Stocks Going Ex Dividend the First Week of July

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. 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. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful.

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.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) market cap: $1.6B ex div date: 7/1/2011 yield: 5.3%

Raytheon Company (RTN) market cap: $17.5B ex div date: 7/1/2011 yield: 3.5%

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) market cap: $74.0B ex div date: 7/1/2011 yield: 3.3%

Aircastle Limited (AYR) market cap: $966.1M ex div date: 7/5/2011 yield: 3.4%

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) market cap: $2.5B ex div date: 7/6/2011 yield: 3.5%

OGE Energy Corp. (OGE) market cap: $4.9B ex div date: 7/6/2011 yield: 3.0%

Campbell Soup Company (CPB) market cap: $11.1B ex div date: 7/7/2011 yield: 3.4%

The additional 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.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Top Yielding Brazil Telecom Stocks

Are Brazilian stocks worth calling on? The growth in the number of cellular phones has increased by more than 17% in the last year, according to Teleco. Brazil has several telecom companies which are publicly traded, most of which trade on the New York Stock Exchange. According to the free list of Brazil stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are almost half a dozen Brazilian telecom companies that pay yields in excess of 1.5%.

Oi (TNE), based in Rio De Janeiro, was formerly called Telemar, but is also still called Telemar Norte Leste S.A., is the largest landline telephone company in Brazil and the second biggest in Latin America, behind Mexican América Móvil (AMX), based on both the number of lines in service and on revenues.
The company has over 22 million land lines, more than 31 million wireless customers, 4 million ADSL subscribers and approximately 44,000 employees. Oi is Portuguese for "Hi". The stock has a forward P/E of 8.4 with a fairly generous yield of 3.2%.

Brasil Telecom S.A. (BTM) is one of the major telecommunications companies in Brazil is Brasil Telecom, which is headquartered out of Brasilia. It is one of only three land-line companies in Brazil since the break-up of Telebras. The company was originally called Tele Centro Sul, and its service covers Acre, Rondonia, Goias, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and the Brazilian Federal District. The company currently has over 20,000 employees.
Brasil Telecom provides a vast number of services to its subscribers, including local services, installation, monthly subscriptions, public telephones, supplemented local services, long-distance services, intrastate services, international long-distance, internet, multimedia, data transmission and wireless services.
The stock trades at five times forward earnings and generates a yield of 1.9%.

Net Servios de Comunicao (NETC), also known as Net S.A., is the largest cable television provider in Latin America, having over 23.5 million subscribers. In addition to the television service, the company offers broadband internet services, with 12.6 million, as well as telephone over cable under the Net Fone via Embratel name, with 2.3 million subscribers.
In 2006, the company began to work with Embratel, to begin the process of integrating Voice over IP technology to allow subscribers to make local, long-distance and international calls from any telephone.
The core of the company’s business is in the pay-television service, which includes cable and pay-per-view. This service is available in many cities in Brazil, including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Recife, Brasilia, Goiania, Curitiba and Florianopolis.
This service comes to customers in three major packages, digital, premium and advanced. The digital cable service provides high quality broadcasting and video-on-demand services.
The stock has a forward P/E of 8.5.

Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo S.A. (VIV), also known as Vivo Participações S.A. and Telesp, is a communications company that operates in the Sao Paulo State in Brazil. The company generates revenue in excess of $5 billion each year. The parent company for Telesp is Telefonica.
Telesp provides fixed-line telecommunication that include local services, measured service, public telephones, intraregional and international long-distance, multimedia services and network services that include interconnection and leasing of facilities.
The company also provides services that allow cellular service providers and other telecommunication companies to have the ability to use its network.
The local service of the company includes measuring service on all calls that originate or end in the local area. Also, Telesp has a telephone service concessionaire to offer local services to other states, including Sergipe, Espirito Santo, Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, Santa Catarina and parts of Rio de Janeiro. The company also provides local telephone services in Para, Amapa, Rondonia, Maranhao, Tocantins and Acre. The business employs over 77 million customers.
The stock has a P/E of 8.6 and based on the last two dividend payments, the stock yields about 10%.

