Welcome to the March 9, 2009 edition of Festival of Stocks. As the name suggests, this festival is about stock where individuals share different perspective about stocks, analysis, experiences, learning, check lists, and narratives. Each post is a good story, so I would recommend you to take time to read all of the posts.
Michael Haltman presents The Annual Report From The Oracle Of Omaha posted at The Political and Financial Markets Commentator, saying, “By year end, investors of all stripes were bloodied and confused, much as if they were small birds that had strayed into a badminton game. As the year progressed, a series of life-threatening problems within many of the world’s great financial institutions was unveiled. This led to a dysfunctional credit market that in important respects soon turned non-functional. The watchword throughout the country became the creed I saw on restaurant walls when I was young: “In God we trust; all others pay cash.” continue reading rest of the article….
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Dividend Suspensions and Reductions – A Natural Characteristics of Economic Cycle.
In one of my earlier posts, I had discussed how smaller ones gets ignored, or gets buried under the media onslaughts, or perhaps they do not have the oomph! Dividend cuts by financial institutions (BAC, C, WFC, etc.) and corporations that supposedly represent American economy (GE, GM, PFE, etc) have been in headlines. In fact business media have been so focused on them that speculations with various scenarios start well before the announcement of dividend suspensions or reductions. In addition, business media has also given a wide coverage to Standard and Poor’s projection that cumulative dividends from corporations in S&P500 index will reduce by 13.3% for year 2009. In this environment it is likely for individual investors to get distracted and flustered by the dividend cuts. However, before we do that, let us look at current dividend situation in historical perspective. continue reading rest of the article….