Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third Week of December

The stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends' has generated a lot of interest from investors. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.

When you buy dividends, there are many stocks in many different sectors to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork has compiled a free downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. WSNN.com came up with many dividend paying companies companies all with market caps over $500 million. Here are a couple examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. NM ex div date: 12/16/09 market cap: $603.2M yield: 4.1%

UIL Holdings Corporation UIL ex div date: 12/16/09 market cap: $802.1M yield: 6.5%

H.J. Heinz Company HNZ ex div date: 12/18/09 market cap: $13.3B yield: 4.0%

The rest of the ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. For more details on dividend definitions, check out definitions of dividend dates. Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Author doesn't own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

How I Made 5.5% in One Week Investing in the Upcoming Sherlock Holmes Movie

I recently wrote about the Cantor Exchange, which allows the trading of Domestic Box Office Receipt Futures of current and upcoming movies. I decided to give the practice account a try. The practice account has a reward program called It Pays to Practice, and will continue until December 31. You can convert your practice trading profits to cash without any risk.

I bought 10 contracts on the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie, which will be in theaters on December 25, paying $161 per contract. This means that I believe that the total box office receipts will exceed $161 million by January 20, 2010. The movie, distributed by Warner Brothers (TWX), stars Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, and Eddie Marsan. The contract is now at $170 (remember, this is fantasy money right now), an increase of 5.5%.

Even current movies that have already been released can be traded, such as Disney's (DIS) A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Bob Hoskins, Colin Firth, and Robin Wright Penn.

You can also short movies, if you believe that the box won't reach the anticipated level. For example, I shorted 10 contracts of Old Dogs starring John Travolta, Robin Williams, Kelly Preston, Ella Blue Travolta, and Lori Loughlin. The price went off at $65 per contract, which is a total box office receipt of $65 million. After seeing that the Yahoo (YHOO) critics ratings averaged a 'D', and many reviewers panned the movie, I decided to do the short. I closed out the short position at 57.25, a profit of $7.75 per contract, or 11.9% in six days.

One of the best features about the exchange is that it is open 24 hours a day. If you think you know what movies will be The Bomb and which will bomb, then maybe you should give the Cantor Exchange a try.

Author owns TWX, DIS, and YHOO. Also holds practice positions in SHOLM and CAROL.

By Stockerblog.com

Book Review: The Black Swan

I can't believe that I didn't read The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable sooner. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the author, had subsequently wrote Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets which I had reviewed a few months ago.

I could say a lot about the book in terms of how very clearly, he discusses the highly improbable events called the Black Swans, and how he intersperses the discussions with humor and great stories. But the bottom line is that the book was written and published in 2007 and he clearly predicted the banking collapse in 2008 (read pages 225 and 226).

If you never got the chance to read The Black Swan, get it as an early holiday gift for yourself and read it during your days off.

Rate Investment Blogs, Newsletters, Brokers, and Software

A new site was recently established which allows investors to rate over 3,000 financial products, brokers, blogs, websites, DVDs, newsletters and software. It is called Investimonials, and it allows registrants and reviewers to earn money towards various type of investment related products. Even stockerblog.com is listed on the site.

If you like stockerblog.com, go to Investimonials.com and give us high ratings.

Cheap Stocks High Dividends

It's amazing that there are over 25 stocks yielding more than 10% and selling for less than $10 a share. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has a list of low priced stocks, with market caps over $250 million, and very high yields. Here are some examples:

Hercules Technology HTGC forward PE: 7.8 yield: 13.3%

Alaska Communications ALSK forward PE: 30.8 yield: 11.5%

For a list of low priced high yield stocks in the form of a free downloadable Excel database of high dividend low priced stocks, go to wsnn.com. Remember, these stocks can reduce or eliminate their dividend at any time.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

Many Ways to Invest in Berkshire Hathaway

Warren Buffett's famous Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A), the highest priced stock and one of the most successful companies during the last half-century, recently announced a stock split to take place next year that would divide its Class B shares (BRK-B) at a ratio of 50 to one. The B shares currently represent 1/30th of the value of the Class A shares and have 1/200th of the per-share voting rights. After the split, this would put the B shares at a little less than $68 per share, based on the recent price. Until the split, there are other ways to invest in Berkshire Hathaway.

A second way to invest in the stock is by owning shares in the Sequoia Fund (SEQUX), a mutual fund with a large position in Berkshire Hathaway. Over 20% of their portfolio is invested in the stock. Some of the other stocks in their portfolio include:
IDEXX Labs (IDXX)
TJX (TJX)
Martin Marietta (MLM)
Fastenal (FAST)
Mohawk Industries (MHK)
Expeditors International (EXPD)
O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY)
The minimum investment in Sequoia is $5,000.

A third way to invest is by investing in the Fairholme Fund (FAIRX) which has a little over 4% of their portfolio invested in the Berkshire B shares (BRK-B). Although the concentration is not as significant as Sequoia, it is the number six holding in the portfolio. Fairholme's other major holdings along with the percent of the portfolio that each one makes up include:
Pfizer (PFE) 14%
Sears (SHLD) 8.8%
St. Joe (JOE) 6.7%
Americredit (ACF) 5%
Forest Labs (FRX) 4.6%
Minimum investment is $2500.

Markel Corp. (MKL) is an insurance company that many consider to be a mini-Berkshire, especially since it has over $90 million worth of Berkshire Hathaway, a little over 4% of their net worth.

There are other funds that have around two percent of their portfolio in Berkshire, such as Legg Mason ClearBridge Appreciation A (SHAPX) but the percentage isn't enough to be a close play on Berkshire.

