Value Investing News

Before the internet and even before computers, critical financial information was printed daily in newspapers. Though many newspaper still print this information, most people find it easier (and faster) to get information on their stocks from financial websites. So back when financial information was a tedious and manual process what was considered relevant enough to warrant inclusion?

Even hibernating bears know that bonds have essentially been dead money over the last year, or so. Interest rates are ridiculously low and not likely to improve any time soon given the anemic U.S. economy and European financial concerns. What's done is done, so what should we expect to earn from bonds in the future? Consider these two scenarios:

All income investors love a stock with a good yield. The smart ones look for dividends that are sustainable and likely to grow. The question is, 'In an uncertain world, how do you determine which dividends are sustainable and likely to grow?' Of coarse, there is no way to know with exact certainty which dividends are sustainable, but there are tell-tale signs that often foretell the future.

ExxonMobil Corp is among the world’s largest integrated energy companies with more than a century-long history behind it. The Company enjoys high brand recognition and is still reaping the benefits of being an early market entrant.

Over time stocks fall in and out of favor with the media, analysts and investors. It is too easy to fall in love with a stock only to have your heart, and brokerage account, broken. As an investor that takes a value approach to selecting the best dividend growth stocks, I tend to focus on fundamentals with a heavy dose of analysis.

Who wouldn't like to earn a safe 15% on their original investment? Normally double-digit returns are the fodder of con artists or associated with extraordinarily risky investments. In either of these cases, the person is usually left holding despair in one hand and an empty wallet in the other. However, I have discovered that you can actually enjoy high yields with minimal risk...

Growth or yield? In a perfect world, income investors would want both from their investments and are not interested in investments that offer neither. This is where the common ground ends, and the debate begins. Without the benefit of a perfect world, we are left with the middle ground which is a balancing act between growth and yield.

New income investors naturally focus on yield, but the highest yielding stocks aren't always the best investments. To find the very best dividend growth stocks an investor must identify companies that will not just sustain their dividends, but increase them every year. To find these jewels in the rough, there are two very important things the investor must look for.

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The Pocket Change Portfolio (PCP) was first introduced on September 13, 2008 as a real money dividend income portfolio funded by the "pocket change" earned from my various online endeavors. Each month I report on the portfolio's progress and update its holdings. Dividends Received
Total dividends received during the month were...

ConocoPhillips Co. was formed via the 2002 merger of Phillips Petroleum and Conoco, is the fourth largest integrated oil company in the world. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

Once again it is time for a goals/progress update. I am pleased to report that annualized dividend income increased in September, extending the streak to 15 consecutive months of increases after June 2010's decline. Since I began publicly tracking annualized dividend income in November 2007, it has increased in 44 of the last 46 months.

A declining market is what value and dividend investors long for. There have been times in the past where I struggled to find stocks worthy of purchasing. Now, the challenge is to pick the best available stocks that will maximize my chances of future success. When looking for value priced stocks, the Price-To-Book (P/B) ratio is one that I like to focus on.

Payback is the amount of time needed for an investment to earn its cost, undiscounted. Once you earn back your investment, some might say you are in a no-lose situation. I wouldn’t go quite that far, but you have found an investment that that has provided you a good historical revenue stream, and hopefully it will continue to do so in the future.

Are you from another planet? That's the look I got several weeks ago when I admitted to a group of colleagues that I had not been following the daily gyrations of the stock market. Investing in dividend growth stocks is about strategically selecting appropriate times to buy, but not timing the market.

Chevron Corporation is a global integrated oil company (formerly ChevronTexaco) with interests in exploration, production, refining and marketing, and petrochemicals. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.