TIM Participacoes S.A. (TSU), also known as TIM Brasil, is the only company in Brazil that offers cellular service throughout the country, TIM Participacoes, uses its subsidiaries, TIM Celular S.A. and TIM Nordeste S.A., to get cellular service across Brazil.
The company is also the largest Global System for Mobile communications operate in the country, in both terms of clients and revenues. Currently, the company has over 51 million customers.
TIM Participacoes is a wireless provider throughout Brazil, which uses a global system for its mobile communications technology. In four of the areas it covers, TIM offers time-division multiple access technology as well as GSM. The company also has value services that include text messaging, multimedia messaging services, Blackberry services, video call and wireless application protocol.
The company also provides interconnection services to fixed line and mobile providers.
The stock has a forward P/E of 15.4 and a yield of 2.6%.

For a free list of all the dividend paying Brazil stocks, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Are We Really in a Recession?

Considering the high prices paid at auctions recently, it makes you wonder if the recession is really all that bad:

$1,000 for a Popsicle

Hat sold for $131,000

A $2,000,000 lunch

Dress that sold for $4.6 Million

$110,000 for a Gun

$2.3 million for a Photograph

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fifth Week of June

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. 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. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful.

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.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Prospect Capital Corporation (PSEC) market cap: $1.1B ex div date: 6/28/2011 yield: 10.7%

Redwood Trust, Inc. (RWT) market cap: $1.2B ex div date: 6/28/2011 yield: 6.6%

SYSCO Corporation (SYY) market cap: $18.9B ex div date: 6/29/2011 yield: 3.2%

The additional 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.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

The World is Flat

The book The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman actually first came out in 2005, and became a best seller. The book is now on Release 3.0 which includes two new chapters, one on how to be a social entrepreneur in a flat world, and on how to manage your reputations and privacy in a world where everything is becoming more public.

What does a flattening world mean? It means globalization, it means the world is becoming more equal in terms of economic opportunity, it means communication capability is increasing around the world. According to Friedman, the ten forces that flattened the world are as follows:
11/9/89
8/9/95
Work Flow Software
Uploading
Outsourcing
Offshoring Supply-Chaining
Insourcing
In-forming
The Steroids

The author has a way of making the discussion of economics and global technology interesting. He gives numerous examples of real life stories to make his points.

There is a reason why this book is still in the top 900 of books of ALL types at Amazon. The World Is Flat 3.0 is a very interesting read. Check it out.

High Yield Big Pharmaceutical Stocks

Between 1945 and 1964, seventy-six million American babies were born, making up what is now known as the Baby Boomers. The Boomers buy 77% of all prescription drugs and 61% of over-the-counter medications.

Many income investors are looking for dividend stocks in the health care sector due to the increasing age of the Baby Boomers and their parents. These include the major drug manufacturers, the generic drug manufacturers, diagnostic companies, healthcare plans, hospitals, medical appliances, medical instruments, and medical laboratories.

Based on the free list of high yield big pharmaceutical stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are ten pharmaceutical stocks with yields of 1.5% or more, with two stocks paying more than 5%. One example is GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world by revenues, after Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Pfizer(PFE). Glaxo's products include Aquafresh, Boniva, Dexedrine, Levitra, Nicoderm, Nicorette, Sensodyne, Tums, and Valtrex. The stock pays a generous yield of 5.1% payable quarterly. It trades at 10.5 times forward earnings. Although sales were down for the latest quarter, earnings were up 13.8% year over year.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), the world's largest pharma company, is a manufacturer of pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods. The company, which was founded in 1886, yields 3.4% and has a forward price to earnings ratio of 12.4. Revenues for the latest quarter were up 3.4% but earnings were down 23.2%.

Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK), another big pharmaceutical, yields 4.2% and trades at 9.1 times forward earnings. Earnings for the latest quarter were up almost 250% on flat revenues.

If you want a list of other high yield pharma stocks, that can be downloaded and sorted, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author owns PFE.
By Stockerblog.com

Who Would Pay $4.6 Million for a Dress?