One other option is to create a portfolio that emulates Berkshire's holdings of publicly traded stocks, however, this wouldn't cover Berkshire's holdings of non-public stocks. In addition, it would involve purchasing many different stocks, so you would be better off just buying the Class B shares. But if you just want to pick and choose the "best" of Berkshire's holdings, here is the list of some of their major stockholdings:

American Express Co. (AXP)
The Coca-Cola Company (KO)
ConocoPhillips (COP)
ExxonMobile (XOM)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Kraft (KFT)
Moody’s Corporation (MCO)
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG)
US Bancorp (USB)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)
The Washington Post Company (WPO)
Wells Fargo (WFC)
Wesco Financial Corporation (WSC)

Don't forget to check out the Christmas List for the Warren Buffett Fan.

Author owns PFE.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Second Week of December

The stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends' has generated a lot of interest from investors. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.

When you buy dividends, there are many stocks in many different sectors to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork has compiled a free downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. WSNN.com came up with many dividend paying companies companies all with market caps over $500 million. Here are a couple examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Regal Entertainment Group RGC ex div date: 12/7/09 market cap: $2.1B yield: 5.4%

EarthLink, Inc. ELNK ex div date: 12/7/09 market cap: $902.9M yield: 6.7%

Ameren Corporation AEE ex div date: 12/7/09 market cap: $6.0B yield: 6.1%

The rest of the ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. For more details on dividend definitions, check out definitions of dividend dates. Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Author doesn't own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

Taylor Swift Stock Index Outperforms the Stock Market

Taylor Swift is the famous country singer, winner of 40 awards, and made more famous by the incident with Kanye West at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. But she is successful for another reason. Taylor is connected to a lot of publicly traded companies, acting as spokesperson for their products, record labels, and movie distributors. Tracking the stocks she is connected with from January of 2009, the Taylor Swift Stock Index has greatly outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rising 40% for the year versus only 29% for the Dow.



The stocks in her portfolio include:

Jakks Pacific, Inc. (JAKK) Taylor Swift Celebrity Dolls


Jones Apparel Group, Inc. (JNY) the face of L.E.I. Jeans (Life Energy Intelligence) since 2008

Vivendi SA ADR (VIVDY.PK) albums and EPs: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Beautiful Eyes, Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection, Live from SoHo, Big Machine Records, Universal Music Group

Time Warner Inc. (TWX) starring in Valentine's Day movie, New Line Cinema

Viacom (VIAB) appeared last year on CMT Crossroads, Country Music Television

Disney (DIS) starred in Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience

Other celebrity stock indexes you may be interested in include the Heidi Klum Stock Index, the Eva Longoria Stock Index, the Angelina Jolie Stock Index, the Jessica Alba Stock Index, the Nicole Kidman Stock Index, the Freida Pinto Stock Index, and the Supermodels Stock Indices.

Assumptions:
The Taylor Swift Index is a price-weighted index, similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Author owns DIS and TWX.

By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com

Photo courtesy of wikipedia. No celebrity endorsement expressed or implied.

Who Wants to Invest In Movies? You Can Invest Less than $100 to Speculate on Domestic Box Office Receipt Futures

Are you good at evaluating movies and actors? Think you can do well predicting how well a movie will do at the box office? You should consider a unique investment: Domestic Box Office Receipt Futures. These DBOR future are available through Cantor Exchange, a subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald, the large financial services firm.

You can speculate on such movies as Michael Jackson This Is It, The Fourth Kind with Milla Jovovich, Men Who Stare at Goats with George Clooney, 2012 with John Cusack, The Princess and the Frog, and the James Cameron movie Avatar with Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver.

For the Collectors of Really Weird Stuff

If you like put your stock market profits towards collecting unusual items, how about the brain and blood of Mussolini? On a recent auction on eBay (EBAY), a seller listed some blood and brain matter of famous dictator Mussolini. Minimum bid was $22,000. However, as soon as Mussolini's daughter found out about it, she contacted eBay and the listing was pulled. She claimed the items were stolen from Milan's Policlinico hospital.

Finally the Old Paris Stock Exchange Being Put to Good Use: Stiletto Race

In the old stock exchange bourse building in central Paris, an interesting race just took place, the 'Stiletto Race'. 96 women entered the race, with the only requirement being that they have to wear high heel shoes with heels at least three inches high. The grand prize was several thousand dollars worth of shoes.

The Winter Season of Dividends: Stocks Going Ex Dividend the First Week of December

'Tis the season for dividends. There is a stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends' that has generated a lot of interest from investors. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.

When you buy dividends, there are many stocks in many different sectors to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork has compiled a free downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. WSNN.com came up with many dividend paying companies companies all with market caps over $500 million. Here are a couple examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Brinker International, Inc. EAT ex div date: 12/1/2009 market cap: $1.4B yield: 3.2%

Chemical Financial Corporation CHFC ex div date: 12/2/2009 market cap: $556.2M yield: 5.1%

Kimberly-Clark Corporation KMB ex div date: 12/2/2009 market cap: $26.9B yield: 3.7%

The rest of the ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. For more details on dividend definitions, check out definitions of dividend dates. Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Author doesn't own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

BillionairesLife.com Just Came Out with their Christmas List

Time to make a list and check it twice. BillionairesLife.com has just published their 2009 Christmas List, which includes such items as a million dollar SUV, a diamond encrusted chess set, a $10 million island, a bottle of beer for just $1160, and much, much more. Check and see if these items are on your list.

Why Doesn't the Revenues per Employee Ratio (R/E Ratio) Get More Respect?

One obscure way of measuring how efficient a company operates is the amount or sales or revenues that are generated for each employee at the company, also known as the Revenues per Employee Ratio or R/E Ratio. It is also sometimes referred to as the Sales per Employee Ratio or S/E ratio. I've written about the R/E ratio in the past a couple times, but there doesn't appear to be much interest in this metric.

The concept is simple. Let's assume there are two companies in the same industry generating the exact same amount of revenues. But Company A has 1,000 employees and Company B has 10,000 employees. Which company do you think would generate higher net earnings? Which stock do you think would perform better?

