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Is the XOM Dividend in Trouble?
ExxonMobil (XOM) is a poster child of the benefits of dividend stock investing. The company has consistently raised its cash payout since 1970, increasing distributions to shareholders more than 31x...
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Why the Dow 30 Is a Terrible Benchmark
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is perhaps the most widely-followed index in the world, regularly displayed as a gauge of both short-term and long-term stock market performance. Most investors are...
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The Best Dividend Stock Ever
When evaluating dividend stocks, much of the focus is on the current yield — calculated by dividing the annual dividend by the share price. Identifying stocks with a high current yield is simple...
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The Surprising Truth About the Best Dividend Paying Stocks
The well known “80/20 rule” perhaps understates the degree to which a few high-profile stocks dominate the financial headlines. Tech stocks in particular account for a huge percentage of the on-air...
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How to Use the Dividend Payout Ratio Metric
While dividend yields capture the attention of bargain shoppers, most serious dividend investors consider a range of other metrics when searching out potentially attractive opportunities. Among these...
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Beware 3 Potential Drawbacks of the Dividend Aristocrats
Among the numerous strategies employed to filter out promising dividend stocks, perhaps none is as well known as the Dividend Aristocrats. This exclusive club, which can be accessed through multiple...
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10 Companies Built in a Month
One of the lessons in Finance 101 focuses on the distinction between a good company and a good stock. One illustration of the disconnect between these two can also provide a few lessons to investors....
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When Will Google Pay a Dividend?
Apple’s (AAPL) massive cash pile may command the most attention (and speculation) from investors, but Tim Cook is hardly the only CEO building a war chest. Google (GOOG) now has nearly $70 billion in...
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Useless but Important Information About Dow Milestones
In the past several weeks, the Dow has flirted with multiple “milestones,” coming close to dropping below 16,000 and then successfully topping 17,000. These round numbers for the index are, of course,...
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The Truth About Stock Sectors
Investors can’t go far without coming across mention of stock sectors. There are more than 50 sector ETFs and more than 200 sector mutual funds that have at least $1 billion in assets, and countless...
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7 Surprising S&P 500 Charts
Along with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 is perhaps the most widely followed stock benchmark in the world. Almost every mention of the benchmark, however, is in the context of its...
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A Visual Guide to Women in the C-Suite
We examined the executive teams and boards of directors at the 100 largest companies in the S&P 500 (as of October 2015), and collected data on the breakdowns of these positions by gender. Below is...
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The Problem with Wal-Mart, in 7 Charts
Since Sam Walton acquired his first five and dime store in Arkansas in 1950, Wal-Mart (WMT) has grown into one of the largest companies in the world. With more than 1 million employees and nearly $500...
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3 Dirt Cheap Discretionary Dividend Stocks
With the current valuation of the U.S. stock market near the high end of its historical range, many analysts are expecting dismal returns for the asset class over the coming decade. But there are, of...
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These Are the Best and Worst Stocks Since the Market Bottom
Since major indexes bottomed out in March 2009, the S&P 500 is up nearly 250 percent. The median and average gains for components of the index are even more impressive, at about 450 percent and 320...
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Surprising Corporate Board Members
Corporate boards receive very little attention in most instances, often only grabbing headlines if something has gone horribly wrong at a company. These groups, however, remain important sources of...
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High-Yield Dividend Stocks: The One Question Every Investor Must Ask
Dividend investing is generally assumed to be a safe and stable strategy. But this term, of course, can actually include a wide range of approaches that cover various levels of risk. Investing in...
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How to Evaluate High-Yield Dividend Stocks
When evaluating high-yield dividend stocks, investors are ultimately trying to differentiate between undervalued companies and yield traps. The former can represent very rewarding buying opportunities,...
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Yield Traps: Everything Dividend Investors Need to Know
In most cases, dividend yield is an important consideration when evaluating a stock. In some instances, however, a dividend yield is meaningless due to the fact that it relies on a backward-looking...
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Lessons from the Best (and Worst) High-Yield Dividend Stocks
High-yield stocks have a number of lessons to teach. The inherent uncertainty means that there is a wide range of possible outcomes in both directions. Below are five principles to keep in mind, as...
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