait until you learn how powerful they can be.
DRIPs are Dividend Reinvestment Plans – at its most basic, a simple, easy way for long-term investors to reinvest money into a company they already own.
By Diane Alter, Contributing Writer, Money Morning - • Print | Email
An insatiable hunt for yield amid five-plus years of near-zero interest rates has sent scores of investors to dividend stocks.
The shift has led many companies to place a greater importance on dividends. Dividends are now a larger portion of companies' total payouts, ahead of share buybacks, than in past market rallies.
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By Gary Gately, Associate Editor, Money Morning - • Print | Email
From the mid-1980s through 2000, stocks like Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) were growth powerhouses.
In fact, if you had invested $10,000 in Microsoft in 1986 and the same amount in Cisco in 1990, you could have turned your $20,000 into about $8 million today.
By Diane Alter, Contributing Writer, Money Morning - • Print | Email
More and more S&P 500 companies are turning into dividend stocks, as yield-producing investments are becoming the hottest attraction in 2013.
Collective dividends per share for Standard & Poor's 500 companies increased roughly 16% year-over-year in 2012. Meanwhile, the number of companies paying a dividend over that period reached a new 13-year high of 405, or roughly 81% of the S&P 500, data from Factset shows.
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By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report - • Print | Email
The markets are tapping new highs and shell-shocked investors are doing two things:
1) Coming in off the sidelines; and,
2) looking for dividend stocks in a zero-rate environment.
Unfortunately, many U.S. choices are "bid" up right now. Having run 144% off the March 2009 lows, the easy money's been made. U.S. Treasuries offer 1.77% over 10 years and the average S&P 500 stock is generating a mere 2.01%.
You might have caught the recent Barron's cover that read "Dow 16,000!"
It was hard to miss – the cover pictured a wide-grinning bull bouncing on a pogo stick.
The issue outlined why large fund managers were bullish about the next year, with 74% of those polled saying the market was headed higher.
That is the single highest reading ever in the poll, indicating wild enthusiasm among those controlling the largest pots of money.
The major reason driving stock market euphoria is the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