Let's take some real life examples, using the technology sector. With only 19,665 employees and raking in $182.95 billion in revenues, Google (GOOG) is by far the top large cap tech company with the highest R/E ratio at $9,303,330 for every employee. And to top things off, the stock is up 79% so far this year. Apple (AAPL) is close behind with an R/E ratio of $5,408,163 and the stock is up an amazing 127% for the year. Then there is Amazon (AMZN) at $2,746,376 per employee. Amazon has a top return year-to-date of 142%.

Now let's look at some of the tech stocks that don't have as high an R/E ratio. Yahoo (YHOO) has a revenue per employee ratio far below the others at $1,646,323 and the stock was only up 24%. Both Dell (DELL) and IBM (IBM) generate almost identical revenues per employee at $410,000 and are up about 49% for the year; not even close to the returns for Apple or Amazon. And Hewlett Packard (HPQ) only has a R/E ratio of $372,866 and has the lower year-to-date return to show for it at 38%.

So next time you are trying to decide which stock you want to buy in a particular industry or sector, take a close look at the R/E ratio.

Author owns AAPL, AMZN, and YHOO.

By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com

Stock Market Trivia Quiz Answers

If you haven't taken the Quiz yet, click here and see if you can answer the questions first before looking at the answers.



The answers have been bolded below.



1. What was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history (as of November 2009)?
a. Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.
b. Washington Mutual
c. Worldcom, Inc.
d. General Motors
e. CIT Group
f. Enron Corp.
g. Conseco, Inc.
h. Chrysler
i. Thornburg Mortgage

2. Which of the following jobs did Warren Buffet have when he was young?
a. newspaper delivery boy
b. running a pinball machine business
c. stealing golf balls
d. all of the above

3. What is the oldest stock exchange in the United States?
a. Philadelphia Stock Exchange
b. New York Stock Exchange
c. Boston Stock Exchange
d. Pacific Coast Stock Exchange

4. What is the oldest commodities exchange in the U.S.?
a. Chicago Board of Trade
b. 
Kansas City Board of Trade
c. 
New York Cotton Exchange
d. New York Mercantile Exchange

5. The highest priced share of stock that ever traded was of what company?
a. Yahoo! Japan
b. Berkshire Hathaway
c. Indians Inc.
d. Mechanics Bank
e. Google

6. Who said, "An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest"?
a. Benjamin Franklin
b. Bernard Baruch
c. J.P Morgan
d. Warren Buffett

7. The country with the highest inflation rate last year (2008) was
a. Zimbabwe
b. Ethiopia
c. Venezuela
d. Guinea
e. Mongolia

8. On the day after every presidential election since 1896, what percentage of the time was the Dow Jones Industrial Average up for the day?
a. 48%
b. 76%
c. 23%
d. 81%

9. Which of the following companies are owned by Berkshire Hathaway?
a. Dairy Queen
b. World Book Encyclopedias
c. See’s Candies
d. GEICO
e. all of the above

10. Which of the following metals sells for the most amount per ounce (as of November 2009)?
a. rhodium
b. platinum
c. gold
d. palladium
e. silver

If you want more trivia, check out Investment Trivia and Stock Market Trivia.

By Stockerblog.com

An Increase in Interest Rates May Be Good for the Stock Market

If you look at the prime rate and the Standard & Poor's 500 since January of 1992, you will notice a trend of increasing prime rates and increasing stock prices. During 1992 and 1993, the prime rate was flat at 6% with the market not doing much, trading between 415 to 450. Then in April of 1994, the prime rate started moving up eventually hitting 9% a year later. The S&P 500 began to make its move during that same time frame.

The prime did take a dip in the late 1990's, dropping below 8%, but in June of 1999, it turned right around and shot up to 9.5%. A lot of investors remember what happened near the end of the year 2000; the market began its long severe decline, the famous dot com crash. During that same time frame, the prime dropped from 9.5% to 4% before bottoming out in July of 2003.

The years 2004 through 2007 marked an increase in both the market and the prime. But in the summer of 2007, the prime started tanking again going from 8.25% all the way down to 3.25%, with the market following closely behind, having its biggest, sharpest decline in recent history.

The prime rate has been flat this year. Will it go up soon? If it goes up, will the market continue its recent rise? Watch what happens.

If you like interesting charts and graphs, check out the bank failure graph and the Gisele Bündchen Stock Index.

By Stockerblog.com

A Thanksgiving Week for Dividends: Stocks Going Ex Dividend Next Week

It's time to give thanks for dividends. Next week is Thanksgiving week, and surprisingly there are a lot of stocks going ex dividend during those days. There is a stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends', which is becoming more and more popular. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.

When you buy dividends, there are many stocks in many different sectors to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork has compiled a free downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. WSNN.com came up with many companies all with market caps over $500 million. Here are a couple examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the market capitalization, and the yield.

FPL Group, Inc. FPL ex div date: 11/24/2009 market cap: $21.4B yield: 3.6%

Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC ex div date: 11/25/2009 market cap: $15.9B yield: 3.5%

The Empire District Electric Company EDE ex div date: 11/27/2009 market cap: $626.7M yield: 7.0%

The rest of the ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. For more details on dividend definitions, check out definitions of dividend dates. Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Author doesn't own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

George Soros: Trader and Author

George Soros is considered the second leading trader/investor after Warren Buffett, and is considered one of the thirty top wealthiest people in the world. But Soros is not only an investor, but is also an author of a dozen books. If you haven't read any of the books by Soros, maybe you should, considering his success. Here are some worth perusing.

These would make great reading during the Thanksgiving holiday, and would make great holiday gifts.

The Crash of 2008 and What it Means: The New Paradigm for Financial Markets

The Alchemy of Finance

The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means

Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve

Open Society Reforming Global Capitalism Reconsidered

George Soros On Globalization

El nuevo paradigma de los mercados financieros. Para entender la crisis economica actual. (Spanish Edition)

Stock Market Trivia Quiz

Think you know a lot about the stock market and investing? See if you can answer all the trivia questions on this quiz. The answers will be published tomorrow.