Yes, $4.6 million was pad for a dress at an auction recently, but it wasn't just any dress. It was the dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in 'The Seven Year Itch' where the air was blowing it up.

The dress was consigned to the auction by the famous singer, dancer, and actress Debbie Reynolds. Other dresses and Hollywood collectibles were also sold.


Picture from Wikipedia

What Happened to All the Investing Blogs?

I thought I would spend a little time checking out what other investment blogs are saying. A friend who runs a stock trading blog provides a long list of recommended stock investing and trading blogs, a total of 58 different links. So I started going down the list, starting at the top, and was shocked at the number of links that brought me to pages that said 'blog not found', 'this domain name for sale', and 'server not found.'

Then there were at least a dozen investment blogs that were still 'active' (a very gross overstatement) that hadn't published a blog since 2009, 2008, and even 2007. A few said 'this is my last post' and 'this site is no longer maintained.' By far, the year with the most number of last posts were in the year 2008.

So out of the group of 58, only 18 are still surviving, with the remaining 69% out of business.

Stockerblog.com is happy to report that we have been publishing since February of 2006 and plans to continuing publication for many years.

Top Financial Stocks in Brazil

According to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Brazil has the largest economy in Latin America, the world's eighth largest economy, and the seventh largest in purchasing power parity. Fortunately for US investors, there are plenty of Brazilian stocks that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Brazilian financial stocks is a great way to invest in this country.

One popular way to invest in Brazilian stocks and have diversification, is through the Brazil exchange traded fund, iShares MSCI Brazil Index (EWZ), which invests 95% of its assets in stocks, including the financial companies, traded primarily on the Bolsa de Valores de So Paulo. The fund pays a yield of 3.3% based on last year's annual dividend payment and has a one year return of 22.9%.

WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has a list of over 25 Brazilian stocks, several of which are fnancals. One example is Banco Bradesco (BBD), which provides banking and financial services and products to individuals, companies and international corporations around the world. It is the largest insurance and pension provider in Brazil, based on insurance premiums, pensions plan contributions and income from saving plans. With a head office in Osasco, Banco Bradesco has been in existence for over 60 years and is considered the leader in Brazilian lending. Their private sector branch and service network is the largest in Brazil. The company as nearly 3,000 branches across the country and offers services which include Internet banking, insurance, pension plans, annuities, credit card services and free Internet access for customers. In addition to its branches in Brazil, the company has branches in New York, Grand Cayman and Nassau, Luxembourg, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo. The stock trades at 9.5 times forward earnings, and pays a yield of 0.6%.

Itau Unibanco Banco Holding SA (ITUB) is the result of the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco, which occurred on November 4, 2008, making it the largest bank in South America. The company also owns Investimentos Itau. The company has approximately 50,000 employees. Banco Itau provides a wide variety services including small business banking, credit cards, retail banking, asset management, and brokerage products. They have about 13 million customers. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 9.5, and a yield of 0.4%.

Gafisa S.A. (GFA) is one way to participate in the Brazilian real estate market. It is one of the largest builders in Brazil, and does about 90% of its business in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The stock has a forward P/E of 6.3.

For other Brazil stocks, a free list is available at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

Top Yield Technology Stocks: A Contrarian Play

Income investors looking to diversify their portfolio beyond utilities, REITs, and oil income trusts, may want to consider gradually allocating funds towards high yield technology stocks. Tech has dropped fairly significantly during the last month, with the SPDR Morgan Stanley Technology (MTK) ETF dropping over 9.5% during this time frame.

One of the larger firms that pays a decent dividend is the integrated circuit manufacturer Intel Corporation (INTC), yielding 3.4% payable quarterly. The stock trades at 8.9 times forward earnings. Earnings were up 29.4% on a 24.7% increase in revenues for the latest quarter.

Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) is another high yield quarterly dividend payer, yielding 3.5%. This maker of linear and mixed-signal integrated circuits has a forward price to earnings ratio of 13.1. Revenues for the latest quarter were 19.2% year over year.

