Have you ever pondered the concept of forever or infinity? It is truly mind boggling! What is even more astonishing is that when I buy a stock, my target holding period is forever. For most people, myself included, that is hard to grasp and to carry out. When things start going bad, our primal instinct of flight kicks in and we want to sell. In many cases that is the time to be buying. Owning companies that systematically raise their dividends each and every year makes it much easier to hold them through the tough times.

Below are several select companies that recently made their shareholders smile by raising their cash dividends:

• ProLogis (PLD) Raises Qtr. Dividend 10% to $0.57/Share (5.27% yield)
• Methode Electronics (MEI) Boosts Qtr. Dividend 40% to $0.07/Share (2.98% yield)
• Texas Instruments (TXN) Bumps Dividend 10% to $0.11/Share (1.94% yield)
• Microsoft (MSFT) Raises Qtr. Dividend 18% to $0.13/Share (2.00% yield)
• Atlantic Tele-Network (ATNI) Boosts Qtr. Dividend 12.5% to $0.18/Share (1.22% yield)

After running these companies through my D4L-PreScreen.xls model, PLD with a NPV of MMA Differential of $5,957 showed me enough that it is worthy of a full evaluation. MSFT is one to keep an eye on. It paid its first dividend in 2003 and has double-digit growth rate since then. None of the others achieved the necessary NPV of MMA Differential to justify a full evaluation. Though they were short of my target, PLD with a NPV of MMA Differential of $5,957 and MAS had a NPV of MMA Differential of $2,003 could have potential in the future.

Disclosure: No position in any of the aforementioned stocks.