1. What was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history (as of November 2009)?
a. Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.
b. Washington Mutual
c. Worldcom, Inc.
d. General Motors
e. CIT Group
f. Enron Corp.
g. Conseco, Inc.
h. Chrysler
i. Thornburg Mortgage

2. Which of the following jobs did Warren Buffet have when he was young?
a. newspaper delivery boy
b. running a pinball machine business
c. stealing golf balls
d. all of the above

3. What is the oldest stock exchange in the United States?
a. Philadelphia Stock Exchange
b. New York Stock Exchange
c. Boston Stock Exchange
d. Pacific Coast Stock Exchange

4. What is the oldest commodities exchange in the U.S.?
a. Chicago Board of Trade
b. 
Kansas City Board of Trade
c. 
New York Cotton Exchange
d. New York Mercantile Exchange

5. The highest priced share of stock that ever traded was of what company?
a. Yahoo! Japan
b. Berkshire Hathaway
c. Indians Inc.
d. Mechanics Bank
e. Google

6. Who said, "An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest"?
a. Benjamin Franklin
b. Bernard Baruch
c. J.P Morgan
d. Warren Buffett

7. The country with the highest inflation rate last year (2008) was
a. Zimbabwe
b. Ethiopia
c. Venezuela
d. Guinea
e. Mongolia

8. On the day after every presidential election since 1896, what percentage of the time was the Dow Jones Industrial Average up for the day?
a. 48%
b. 76%
c. 23%
d. 81%

9. Which of the following companies are owned by Berkshire Hathaway?
a. Dairy Queen
b. World Book Encyclopedias
c. See’s Candies
d. GEICO
e. all of the above

10. Which of the following metals sells for the most amount per ounce (as of November 2009)?
a. rhodium
b. platinum
c. gold
d. palladium
e. silver

If you want more trivia, check out Investment Trivia and Stock Market Trivia.

By Stockerblog.com

The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers

If you will be in the New York area on Thursday, November 19, you should check out the lecture at the Museum of American Finance at 48 Wall Street that will be given by bestselling author Lawrence McDonald, who wrote A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers. The event will be held from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm with a book signing and reception afterwords. Fee to attend is $15 for non-members, and reservations are required at 212-908-4110.

If you can't make it to the lecture, you can always get the Collapse of Lehman Brothers book.

How to Get Tax Free Dividends

It's a great feeling to receive a lot of dividends throughout the year, then on the following April 15, realizing that you don't have to pay tax on any of that income. There are many stocks, which are primarily closed end funds or CEFs, which pay dividends that are tax free. This tax free income is generated from municipal bonds in the portfolio. Although many of the Canadian oil income trusts pay income that may be partially or completely tax deferred due to depletion and depreciation deductions, the tax free stocks that invest in munis usually generate dividends that are completely exempt from Federal taxes.

Municipal bonds are issued by states, counties, cities, and other governmental agencies. Income from these bonds is exempt from Federal income taxes, and if the bonds are issued in your state of residence, the income is exempt from state income taxes also. Municipal bonds issued by Puerto Rico and other U. S. dependencies are exempt from state income taxes also for residents of most states. There are over 200 different tax free income stocks according to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, with 42 of them yielding 7% or more. Just be cautious about investing in extremely high yield muni CEFs which may use leverage to attain their high yields.

One of the highest yielding tax free stocks is Federated Premier Municipal Income Fund (FMN) which yields 7.8%. They have been paying monthly dividends since 2003.

For you New Yorkers, there is the BlackRock New York Municipal Income Trust (BNY) which pays 6.7%. It invests in New York education, hospitals, housing, pollution control, tobacco, transportation, and water and sewer bonds. It has paid quarterly dividends since 2001.

If you live in California, you might want to consider the Van Kampen California Value Municipal Income Trust (VCV) which yields 7.6%. They mostly invest in California investment grade municipals. The fund was founded in 1992 and pays dividends monthly.

Van Kampen also has a high yielder for Massachusetts residents, the Van Kampen Massachusetts Value Municipal Income Trust (VMV), which pays 6.8%. The fund invests in Massachusetts municipals including bonds for education, general purpose, and water and sewer. They have paid monthly dividends since 1995.

There is also their Van Kampen Pennsylvania Value Municipal Income Trust (VPV), which yields 7.0%. This holder of Pennsylvania municipal securities has been paying monthly dividends since 1995.

You can download a free Excel database spreadsheet list of over 200 tax free stocks at WSNN.com. Keep in mind that both yields and share prices fluctuate, and there is the possibility of bonds in the portfolios defaulting, as junk munis do exist, such as some 'dirt bonds' used to fund infrastructures of new housing developments (some of which never get built).

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

How To Buy Stocks at a 20% Discount from Current Price

There are a couple ways of buying stocks at a discount to their present value. One way is by investing in closed end funds, also known as CEFs, that are trading at a discount from Net Asset Value, also known as NAV. The NAV is similar to the book value of stocks. In other words the NAV is calculated by adding up all the stocks in the portfolio, and dividing that amount by the number of shares.

A closed end fund is similar to a regular mutual fund except that the trading price of the CEFs can fluctuate way above or way below the NAV. In addition, the number of shares is fixed. There are over 20 closed end funds that are trading at a discount of over 20% of their net asset value. Many investors invest in these discounted CEFs in the hopes that the gap between NAV and price per share will close.

One example is Helios High Yield Fund Inc. (HHY), which is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund managed by Brookfield Investment Management Inc. The fund yields 6.5% and a based on its current price, trades at about a 20% discount from its NAV of 8.34.

Another heavily discounted CEF is Liberty All Star Equity Fund (USA) is a closed-ended equity mutual fund managed by ALPS Advisers, Inc. which has a yield of 6.7% and trades at a discount of over 19% of NAV.

