1 September 2010
Dividend Tree
opinion
This is one question that almost all long term investors ask themselves. Most of the well known value investors that we read about in public domain, usually, are concentrated in teens. If that’s the case, then what about diversification? The concept of risk is very subjective because every person will have a different risk profile. These well known value investors have proficiency to balance risk vs. returns. They have resources to be able to manage that risk of concentration. As individual investors, we do not have such resources at our disposal, and hence risk level changes for us. In addition, we cannot generalize that a fixed “number of stocks” provides diversification.
Being a dividend investors, I am looking for companies that have potential to grow their dividends over time. I have observed that companies that grow their dividends, with good quality of earnings, the market value (or share price) also grows. This not only provides dividend cash flow, but also the capital appreciation over time. continue reading rest of the article….
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) engages in the research and development, manufacture, and sale of various products in the health care field worldwide. The company operates in three segments viz., (1) Consumer; (2) Pharmaceutical; and (3) Medical Devices and Diagnostics. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
JNJ is a part of the dividend aristocrats, S&P500 index, and DJIA index. It has been raising its dividend for last 48 years. The latest increase in dividend was 9.3% in May 2010. My objective here is to analyze JNJ to determine fair price range for buying and adding to existing positions.
Trend Analysis
Here I am looking at trends for past 10 years of corporation’s revenue and profitability. These parameters should show consistently growth trends. The trend charts are shown in image below. continue reading rest of the article….
We investors know BRIC stands for Brazil, Russia, India, and China. This BRIC label clubs all four distinct but emerging markets into a single entity. Based on this acronym there are many different mutual funds, closed-end funds, and ETFs. Each of these countries are different in many ways such as different governance structure, different governance policies, different types of economies, different strengths, different financial markets, different values, etc., Even with these differences they are clubbed together and viewed as single entity for investing in emerging markets.
To me, it does not make sense to club BRIC together for investing purposes. Each country should be looked at individual entity. China continues to receive most attention in the press, however, I believe its India that provides a much better option for small individual investors. Following are three reasons I believe India has relatively more fundamental strength than other countries. continue reading rest of the article….
Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration, production, transportation, and sale of crude oil and natural gas. It also involves in the manufacture, transportation, and sale of petroleum products. The company manufactures and markets commodity petrochemicals, including olefins, aromatics, polyethylene and polypropylene plastics, and other specialty products. XOM pretty much operates in all parts of the world such as United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Russia/Caspian region, and South America. Exxon Mobil Corporation was founded in 1870 and is based in Irving, Texas.
XOM is a part of the dividend aristocrats, S&P500 index, and DJIA index. It has been raising its dividend for last 28 years. The latest increase in dividend was 4.8% in April 2010. My objective here is to analyze XOM to determine fair price range for buying and how will it rate on my scale of risk-to-dividends.
Trend Analysis
Here I am looking at trends for past 10 years of corporation’s revenue and profitability. These parameters should show consistently growth trends. The trend charts and data summary are shown in images below. continue reading rest of the article….
~
Effect of Currency Fluctuations on US Dividend Investors?
As you may or may not know, currency fluctuations significantly affect US dividend investors. In fact, in a recent survey conducted by the Pennsylvania-based AvantGard Company, it was discovered that fifty-nine percent of the 275 people that participated in the poll stated that currency fluctuations resulted in a loss or gain of at least five percent in the past year ending in March 31, 2010. These numbers are up forty percent when they are compared with the previous year’s survey.
“The majority of corporations are in the business of doing business, producing and manufacturing, not hedging currencies,” said Paul Bramwell, a senior vice president of Treasury solutions at the AvantGard unit of SunGard in Connecticut. “A lot of companies were caught unawares by volatility.” continue reading rest of the article….