Stocks Going Ex Dividend in May 2018

Please note that this is a sister publication of WallStreetNewsNetwork ( http://WStNN.com ) and eventually everything on this site will be transferred over there.

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ 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, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets. 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 in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the quarterly dividend amount, and annual yield.

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC)	5/3/2018	0.39
Citigroup Inc. (C)	5/4/2018	0.32
Intel Corporation (INTC)	5/4/2018	0.3
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (CAKE)	5/9/2018	0.29
International Business Machines (IBM)	5/9/2018	1.57
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK)	5/10/2018	0.525
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)	5/11/2018	0.82
Target Corporation (TGT)	5/15/2018	0.62
Amgen Inc. (AMGN)	5/16/2018	1.32
Visa Inc. (V)	5/17/2018	0.21
Aflac Incorporated (AFL)	5/22/2018	0.26
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS)	5/30/2018	0.8
Bank of America Corporation (BAC)	5/31/2018	0.12
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT)	5/31/2018	2

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found here at wstnn.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 some of the other high yield stock lists at HEREor WStNN.com. Most of the lists are free.

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.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

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 at 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.

How to Invest in the Olympics

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro had its opening ceremony yesterday, August 5, 2016, and will run until August 21. There will be over 207 nations participating with more than 10,000 athletes. The United States has already received its first gold medal for the women's 10-meter air rifle event.

In 2008, the Summer Olympics had the largest global viewership, and the highest peak viewer share in the world of any television broadcast. With that track record, if 2016 comes even close to that, it will been a boon to the companies connected with the Olympics.

Investors that are looking for a way to play the Olympics have several companies that they can choose from.

First, you have the airlines. United (UAL) is the official airline of the Olympics. LATAM Airlines (LFL ) serves the South American market and will be bringing a large number of passengers to Rio.

In terms of clothing and apparel, there is Ralph Lauren (RL) which made the Olympic outfits. Nike (NKE) is a proud sponsor, and we will be seeing many Nike shoes in several events. Under Armour (UA) is not an official sponsor but has made the uniforms for the US gymnastics teams, and should benefit from the publicity. Finally, there is Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS), which markets various types of athletic apparel and exercise equipment. It is an official sponsor.

Next there is the media. The Olympics are being broadcast on the NBC television network, which is owned by Comcast (CMCSA). Media General (MEG) will have the Olympics aired on 13 of its NBC affiliates.

 Last but not least is Visa (V), an official sponsor, which is handling the Olympic payment system.

Hopefully, some of these stocks can provide a gold medal for your portfolio.

You can see an investment motif of Olympics Stocks at motifinvesting.com. If you like interesting stock lists like this, you should check out many of the free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

World Cup Soccer Stock Portfolio

The 2010 FIFA World Cup, the top international association soccer (called football outside the US) tournament started yesterday. It is being held in South Africa, and will continue until July 11, 2010. The World Cup is an extremely popular event, and the last game is expected to be the most watched sports game ever. With lots of viewers, there will be lots of money involved.

Several publicly traded companies are either official partners or sponsors, and could be used to build a World Cup Soccer portfolio.

One of the partners is Adidas (ADDYY.PK), the athletic shoe manufacturer, sportswear, and other sports equipment. The stock has a market cap of $10.9 billion.

Coca Cola (KO) is another partner. The stock has a PE of 17 and a yield of 3.4%.

Hyundai Motor (HYMTF.PK), the automobile manufacturer is also on the partner list.

Sony (SNE), the electronic equipment manufacturer, has a forward PE ratio of 12 and a PEG of 1.92.

The credit card company Visa (V) has a PE of 23.5 and pays a yield of 0.7%.

Budweiser, which is made by Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) is one of the official sponsors. The stock has a PE of 17.7 and a yield of 0.8%.

McDonalds (MCD) is another sponsor. It has a PE of 16.4 and a yield of 3.3%.

The sponsor Yingli Solar, is a brand of Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (YGE). The stock has a PE of 11.5 and a PEG of 0.65.

Mahindra Satyam (SAY) is a sponsor that was formerly known as Satyam Computer Services Ltd. The stock has a market cap of $3.4 billion.

MTN Group Ltd. (MTNOY.PK), a South Africa-based telecommunications company, is a sponsor with a market cap of $25.5 billion.

If you like interesting portfolios, you should check out the free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which can be downloaded, sorted, and added to.

Author owns MCD.

By Stockerblog.com

The Stock That's a Screaming Buy

First, let me get the disclosures and disclaimers out of the way. I own shares in the following stock. It is a 'screaming buy' for me. I am not recommending it as an investment for you as most of you who are aware of from previous articles, I never make any recommendations; however, occasionally I strongly suggest that you take a closer look a certain stocks.

For example, back on March 8, 2007, when I wrote the article ‘Why Amazon.com Stock could be Up Substantially by Year End’. The article listed twelve reasons why Amazon.com (AMZN) looked extremely favorable. The stock closed at 38.10 that day, started shooting up in April and never looked back, now trading around 120 per share.

So what is the stock I am writing about? It is eBay (EBAY), which closed at 21.77 on Friday. This is the company that owns PayPal, the online payment services company. Remember several years ago when eBay took a lot of grief for buying PayPal? Now look at it; it is driving the company.

PayPal's total payment volume, also known as TPV, jumped above $20 billion for the latest reported quarter. PayPal operates in 190 markets around the world, with over 80 million active accounts, supporting 24 different currencies.