However, there are plenty of risks. First of all, that gap may exist for years, and can even widen. Second, the gap could theoretically close but the stocks in the portfolio could drop, so still not gain. Third, and probably most important, is that many CEFs hold illiquid, private, or non-trading stocks, and the NAV is based on how the company valuates those shares, which may be a much higher value than what they could get if they tried to dump those shares. In addition, some may own real estate or mortgages.

Occasionally, you see activist shareholders come in and buy up a significant amount of shares of heavily discounted CEFs and force the liquidation of those CEFs, in order to realize the Net Asset Value. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has come up with a downloadable Excel database of over 35 CEFs trading at a discount of at least 17% to NAV. Before investing in any of these, check out the CEF's web site to see what kind of stocks they own, and how many are illiquid private shares.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

What Wireless Communications Stock Is Up 450% This Year?

Who would have thought that some of the hottest stocks would be in third world countries. I have written numerous articles about Zimbabwe in the past, primarily about the millions of percent of inflation, however, since the country has converted to multi-currencies, including the U.S. dollar, the economy and the Zimbabwe stock market has taken off.

One of the country's leading stocks is Econet Wireless (ZIM:ECONET), which has had a booming business, in not only Zimbabwe but also Lesotho, Botswana, Burundi and Kenya. The stock started trading at 100 U.S. cents in February of this year, and is now trading at $5.50, a 450% increase in share price. Unfortunately, there are no ADRs that trade in the United States.

Donald Trump Beaten by Simon Cowell but Beats Charlie Sheen

The list of the top earning men on prime-time U.S. television has just been released by Forbes Magazine. At the top of the list was Simon Cowell, the creator of 'America's Got Talent' and the famous 'American Idol' judge, who brought in $75 million. Second in line was billionaire Donald Trump at $50 million, primarily from his ever popular TV show, The Apprentice.

In third place is Ryan Seacrest, host of 'American Idol,' who made $38 million. Charlie Sheen was fourth at $21 million, from his starring role in 'Two and a Half Men.'

Less than $5 per Share, More than 4% Yield

With the recent bullish move in the stock market, you would think that it would be impossible to find dividend paying stocks with yields greater that 4%, yet sell for less than five dollars a share. But here are a few examples:

Star Gas Partners, L.P. (SGU) market cap: $296.8M recent price: $3.57 yield: 6.92%

DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (DCT) market cap: $1.0B recent price: $4.92 yield: 5.79%

GFI Group Inc. (GFIG) market cap: $583.9M recent price: $4.88 yield: 4.08%

If you like income stocks, you should take a look at the following articles:

290 Stocks That Pay Dividends Monthly

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third Week of November

What Biotech Stock Yields Over 12% and Sells for Less Than $10 per Share?

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

8 Tips for College Grads Entering the Job Market

The unemployment rate recently jumped to 10.2% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and may go higher instead of lower in the next few months. What's a recent college grad to do? Here are some strategies to achieve employment.

1. Never under-estimate the power of resumes
Over the years, I obtained three different jobs, based on my resume alone. One of the jobs was working as an adjunct professor at a public university - no interview, just a resume with a phone call (a year after my resume submission) from the College of Business department head, who said 'We need you. Can you start on Monday?' Just make sure your resume is totally accurate, include all your skills, especially customer service skills and tech skills, and make sure other people review it for typos.

2. Walk in
This technique won't work at large corporations, which seem to hide their HR departments more secretly than their central server operations. But walking in cold can work for small and medium size businesses. Bring a few resumes with you, walk in and ask who you need to speak to about employment at the company. It has worked for me in the past and I know several other people who got jobs this way.

3. Work through temp agencies until the permanent job comes along
Prospective employers like to see that you are doing something while looking for a job, not just sitting around waiting for the phone to ring with an interview appointment. Besides, many temporary jobs lead to permanent jobs, and even temp jobs look good on your resume.

4. Check out employment opportunities in the 'hot' industries
About $40 billion of the Economic Stimulus money is supposed to be used to create 'green jobs.' Look at solar, wind, smart grid, and geothermal companies.

5. Check out accounting jobs
If you have taken any accounting classes or have any accounting experience, apply at accounting firms and the accounting departments of large corporations. Personal and corporate income taxes are expected to be around for a long time. There will always be a demand for accountants.

6. Networking goes without saying
Every article about getting a job always mentions networking: contacting relatives, friends, friends of friends, acquaintances. So I'm not going to leave this out of the list. The only thing I will add is 'Just do it.'

7. Sales jobs
Companies that have commission only positions are more likely to hire you than companies that have to shell out a salary to an unknown new hire. If you don't mind selling and marketing, look for these types of jobs.

8. Set up a side business
While you are looking for work, consider doing consulting work. Are you an html web site development expert? Know a lot about PC's or Macs? Are you good at writing and editing? What about graphic design. Get your web site set up and post flyers. Employers like to see that you have the initiative to get out there and work, even if it is your own business. And who knows, you may be so successful at your own business, you won't need to work for someone else.

There is no 'right' time to go out and look for a job. The best time is now, even with the unfavorable economic climate. Best of luck in your job search.

By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com

Top 12 Web Sites and the Companies That Own Them

The top visited web sites are ranked by Alexa, the leading web information company. Here are the top twelve site and the companies (most publicly traded) that own them.

1. Google
google.com
owned by Google (GOOG)

2. FaceBook.com
facebook.com
Microsoft (MSFT) purchased a 1.6% share

3. Yahoo!
yahoo.com
owned by Yahoo (YHOO)

4. YouTube
youtube.com
owned by Google (GOOG)

5. Windows Live
live.com
owned by Microsoft (MSFT)

6. Wikipedia
wikipedia.org
non-profit

7. Blogger.com
blogger.com
owned by Google (GOOG)

8. Microsoft Network - MSN
msn.com
owned by Microsoft (MSFT)

9. Baidu.com
baidu.com
owned by Baidu, Inc. (BIDU)

10. Yahoo! Japan
yahoo.co.jp
owned by SoftBank (SFBTF.PK)

11. Myspace
myspace.com
owned by News Corporation (NWS)

12. QQ.COM
qq.com
owned by TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD (TCTZF.PK)

As you can see, Google and Microsoft each appear three times on the list.