On other high dividend tech stock is Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP), which makes and markets semiconductor products. The yield is a generous 3.9%, payable quarterly and the forward PE is 13.6. Earnings for the latest quarter were up an amazing 65.7% on a 36.7% rise in revenues.

The above excludes the telecommunication stocks, which although are considered to be part of the tech sector, is basically a different industry from other technology companies. The telecoms also pay very high yields. For a free downloadable list of high yield telecom stocks, which can be sorted and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fourth Week of June

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. 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. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful.

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.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) market cap: $12.1B ex div date: 6/21/2011 yield: 4.1%

Portland General Electric Company (POR) market cap: $1.9B ex div date: 6/22/2011 yield: 4.2%

Edison International (EIX) market cap: $12.9B ex div date: 6/28/2011 yield: 3.2%

National Health Investors Inc (NHI) market cap: $1.3B ex div date: 6/28/2011 yield: 5.3%

Corporate Office Properties Trust (OFC) market cap: $2.3B ex div date: 6/28/2011 yield: 4.8%

TransCanada Corporation (TRP) market cap: $30.3B ex div date: 6/28/2011 yield: 3.9%

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (STWD) market cap: $2.0B ex div date: 6/28/2011 yield: 8.2%

The additional 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.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Mood Ears: Electronic Ears that Match Your State of Mind

Does anyone remember the mood rings? The rings that change color based on your moods? Now, in the category of weird inventions and interesting start-ups, there is a Japanese company called Neurowear, that is in the process of developing what looks like cat's ears that humans would wear on their head. The ears would perk up or fold down depending on the wearers mood.

How to Make Your iPhone Smell

How would you like to have an Apple (AAPL) iPhone smell like licorice, blueberry, or strawberry cheesecake? Well now you have your chance. The Jelly Belly company in California has developed cases, in conjunction with ESI Cases and Accessories, for the iPhone with the aroma of various types of jelly beans.

Smelly iPod Touch cases and iPod Nano cases are available also. In addition, you can also purchase jelly bean shaped ear buds. The Jelly Belly gel cases are available for less than $15.

What Tax Bracket Will You Be In This Year?

Shown below is the Taxable Income and Rate on Excess (Marginal Tax Rate, Tax Bracket)

Single

0 to 8500 10%
8501 to 34,500 15%
34,501 to 83,600 25%
83,601 to 174,400 28%
174,401 to 379,150 33%
Over 379,150 35%

Married Filing Jointly

0 to 17,000 10%
17,001 to 69,000 15%
69,001 to 139,350 25%
139,351 to 212,300 28%
212,301 to 379,150 33%
Over 379,150

How to Make Money in a Falling Stock Market

In bear markets, there are several ways of making money, but most are speculative. Examples include shorting stocks (where your potential for loss is unlimited) and buying puts (which are very volatile and have expiration dates). However, there is a less risky way of playing the market on the short side, and that is through the use of bearish exchange traded funds also known as ETFs.

An example is ProShares Short Dow30 (DOG), an ETF which invests in derivatives with a goal of the inverse of the daily performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index. This ETF was up 1.6% during the last month, versus the Trading-Inverse Equity category which was down 7.48% and the S&P 500 was down 1.13%.

If you are negative on NASDAQ stocks, you may want to consider the ProShares Short QQQ (PSQ) ETF, which has a goal of attempting to achieve the opposite of the daily performance of the NASDAQ-100 Index. The ETF is up 0.98 for the last month.

For investors who think that small cap stocks are in for a continuing downturn, the ProShares Short SmallCap600 (SBB) is an option. This ETF attempts to achieve the inverse of the daily performance of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. The ETF was up 1.12% for the latest month.

Some investors that are bearish and want some real action have the option of using leveraged bearish ETFs. These ETFs can provide twice or three times the the return of an unleveraged ETF. The Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) has a goal of achieving 300% of the inverse of price performance of the Russell 1000 Financial Services Index. The ETF had an increase of 7.06% for the last month.

