: iStockAnalyst.com Symbols Feed

Should You Sell After A Dividend Freeze?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:41:00 GMT

One of my main objectives as a dividend growth investor is to seek investments which have a strong business model that throws out enough cash flow that could support consistent dividend increases.[More...]

Altria (MO) - A Recession Proof High Yield Dividend Stock

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:40:00 GMT

There are two extreme camps of Altria’s (MO) future prospects. One of the camps is the bullish one which claims that Altria is a near monopoly, which has a 50.40% of the US cigarettes market and has nothing else to do with its cash than to distribute it back to shareholders in the form of dividends or share buybacks. Given the fact that MO is not a growth company, the stock is spotting a P/E of 11 and a generous dividend yield of 7.8%. Some of Altria’s biggest fans also like to add that the company has increased its dividends for 42 consecutive years. Given the fact that 97% of stocks returns since 1871 have come from reinvested dividends, it is not surprise that this dividend growth tobacco stock was the best performer in the S&P 500 for the 50-year period from 1957 to 2007. Even though tobacco sales are[More...]

Comparing Cross-Market Performance for 2008

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:45:00 GMT

With 2008 firmly behind us, I thought it would be benificial to compare the performance of the S&P 500, US Dollar Index, 10 Year Note Price, and CRB Commodity Index to see how these markets were related in their moves throughout 2008. Cross-Market Comparison for 2008: Using a customized template in StockCharts.com’s “PerfChart” section, I am comparing the $SPX, $CRB, $USD, and $UST to note[More...]

TARP Is Bad For Dividend Investors

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:04:00 GMT

TARP allows the United States Department of the Treasury to purchase nonliquid, difficult to value assets from banks and other financial institutions. TARP also allow the Treasury to purchase whole loans and make direct equity investments in banks themselves. The targeted assets are securities backed by mortgages, sometimes described by the government, media, and others as “troubled” or “toxic” assets. As of November 12, 2008, $290 billion of the first $350 billion allotment funding TARP has been allocated, primarily to the Capital Purchase Program: $250 billion for bank equity infusions, and $40 billion for an equity infusion into insurer [More...]

Best Performing Stocks Of The Past Quarter

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:38:00 GMT

Back in early October I wrote in (Oct 1: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide) how there simply was no asset class (ex US Treasuries and US Dollar), no sector, no country to hide in. Everything stunk, and in fact it got worse in the ensuing weeks. September, October, November 2008 might be the worst 3 months ever (I don't have the date) but if not, it has to be in the top 3. We used to run a weekly screen here to identify areas of relative strength - it's been useless for months on end. But for curiousity sake I ran it to see the best performers over the past quarter. Criteria Market capitalization $1.50B+ Average trading volume 100K+Stock price $10+Return this[More...]

The Capitalism Distribution: Fat Tails in Action

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:33:00 GMT

Quick, before you read this post, ask yourself these questions: 1. What percentage of stocks beat their benchmark index over their lifetime? 2. What percentage of stocks have a negative return over their lifetime? 3. What percentage of stocks lose essentially all of their value? Not sure? The answers to all three questions are below. Want to know why a [More...]

Defensive Stock Opportunities Outside Of Healthcare

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:55:00 GMT

As a follow-up to the top rated companies highlighted from the ETF Innovators (ETFI) healthcare and transport indexes, below are some top rated companies from other sectors and industry groups. From the Global Tobacco Index, Altria Group (MO) is a top rated stock with a dividend yield near 8% which is set to acquire smokeless tobacco maker UST Inc. (UST) early next year and is poised to capitalize on a strong U.S. Dollar (UUP) compared to the international operations of Philip Morris (PM). In the Nordic Region, Nokia (NOK) is yielding around 6% since losing[More...]

New Global Tobacco Index: Big Dividends, Solid Returns

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:21:00 GMT

The accompanying table presents the top five companies by market cap and statistics for the ETF Innovators (ETFI) Global Tobacco Index, with the Top 20 rated companies posted a small gain of 0.6% over the past year thanks to an average dividend yield of 5.7%. The Global Tobacco Index outpaced all of its benchmark ETFs on a total return basis, including Consumer Staples (XLP), Claymore/Sabrient Defensive Equity Index (DEF), Vanguard Consumer Staples (VDC), and iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend (DVY). Since the split and spin-offs of Altria Group (MO) and Philip Morris[More...]