Author owns MSFT.

By Stockerblog.com

Hedge Fund Exec Forced to Go to Strip Club, Sues

A blond, 29 year old female executive at a hedge fund claims that she was forced by her boss to attend strip clubs with him. She is suing for $6.72 million.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third Week of November

There is a stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends' is becoming more and more popular. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.

When you buy dividends, there are many stocks in many different sectors to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork has compiled a free downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. WSNN.com came up with many companies all with market caps over $500 million. Here are a couple examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Consolidated Edison, Inc. ED ex div date: 11/16/09 market cap: $11.4B yield: 5.6%

Diebold Incorporated DBD ex div date: 11/18/09 market cap: $2.1B yield: 3.3%

LTC Properties, Inc. LTC ex div date: 11/18/09 market cap: $544.7M yield: 6.7%

The rest of the ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. For more details on dividend definitions, check out definitions of dividend dates. Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Author doesn't own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

What Biotech Stock Yields Over 12% and Sells for Less Than $10 per Share?

Investors love low priced stocks. Investors love dividends. What happens if you combine the two criteria? WallStreetNewsNetwork.com just came out with a list of over 25 stocks selling for less than $10 per share, with market caps over $250 million, and yields over 10%. Many of them were closed end funds, but several are businesses, such as Cedar Fair LP (FUN), the amusement park and water park company, which just went ex-dividend. Based on its latest quarterly payment of 25 cents, it yields 14.6%.

How about a biotech that has a 12.2% yield? PDL BioPharma, Inc. (PDLI) is an interesting company selling for less than ten dollars a share. They manage antibody humanization patents and royalty assets, consisting of patents and license agreements with biotech companies. They also pay 25 cents per quarter and last went ex dividend on September 15, and paid their dividend October 1. They just priced a $300 million securitization transaction which will monetize 60% of the royalties from sales of current Genentech products. They intend to pay a significant portion of the proceeds from the securitization to stockholders in the form of a special dividend, most likely in December of this year. The total amount of this special cash dividend, along with the record and payment dates will be finalized at the upcoming board of director's meeting on November 11th and announced the following day.

If you want to see a bunch of other interesting low priced high yield stocks in the form of a free downloadable Excel database of high dividend low priced stocks, go to wsnn.com. Remember, these stocks can reduce or eliminate their dividend at any time.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

A California Bank Bites the Dust: 120th Bank Closure This Year

There are now well over 100 banks that have failed so far this year. We've only had five business days so far this year and already five banks have been shut down. A bank a day!

Yesterday, United Commercial Bank, San Francisco, California, was closed by the California Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with East West Bank, Pasadena, California, to assume all of the deposits of United Commercial Bank. This agreement included all U.S. branches of United Commercial Bank, the Hong Kong branch of United Commercial Bank, and the subsidiary of United Commercial Bank headquartered in Shanghai, China, United Commercial Bank (UCB-China).

The 63 U.S. branches of United Commercial Bank will reopen during their normal business hours as branches of East West Bank. All locations in Hong Kong and China will reopen on Monday, according to normal business hours. In addition, UCB-China, the Shanghai, China, subsidiary of United Commercial Bank, which was also part of today’s transaction, will continue its regular banking operations without interruption with the full support of its parent company, East West Bank, whose qualification has already passed the preliminary review by the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

Depositors of United Commercial Bank will automatically become depositors of East West Bank. Domestic deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, and the Hong Kong deposits will continue to be covered by the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Scheme and the full deposit guarantee currently in force in Hong Kong. The FDIC continues to be in close cooperation with the Chinese banking regulatory authority regarding regular operations of UCB-China.

Customers should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from East West Bank that it has completed systems changes to allow other East West Bank branches to process their accounts as well.

Depositors of United Commercial Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

As of October 23, 2009, United Commercial Bank had total assets of $11.2 billion and total deposits of approximately $7.5 billion. East West Bank paid the FDIC a premium of 1.1 percent for the right to assume all of the deposits of United Commercial Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, East West Bank agreed to purchase approximately $10.2 billion in assets of the failed bank. As part of the purchase and assumption agreement, the FDIC transferred to East West Bank all qualified financial contracts to which United Commercial Bank was a party and those contracts remain in full force and effect.

The FDIC and East West Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $7.7 billion of United Commercial Bank's assets. East West Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share arrangement is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The agreement also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.

U.S. customers who have questions about today's transaction can call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-238-8209. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time (PST); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., PST; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., PST; and thereafter from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., PST. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/ucb.html.

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $1.4 billion. East West Bank's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives. United Commercial Bank is the 120th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the 14th in California. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Pacific National Bank, San Francisco, which closed on October 30, 2009.

For more info on bank collapses, you should check out the interesting chart of bank closures.

Top Selling Books on Stocks

Start your Christmas shopping now. According to Amazon, thse are the top selling books in the category of Business & Investing > Investing > Stocks:

Jim Cramer's Getting Back to Even

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition)

How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad, Fourth Edition

The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street

The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between

Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street

Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude

Stock Investing For Dummies

The Little Book That Beats the Market (Little Books. Big Profits)

Inside the Black Box: The Simple Truth About Quantitative Trading (Wiley Finance)

RadioShack to Sell iPhones

RadioShack Corporation (RSH), which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, will begin selling Apple (AAPL) iPhones in the Dallas-Fort Worth and New York City markets. They expect to sell nationwide next year.