The Merchant Services division of PayPal grew by an incredible 50% for the fourth quarter. So what is Merchant Services? This is essentially the checkout process that you see when you purchase something online, whether you are buying from a small, medium, or even large companies such as Wal Mart (WMT), 1-800-Flowers (FLWS), and Blue Nile (NILE). Usually you see a choice of VISA (V) or MasterCard (MA), and often in addition, Discover (DFS) and American Express (AXP).

A major bank or other financial institution would normally process this whole checkout procedure. But PayPal is moving in on this business in a big way. With PayPal handling it, consumers can still use a credit card to check out through PayPal even if they don't have or don't want to use a PayPal account. Smaller merchants are realizing that they have been paying a lot in monthly fees to some merchant service company in addition to being subject to a minimum monthly dollar amount in transactions. Whereas with a basic PayPal plan, no monthly fees and minimums.

So for the Merchant Services business of PayPal, the company's total payment volume grew at a rate of ten times the market growth rate for ecommerce in general, with the international services growing at 80% over last year, boosting non-US volume to 40% of PayPal's total TPV.

The international business is significant, with the cross border trade amounting to about one quarter of all of PayPal's total payment volume.

Oh year, I think the company also has some kind of an online auction business. But seriously, the eBay marketplace portion of the business is holding its own. Revenues for the eBay Marketplace increased by 15% for the latest quarter, with sold items growing by 11% worldwide over last year. Gross marketplace volume grew by almost 50% over last year in the Asia Pacific region. And in Europe, the number of live listings has practically doubled.

Same store sales growth for the fourth quarter for top-rated sellers grew by over 10% in the United States, 25% in Germany, and 35% in the UK.

There is even an eBay app for the iPhone, which has been downloaded practically 7 million times, which has generated more than $600 million in GMV during 2009, a 200% increase over the prior year.

I look at the eBay marketplace business a practically a utility. People will always have stuff they want to sell, and people will always be looking for stuff to buy. Whether we are in a recession or a booming economy, the eBay transactions will always continue.

As for eBay's other businesses, it has completed the sale of its 70% interest in Skype for about $1.9 billion. StubHub had a 54% fourth quarter increase in ticket sales over the same quarter last year. The classifieds business increased by 20% for the year. Revenue for Shopping.com, Rent.com and other businesses was up 7% for the latest quarter.

As for the company in general, revenues grew by 16% to $24 billion for the latest quarter, with non-GAAP earnings per share increasing by 9%. The company generated almost $600 million in free cash flow. And most important of all, the company is debt free. (I just love debt free companies.)

The company has $5.2 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and non-equity investments, amounting to about $4 in cash per share. The line of credit is paid off. Did I mention that the company has no debt?

The company reported financials on January 20. If the stock market and the economy had been stronger at the time, I think eBay would have performed better over the last few weeks. So if you are looking for a company to do your homework on, take a very close look at eBay.

Author owns AMZN and EBAY.

By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com

Credit Cards May Bail Out the Holiday Season

Credit cards have been the source of the seed capital for many businesses that started off small and have since become extremely successful. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google (GOOG) supposedly started the company with credit card advances. Hedge fund manager Bruce Kovner and director, producer, writer, and actor Spike Lee also got their start with the help of credit cards, according to Wikipedia.

A variety of credit cards are now available and ubiquitous. And I don't just mean different interest rates and fee structures, or even personalized cards. You can get cars that smell with 90 choices of aromas.

For the average consumer, credit cards may not help with the funding of a business, but the cards will sure help out with holiday shopping. Every time there is a transaction, the card company receives a fee, and although the number and quantity of transactions may not be as much as previous, more robust years, activity this holiday season should be better than last year.

Here are some credit card companies that you might want to charge ahead with.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) is an issuer of the Discover Card, the third largest credit card brand in the U.S, as measured by cardholders. The Discover Card was originally developed by Sears, many years ago. Discover has a forward P/E of 20,has $10.8 billion in cash versus only $1.8 billion in total debt, and pays a small dividend of 0.5%.

American Express (AXP) is the financial conglomerate that offers the famous American Express card, travellers checks, gift cards, gift checks, prepaid cards and merchant services. They also offer banking, investment and travel services. The stock's forward P/E is 17,has $18.6 billion in cash and $55 billion in total debt, and it yields about 1.8%.

MasterCard (MA) went public in May of 2006. Its card brands include MasterCard, MasterCard Electronic, Cirrus, and Maestro. It has a forward P/E of 18, $2.95 billion in cash versus $22 million in total debt, and a small yield of 0.2%.

VISA (V), which also recently went public, has a forward PE of 19, $4.8 billion in cash with only a nominal $56 million in total debt, and pays a 0.6% yield.

Although a smaller play in the credit card industry, Barclays (BCS), the British financial services company, offers banking services, investment banking, and credit cards, primarily the Barclaycard. The stock has a P/E of 7 and a yield of 0.3%.

The biggest alternative to credit cards is Paypal, owned by eBay (EBAY), the online marketplace and auction place. eBay has a forward PE of 15, $3.16 billion in cash versus a picayune $200 million in total debt. They don't pay a dividend.

Maybe your portfolio can get a charge out of credit card companies. Don't leave your portfolio without one.

By the way, if you like companies with lots of cash and low or no debt, check out the free downloadable Excel databases of high cash, low debt stocks at wsnn.com.

Author owns EBAY.

By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com