The Rising Dividend

The Pause

About two weeks ago, I wrote a blog entitled "The Bottom Is

The Shotgun Weddings That the US Performed on Chrysler and GM

Many observers charge that the US government, in its attempts to clean up the auto industry mess, has used strong-arm tactics to force speedy bankruptcies for Chrysler and General Motors. In doing so, the rule of law and our country's reputation as a safe place to do business may have taken a very bad hit that will resound for years.

The Bottom is For Real, But A Pause is Due

The stock market has rallied sharply since the middle of March leaving a lot of bears wandering and wondering in the woods.

Dividends Are Still the Linchpin

With all of the dividend cuts of the last 18 months, many pundits are sounding the death knell for the dividend. There are lots of reasons they give:

green shoots for deere

We are in the camp that believes the economy will show positive numbers by the fourth quarter of this year and that the stock market has seen its bottom. With our view being what it is, what kinds of stocks are attractive to us? What sectors should do well in the scenario that we see unfolding?

Green Shoots For Deere

Dividends Are Still the Linchpin

With all of the dividend cuts of the last 18 months, many pundits are sounding the death knell for the dividend. There are lots of reasons they give:

Stocks: Climbing a Wall of Worry

With first quarter earnings for the S&P 500 now expected to be down nearly 34%, it is a fair question to ask why the stock market has been so excited recently? There are many answers but the simplest one is that when the first quarter earnings season began, earnings were expected to be down nearly 39%. It appears that the market has translated the 5% better-than-expected earnings growth into a 13% move in stock prices.

Johnson and Johnson Raises Dividend 6.5%

In recent days, almost everyone was expecting a dividend hike announcement from Johnson and Johnson (JNJ). Predicting an increase wasn't a tough call. JNJ had raised their dividend for 44 years in a row. What was a tough call was the amount of the hike.

On April 23, they announced a 6.5% dividend increase. In these days of dividend cuts, I applaud JNJ's hike, but I thought it was a bit light. The estimates ranged from 6% to 9.5%. The consensus was in the 8% range.

Procter and Gamble -- Dividends Talk

Procter and Gamble announced late Tuesday that they were hiking their dividend by 10%. This increase was nearly twice what many analysts were estimating and offers important clues about PG's view of the current economy. Here's the reason: Dividends have been under attack over the last year as a result of the weak economy, but also because of many companies' need to conserve capital. For these reasons and others, the notion has developed that even companies with plenty of free cash flow like PG would use this opportunity to set their dividend growth rates on a lower track.