Microsoft Producing Motion Sensing and Eye Tracking Display Monitors

Microsoft (MSFT) is coming out with some very futuristic monitor displays. One feature is the ability for the display to detect motion, without touching the screen. Just moving your hands can change the appearance on the screen. Another very amazing feature is the eye tracking. You can use it in conjunction with voice control, to look at particular documents to magnify and read through them. Amazing!

Weird Apple Lawsuit: Man Claims He Invented iPhone in 1989, Secrets Stolen by the FBI

According to an article in Wired, a man claims that he Invented the Apple (AAPL) iPhone, the iPod, and iTunes in 1989, and his secrets were stolen by the FBI. He also claimed, according to the article, that he told Sarah Jessica Parker his secrets, and he is suing her also.

Gas Utilities are a Gas: 17 Pay Over 4%

The price of natural gas is relatively very low, so consumers don't mind cranking up the heat. Now were are entering the Winter season when consumption will increase. How about looking at natural gas utilities as possible investments, especially because of the great dividends. Seventeen of these stocks pay 4% or more.

Here are a few examples of high yielding natural gas and propane utilities and limited partnerships:

Amerigas Partners (APU) 7.1%
Laclede Group Inc (LG) 5.1%
Spectra Energy (SE) 5.1%
Nicor Inc (GAS) 5.0%

To see a list of 25 gas utilities, you can get a free downloadable Excel database of natural gas and propane stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

By Stockerblog.com

Two Letter Domain Names are Up for Sale

If you missed out on the auction of one letter domain names, you still have a chance to bid on two letter domains. They are being auctioned off by Sedo and some of them have already received high bids.

For example, il.com has a bid of $85,000 already, and fw.com and px.com are currently at $25,000. There are still some bargains though, such as w9.com at $410.

By the way, check out the write-up on one letter companies.

By Stockerblog.com

Speaking of iPhone Apps

Speaking of Apple (AAPL) iPhone Apps, if you have been watching the iPhone TV commercials, they have been saying "over 60,000 apps to choose from," "over 80,000 apps to choose from," "over 85,000 apps to choose from."

Now Apple can really brag. Yesterday, the company announced that there are now over 100,000 iPhone applications available for downloading. Remember, in 2008, there were only 500 apps available in the App Store when it was first established. That's a 19,900% increase in apps from last year. The most popular free app is Facebook.

Author owns AAPL.

Fear of Flying iPhone App

Finally, there is an Apple (AAPL) iPhone app for travelers who are afraid to fly. The app was released by Virgin Atlantic Airways. It includes a personal introduction by Sir Richard Branson, relaxation exercises, a fear attack button, and more. Cost is $4.99.

By the way, if you are looking for stock market related apps, check out Top 8 FREE iPhone Apps for Investors.

Author owns AAPL.

James Altucher Believes in Legalization: of Insider Trading

In case you missed the interview of James Altucher last week on TechTicker where he discussed insider trading, he stated that he believes that insider trading should be legalized and the government's time, energy, and money should be spent on finding the Madoff's, Enron's, and Worldcom's.

Ken Fisher Interview - Part 6 – Where the Market is Going in the Next 6 Months – Stockerblog Exclusive

Ken Fisher is a money manager, Forbes columnist, and is one of the Forbes 400 richest Americans. He is also author of several books, including his two latest, The Ten Roads to Riches: The Ways the Wealthy Got There (And How You Can Too!) (Fisher Investments Press) and How to Smell a Rat: The Five Signs of Financial Fraud (Fisher Investments Press)

Ken Fisher Interview Part 6
Please note: Interview took place on Friday, September 25, 2009

Stockerblog: Speaking of six months out, are you anticipating a short-term selloff in the next six months?

Fisher: I don't think so. Let me just say that there might be a short-term selloff at any point in time. Every bull market has little periods that have pullbacks in them. But one of my most important points that I try to encourage people to do is to think globally first and about their own country second. That's true whether you're in the biggest and best country in the world like America or whether you're in a little country. America is about a quarter of world GDP and the other three quarters will have more impact on us than we will have on it. Americans don't think that way because our economy is so big and strong, we tend to think American-centric.

But when you think about the global stock market, there has never been, what you can think of as a counter trend rally within a bear market that was nearly as big as the move from March 9 through Tuesday of this last week [Thursday, September 24, 2009], not even by 25%.

The fact is, this is the beginning of a bull market, and one of the points that I've made repetitively that most people scoff at but it's true, is that when you think of global markets, the nature around the bottom and the beginning of the next bull market is a V shaped pattern. That is, the rate of descent of the back of the bear market is pretty much exactly the same as the rate of ascent of the beginning of the bull market, and that V lasts from one to two years.

So the bigger the bear market, the bigger and longer the V tends to be. This is really hard for the human brain to accept because the human brain wants to think, the bigger bear market: that must come from bigger problems. Bigger problems must mean that it takes longer to get back. From the beginning of this year, we've heard people talk about how in this bear market, it might take ten years to get back to where we were at the peak of the prior bull market. The fact of the matter is that at this point in time, we're about half way back already, and it's been only six months and a few weeks.

The power of that V-like function, where the ascent of the beginning of the bull market is at almost the same rate as the descent of the last roughly half of the bear market, is something that is virtually impossible for the human brain to want to accept. But it's real. Therefore, from here, as we look at the end of September, and think out through the next six months, I bet that, with regular vacillations along the way, the market moves in a pattern that's very, very similar to the way the market descended in the six months up until the end of last September.

Stockerblog: That's actually good news. I think everybody wants this to be a real bull market.

Fisher: I don't know if that's true Fred. When you go and look in Internet chat rooms today, and you see what people are saying, you still have an awful lot of people that are running around naked because they had the pants scared off of them. And they're feeling very naked, and they're feeling very upset, and anytime you say anything bullish you get a tremendous amount of Internet wisecracking going on, because those people are all sure the market is going to go down. I think there are a lot of people that would prefer the market to go down, because that vindicates them sitting in cash all this time.

