Value Investing News

Investing in dividend growth stocks is a long-term proposition. One of the beauties of following a dividend growth strategy is that you don't have to watch your portfolio or the market on a daily basis. For the most part, daily, monthly and yearly movements are just noise in the system.

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McDonald's Corporation is the largest fast-food restaurant company in the world, with about 33,144 restaurants in 119 countries. Linked her is a detailed analysis and commentary.

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Once again it is time for a goals/progress update. I am pleased to report that annualized dividend income increased in December, extending the streak to 18 consecutive months of increases after June 2010's decline. Since I began publicly tracking annualized dividend income in November 2007, it has increased in 47 of the last 49 months.

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:

The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats is the most recognized list of dividend stocks. The Dividend Aristocrats index is designed to measure the performance of S&P 500 constituents that have followed a policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years. This index is a member of the S&P Dividend Aristocrats index series.

As the world continues to shrink through technology advancements, and all of the products that consumers demand become commoditized, a company’s brand can be a valuable competitive advantage. It’s no coincidence then that the four top brands in the world, as measured by their brand value, are also among the largest in terms of capitalization and revenue.

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.

I couldn't begin to estimate how many different stocks are traded around the world. Like everything else, there are many participants, but few players. Though the population of stocks may be large, there are only a precious few that are worthy dividend stocks. When spending my time looking for worthy investments, there are four primary places I look:

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Most investors aren't very good at investing. The formula for success in the market is relatively simple. Buy low, sell high. So why do so many people do so poorly? It seems they are doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing. If we can't trust our emotions, how can we succeed in the stock market and still sleep at night? Here is how to do it...

To make our world easier to understand and explain, we like to organize and categorize things into groups for ease of reference. Dividend Stocks are no different. They can be placed into a few categories based on their historic performance and expectations for the future. Here are three broad categories and some representative selections from each:

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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...

This year the market has been quite volatile. With significant run ups followed by steep declines. This has provided income investors first hand experience in managing both their emotions and their income portfolio in an unsettled market. To make the most of these trying times, here are some concepts to help you succeed and thrive during a market correction:

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.

Investing in dividend growth stocks is a long-term proposition. One of the beauties of following a dividend growth strategy is that you don't have to watch your portfolio or the market on a daily basis. For the most part, daily, monthly and yearly movements are just noise in the system.

What will your financial future look like? Have you ever considered how you will fund your retirement and pay your bills after the payroll checks stop coming? If you haven't thought about this, you are likely in the majority.