Test of Boucher Strategies: Using Treasury Yields To Trade The S&P 500

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:50:00 GMT

This is a test of two of Mark Boucher’s strategies from his book “The Hedge Fund Edge”. I have to rat myself out here – I usually can’t sit still long enough to read whole books (hence the reason I read short and concise blogs) – so I’m basing this test on a description from a great blog, Trader’s Narrative. Both strategies are based on the idea that stocks and bonds compete for investors, and when bond yields are attractive enough, investors will begin to move away from stocks and towards bonds (a bad omen for[More...]

EDITORIAL: Money matters

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:12:00 GMT

Nov. 10--A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.
And lobbyists didn't during the budget stalemate that dragged on and on in Harrisburg as lawmakers and Gov. Ed Rendell tried to close the gap between revenue and spending.
Industries "wouldn't spend money like that if it didn't work," he told the paper, and that lobbying expenditures are "a key indicator of how Harrisburg really works: Invest a lot of money and you are going to have a lot more clout at the bargaining table."

: iStockAnalyst.com Symbols Feed

Should You Sell After A Dividend Freeze?

Altria (MO) - A Recession Proof High Yield Dividend Stock

Comparing Cross-Market Performance for 2008

TARP Is Bad For Dividend Investors

Best Performing Stocks Of The Past Quarter

The Capitalism Distribution: Fat Tails in Action

Defensive Stock Opportunities Outside Of Healthcare

New Global Tobacco Index: Big Dividends, Solid Returns

Test of Boucher Strategies: Using Treasury Yields To Trade The S&P 500

EDITORIAL: Money matters

Altria Blazes on: The Company Seems to Be on Everyone's Radar These Days. While Other Companies Fight the U.S. Government Over Regulations, Altria Concentrates on Introducing New Products.

San Francisco's City's West Side is the Best Urban Spot in the U.S. To Beat the Summer Heat

Sour Economy Can't Keep Higher Learning Down: Recession May Be Driving the Pursuit of Education Instead of Depressing It

Altria: More Job Cuts This Month

Spoiling for a Fight? Analysts Say They Are Expecting Altria to Cut the Prices of Moist Tobacco in a 'Skoal Sunday' Move Against Reynolds

Altria to cut jobs due to economic uncertainty

Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: EnCana, UST, Investors Real Estate Trust, Sepracor and Moody's

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., FactSet Research Systems Inc., UST Inc., Altria Group and Joy Global Inc.

UST Shareholders Approve Acquisition by Altria

UST Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend - Nov 6 2008 12:38PM

UST Reports Third Quarter 2008 Results; Reaffirms Earnings Guidance for the Year

Altria's Proposed Acquisition of UST Passes U.S. Regulatory Review

UST Executives to Discuss Third Quarter 2008 Results in Webcast

Altria and UST Provide Update on Potential Closing Date of Proposed Acquisition of UST

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Unilever, Cytori Therapeutics Inc., Pfizer Inc., UST, Inc. And Altria Group.

Altria Group, Inc. Agrees to Acquire UST Inc., World's Leading Moist Smokeless Tobacco Manufacturer, for $69.50 per Share in Cash

Form 4 UST INC For: Jan 06 Filed by: SILCOCK RAYMOND (10K)

Form 4 PATRACUOLLA JAMES D For: Jan 06 (10K)

Form 4 KOHLBERGER RICHARD A For: Jan 06 (10K)

Form 4 KESSLER MURRAY S For: Jan 06 (10K)

Form 4 Butler Daniel W For: Jan 06 (10K)

Form 4 BASELER THEODOR P For: Jan 06 (10K)

Form 4 Ruisi Lawrence For: Jan 06 (10K)

Form 4 UST INC For: Jan 06 Filed by: ROSSI RONALD (10K)

Form 4 PARSONS ANDREW J For: Jan 06 (10K)

Form 4 HEID JOSEPH E For: Jan 06 (10K)