Stockerblog: I think the big concern is, like you mentioned, is we're already halfway back in a six month period, and a lot of people think "Too much, too soon, we've got to have a selloff, maybe we'll lose 10%, 15%, 25%; is it going to happen now, is it going to happen October 19? When's it going to happen?" I think that's the big fear.

Fisher: Well 10% can happen at any point in time but 10% can always happen at any point in time. And the other point that I'd like to point out to you Fred, is this mentality is true early in every bull market ever. That is, if you went six months off the bottom in 2003, that's exactly the same mentality that people had. There's nothing new or unusual about this. The bear markets convince people that things are terrible, then when the bull market starts, stocks go up and people didn't expect them to go up. Since people didn't expect them to go up, they think that they can fall further.

Now, I want to go back to my point from before, which is that any point in time, at ANY point in time, regardless of what the market did before, for the market to drop 10% in a minor correction is nothing. That happens and it goes away as fast as you can blink your eyes fifteen times. But the thing people should fear is a bear market, not a correction. The nature of stocks is that they're volatile; the nature of bonds is that they're volatile, and you can get corrections at any point in time.

Stockerblog: So people should look at a 10% correction as a buying opportunity instead of "this is something terrible that's happened to my portfolio."

Fisher: Another way to say that is a ten percent correction in the market tells you nothing about where the market will be six month from now. That is, we could have a 10% correction that started this week [Friday, September 25, 2009], and that tells you nothing about where the market will be six months from now. And further, because you can get a 10% correction at any point in time, they're virtually impossible to time, therefore there's not much point in trying to do it.

Stockerblog: I think we've covered everything. I really appreciate your time.

Fisher: Thank you much Fred, I enjoyed doing it.

Stockerblog: Thanks Ken.

End of Part 6

If you missed Part 1, you can check it out here.
If you missed Part 2, you can check it out here.
If you missed Part 3, you can check it out here.
If you missed Part 4, you can check it out here.
If you missed Part 5, you can check it out here.

By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com

Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this interview prohibited with out permission. All opinions are those of Ken Fisher, and do not represent the opinions of Stockerblog.com or the interviewer. Neither Stockerblog nor the interviewer nor the interviewee are rendering tax, legal, or investment advice in this interview.

290 Stocks That Pay Dividends Monthly

Two years ago, when I first started tracking the monthly dividend stocks, there were over 350 different securities that paid monthly. Since that time, the number has dropped to 290 due to mergers and liquidations, but that is still plenty to choose from. Technically, these stocks are REITS, oil income trusts, and closed end funds, which pay dividends every month. The advantages to having monthly dividends versus quarterly or annual dividend stocks are:

1. Your invested capital is returned faster.
2. Compounding happens quicker.
3. There is generally less volatility.
4. Many of these pay tax free income.

Here are a few examples:

Calamos Convertible & High Income CHY 9.3%
Enerplus Resources Fund ERF 9.3%
BlackRock Senior High Income Fund ARK 9.1%
Nuveen Quality Preferred Income Fund JTP 9.1%
Reaves Utility Income Fund UTG 9.0%
DWS High Income Trust KHI 8.7%
MFS Intermediate Income Trust MIN 8.6%
Neuberger Berman Real Estate Securities Inc. NRO 8.6%
Cross Timbers Royalty Trust CRT 8.5%
Eaton Vance Tax Advantaged Dividend Income Fund EVT 8.5%

To see the entire list of 290 monthly dividend stocks, including 22 that have yields of 10% or more, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

By Stockerblog.com

Pepsi a Major Sponsor for the World Series

Pepsi Cola, the original drink of Pepsico Inc. (PEP) is an anagram (a word that can be made out of the letters of another word) of Episcopal. According to one name derivation theory, the name Pepsi-Cola came about because Caleb Bradham, the pharmacist who created Pepsi on August 28, 1898, had his drugstore across the street from an Episcopal Church.

Pepsi is remains one of the major national sponsors for Major League Baseball's World Series. Did you know that there are three ways to invest in Pepsi? Pepsico, Inc. (PEP) is considered the primary Pepsi company. In addition to manufacturing and marketing beverage concentrates and syrups, they also have the Frito-Lay division which makes and markets snacks, the Quaker Foods North America division which distributes cereals and pasta, and the PepsiCo International division, which sells snacks and beverages. The stock has a P/E of 18, and a yield of 3%.

Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (PBG) this Somers, New York based company distributes various Pepsi-Cola beverages including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Lime, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, Aquafina, Tropicana, Mug Root Beer, Lipton, SoBe, Starbucks Frappuccino, Dole, 7UP, KAS, Aqua Minerale, Mirinda, Manzanita Sol, Dr Pepper, Squirt, Electropura, e-pura, and Garci Crespo. The stock has a P/E of 32, and a yield of 1.9% .

PepsiAmericas Inc. (PAS) this Minneapolis based company makes and distributes Pepsi beverage products in the United States, central Europe, and the Caribbean. The stock has a P/E of 20, and a yield of 1.9% .

Speaking of Pepsi, did you hear about the grief the company is taking for its sexist iPhone app?

Or the competition it is getting from the Cow Urine Soft Drink.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

You Can Invest in the 'Happy Birthday' Song

Not many people are aware that the song "Happy Birthday To You" is not in the public domain but actually owned by a music publishing company. That is why if you appear on TV to play an instrument, you are told not to play Happy Birthday, since the TV station doesn't want to pay a royalty on the song.

The rights to the song is owned by a company called Warner/Chappell Music Inc. which owns a huge library of songs including the songs of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Dr. Dre, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, and Sheryl Crow. Warner/Chappell is in turn owned by Warner Music Group Inc. (WMG). Warner Music collected about $5000 per day, or over $1.8 million per year in royalties for the song, and they are very strict about collecting their royalties. The song was first copyrighted in 1935 and won't go into the public domain until 2030.