One issue to be aware of when investing in these ETFs is that over long periods of time, they may not even come close to matching the inverse of of the index. These ETFs are generally designed to achieve their goals on a day by day basis.

If you like bearish ETFs, you can get a free list of Short ETFs and a second list of Leveraged Short ETFsat WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

Huge Dividend Increases are a Sign of an Economic Turnaround

What better indication of a company's health than an increase in dividend. And if lots of companies raise their dividend across various sectors, it is a positive sign for the economy. If you own a high yield stock for the long term for its income, and the stock increases its dividend, then you really don't have to care about the day to day or week to week fluctuations in the stock price.

So what companies are providing these pleasant surprises to their shareholders? Target (TGT) bumped up its dividend by 20%, an increase of 5 cents to 30 cents a share per quarter. Target sports a yield of 2.6% and trades at 10.4 times forward earnings.

Caterpillar (CAT) boosted its quarterly cash dividend by two cents to forty-six cents per share. The stock has a dividend payout rate of 1.9% and a forward price to earnings ratio of 10.7.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) is increasing its quarterly dividend by 17% to 8.75 cents a share. The company trades at 8.9 times forward earnings and yields 1%.

Iron Mountain Inc. (IRM) announced announced a 33% increase in its quarterly cash dividend. Iron Mountain yields 2.4% and trades at 21.6 times forward earnings.

Stage Stores, Inc. (SSI) announced a 20% increase in the its quarterly dividend rate to 9 cents per share from the previous quarterly rate of 7.5 cents per share. The stock has a forward PE of 10.4 and a yield of 2.1%.

CR Bard Inc. (BCR) also recently announced a dividend increase. The stock yields 0.7% and has a forward PE of 15.4.

Even FedEx (FDX) boosted its dividend. The stock trades at 13.2 times forward earnings and yields 0.6%.

With all these dividend increases, an economic turnaround must be on the horizon. If you like high yield stocks, you should check out some of the downloadable high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author owns FDX.

By Stockerblog.com

Wanted: Your Opinion Relating to Retirement Planning - Win a Free Book

We are looking for your feedback relating to your plans and thoughts on retirement. Also, if you are interested, you can fill out your name and address at the end of the survey to participate in a drawing for a free book, either Investing in Brazil Stocks or The Green Light on Green Stocks. Participation in the drawing is optional, but we really appreciate your opinions.

Click here to take survey

How Long Will Your Money Last?

If you are considering retirement, and you are wondering if your investment assets will last for the rest of your live, there is a cool site that will calculate it for you in a simple format. The site, Zunna Calculators, has you pick just four options: your investment horizon in years (in other words, how long you anticipate withdrawing money from your accounts), the account ending value goal ('Don't Go Broke' if you eventually deplete your account by the time you pass away), the required historical success rate (or how certain you want to be of success). and desired annual withdrawal amount.

For example, if you plan on a 30 year period of retirement and you want to be certain that you don't want to go broke before you die, assuming you want a minimum of $50,000 a year to live on, you would need investment assets in the amount of $1,253,133. The maximum sustainable withdrawal rate is 3.99% and the Optimized Portfolio that the site gives is 62.05% large cap stocks and 37.95% US T-Bills.

I have no connection to this site whatsoever, just thought it might be of interest.

6% Yield Stocks That Pay Monthly

What pays a yield of 6% or more, makes distributions monthly, is liquid, and has no minimum investment? The answer is monthly dividend closed end funds, also known as CEFs. Although technically not stocks, they are investment companies that hold high yield stocks and/or bonds and trade like stocks.

Some of the advantages to receiving monthly dividends as opposed to quarterly or annual dividend stocks include the fact that the invested capital is returned faster, compounding takes place more quickly, and there is generally less price volatility of the CEF. In addition, many of monthly dividend investments pay dividends that are tax free if they own municipal bonds in their portfolios.

According to the list that was recently updated at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over 200 different companies that pay dividends monthly, many of which have high yields, over 175 of which pay yields of 6% or more.

An example is the Calamos Convertible & High Income Fund (CHY), which pays a fairly yield of 7.3%. The management fee is on the high side at 1.13%. This CEF, founded in 2003, invests in high yield fixed income securities and convertible securities.

Another example is the MFS Multimarket Income Trust (MMT), which sports a yield of 7.8%. The stock trades at a slight discount to net asset value. The company, which has been around since 1987, has a management fee of 0.82%.

When choosing these investments, avoid the ones with high management fees, and also avoid the ones with low liquidity. Talk to your CPA if you invest in municipal bond closed end funds, in regards to the Alternative Minimum Tax. Try to chose the ones that trade at a discount to net asset value, and avoid the ones using excessive leverage.

To see the latest updated list of over 200 monthly dividend stocks, including many that have yields of 8% or more, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Remember, very high yields may not be sustainable.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Warren Buffett Lunch Hammered at $2,345,678

The lunch with Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B) at Smith & Wollensky in New York City that was auctioned off on eBay (EBAY) went for $2,345,678, and the high bidder agreed to increase the top bid to $2.63 million to set a new record. The proceeds go to the Glide Foundation in San Francisco.

There were eight bids but most of the spirited bidding took place during the first couple days of the five day auction.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third Week of June

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. 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. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful.

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.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Altria Group, Inc. (MO) market cap: $58.3B ex div date: 6/13/2011 yield: 5.5%

Public Storage (PSA) market cap: $19.4B ex div date: 6/13/2011 yield: 3.3%

Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI) market cap: $16.5B ex div date: 6/13/2011 yield: 3.8%

Shaw Communications Inc. (SJR) market cap: $8.6B ex div date: 6/13/2011 yield: 4.5%

Telefonos de Mexico, S.A. (TMX) market cap: $9.2B ex div date: 6/13/2011 yield: 4.8%

DTE Energy Company (DTE) market cap: $8.7B ex div date: 6/16/2011 yield: 4.5%

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (DPS) market cap: $9.3B ex div date: 6/16/2011 yield: 3.0%

The additional 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.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

What Two Stocks Have Had Dividend Increases for Over 55 Years?

What better indication of corporate strength than long term increasing dividends. There are actually about a hundred publicly traded companies with a track record of increasing dividends for 25 years or more. But when looking back beyond 55 years, only two make the cut and both have yields in excess of 3.2%.

The first company, which has increased dividends for 58 years in a row, is in the fast growing business of integrated self-service delivery and security systems. The company, Diebold, Incorporated (DBD), makes everything from automated teller machines to safes to digital surveillance to biometric technologies. The stock trades at 13.6 time forward earnings and pays a decent yield of 3.6%.

Earnings were down significantly for the latest quarter year-over-year on a one percent drop in revenues, primarily due to higher taxes and losses in Europe. “As expected, we got off to a slow start in the first quarter. The results we’re reporting today slightly exceeded our internal expectations for the first quarter, despite heavy losses in Europe and a higher tax rate. We previously communicated we expect an unusually strong second half of 2011, and our outlook remains the same,” said Thomas W. Swidarski, Diebold president and chief executive officer.

Total dividend payout for Diebold is $73.1 million, which is well covered by the operating cash flow of $239.4 million. The dividend payout rate was raised in February from 27 cents a share to 28 cents share, an increase of 3.7%.

The other long term dividend increaser is American States Water Company (AWR), which has boosted its dividend 57 years in a row. This stock, which is one of the companies on the High Yield Water Utility Stock list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, trades at 15.6 times forward earnings and yields 3.3%.

The total dividend payout is $20.9 million, easily covered by $54.7 million in operating cash flow. Earnings for the latest quarter were down 10.6% on a 6.6% increase in revenues.

If you like high yield stocks, there are plenty of top yielding stock lists, most of which are free, at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Warren Buffett Lunch Auction Now Bid at Over $2 Million

The Warren Buffett Lunch Auction, offered through eBay (EBAY), now has seven bids with the top bid at $2,345,678.00!!! And what is really amazing is that there are still four more days to go before the auction ends.

Here is the series of bids so far:

$25,000
$100,000
$1,000,011
$1,511,011
$2,000,011
$2,345,578
$2,345,678

Now is your chance to meet and eat with the head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B). Don't forget, you can get a free downloadable list of Berkshire Hathaway stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Homeowner Gets Foreclosed On Even Though He Didn't Have a Mortgage

I tried to shorten this title but couldn't. I even left a significant part of the story out. A couple in Naples Florida paid cash for their home, and never had a mortgage on their property. Yes, according to the report, Bank of America foreclosed on their home!!!

The couple had to hire an attorney to fight the foreclosure, then won, then asked for and won the right to recover attorney's fees. However, after numerous requests to the bank for reimbursement, and getting no response, the couple and their attorney decided to foreclose on the bank. They sent the sheriff to a local branch to confiscate cash from the teller's drawers, computers, and furniture to cover the legal fees. The bank finally relented and produced a check for all costs and attorney's fees.

How You Can Have Lunch with Warren Buffett: For Real

How would you like to have lunch with Warren Buffett? Now is your chance.

The only catch is that you have to pay for the lunch through eBay (EBAY) and you have to be the successful bidder. Current bid is $25,000 and the auction closes on June 10. The winning bid is expected to be at least $1,000,000, and the winning bid last year was $2.6 million and the year before was $1.68 million.

The lunch will be held at Smith & Wollensky in New York City, and you can bring seven guests.

If you are not the high bidder, you can at least invest like Buffett. At WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, a list of all of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B) stock holdings are available as a free download that can be sorted and updated.

Worried About Living Near Nuclear Power Plants?

If you are worried about living near or moving to an area near nuclear power plants and nuclear materials processing facilities, then you should check out the site called NukesNearMe.com.

You just enter your zip code or city and state, click Submit, and a map shows you all the facilities near you, along with specific information about the locations.

China Dumps Treasury Bills

Over the last several years, China has been one of the major purchasers of treasury securities. Now it turns out, China has eliminated about 97 percent of its holdings of United States treasury bills, according to a recent report by the U.S. Government. Back in May of 2009, $210.4 billion in T-bills were held by China, the all time high.

China has also been dumping longer term treasury notes and treasury bonds.

Top Yielding Natural Gas Utility Stocks

Natural gas has several benefits over oil, especially in the green area, as natural gas generates a lower carbon footprint. It also has a long history as a fuel; one of the original Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks from the 1800's is a natural gas distributor that is still trading today, Laclede Group Inc. (LG). Laclede trades at 14.5 times forward earnings and sports a yield of 4.4%.

Many other natural gas utility companies pay fairly high yields. As a matter of fact, according to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, over 20 gas utilities have yields ranging from 2% to over 7%. For example, Energy Transfer Partners L.P. (ETP) is a publicly traded limited partnership that processes, transports, and sells natural gas. The stock trades at 17.9 times forward earnings and pays a generous yield of 7.6%. The company has been paying quarterly since 1997.

Dallas Texas based Atmos Energy Corp (ATO) trades at 13 times forward earnings and yields 4.2%. The company has been paying dividends since 1989.

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (CPK) is a provider of natural gas distribution services in Delaware, Maryland, and Florida. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 13 and pays a yield of 3.5%.

WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has just updated its free list of high yield natural gas utility stocks, which can be downloaded, sorted, and added to. The list has over twenty different stocks with yields above 3%.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

Graph show the price of natural gas.

By Stockerblog.com

Great Father's Day Gifts

Father's Day is just a couple weeks away, on Sunday, June 19th, 2011. Here are some great gift ideas.

Apple iPad 2 MC769LL/A Tablet 16GB and Wifi, THE NEWEST MODEL


Club Champ Kooler Klub Drink Dispenser


Sodastream Fountain Jet Soda Maker Starter Kit


Apple iPhone 4G Beer Bottle and Can Opener Case Black,with Free App Included


Stainless Steel Wallet


Kindle 3G, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 3G Works Globally, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology


Braun Series 7- 790cc Pulsonic Shaver System, Silver


The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel


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


The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor