I like health care stocks. They have done well over the years. Today, I would like to compare two solid companies in which both you have used or heard of their products. First, Bristol Myers Squib. According to their website, the company was founded in 1887. It was formerly known as Bristol-Myers Company and changed its name to Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in 1989. BMS is headquartered in New York, New York. They have several drugs on the market with their flagship med, Erbitux. But, here are the real numbers. The company provides 5.8% dividend yield.
Second company, is Baxter. You may not have heard of this company, but you or someone you know have used their products if they have been hospitalized. Baxter International was founded in 1931 and is based in Deerfield, Illinois. Again, solid numbers, but the Dividend Yield is on the low side. Regardless, this company has been around for years, and as long as there are going to be sick or injured people here or abroad this companies products will be in demand.
BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust operates as a grantor trust. The company holds overriding royalty interests constituting a non-operational interest in minerals in the Prudhoe Bay oil field located on the North Slope in Alaska.
If you are looking for solid numbers, then look no further.. Low PE ratio, solid EPS and a wopping 13% Dividend..
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 28, 2008–Regulatory News:
Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) today completed the spin-off of Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) to shareholders of Altria Group, Inc. (Altria).
The distribution of 100% of the shares of PMI was made today to Altria’s shareholders of record as of 5:00 p.m. New York City Time on March 19, 2008 (the “record date”).
Altria shareholders received one share of PMI stock for every share of Altria common stock outstanding at 5:00 p.m. New York City Time on the record date.
As previously announced, Altria is moving its corporate headquarters to Richmond, Virginia.
PMI has mailed an Information Statement containing details of the PMI spin-off to shareholders as of the record date. The Information Statement and answers to frequently-asked questions (FAQs) are available on Altria’s investor website at www.altria.com/pmispinoff.
PMI shares will begin regular way trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “PM,” as well as the NYSE Euronext Paris and SWX Swiss exchanges, on March 31, 2008. Altria shares will continue to trade under the symbol “MO” on the NYSE. Both Altria and PMI will be constituents of the Standard & Poor’s 100 and 500 Indices, effective the same day.
OK. I am not an investment advisor or an analyst. But, how is this company providing a 49% dividend with a negative EPS? It is losing earnings but providing almost 50% return for each share you own? Nice dividends but a risky stock to own. I’ve mentioned before that a low PE ratio with a positive EPS and a nice dividend return is a good buy.. But, this company is missing a couple of those characteristics..
About US Mobility: USA Mobility, Inc. provides wireless communications solutions to the healthcare, government, enterprise, and emergency response sectors in the United States
Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker scotch whisky, Captain Morgan rum, Baileys Original Irish Cream liqueur, JeB scotch whisky, Tanqueray gin, and Guinness stout. Its other spirit brands include Crown Royal Canadian whisky, Buchanan’s De Luxe whisky, Gordon’s gin and vodka, Windsor Premier whisky, Bell’s Extra Special whisky, Dimple/Pinch whisky, Seagram’s 7 Crown American whiskey, Old Parr whisky, Seagram’s VO Canadian whisky,
With the country's economic health on the line, how can you save money without suffering style? Here are some ideas to live the fabulous life while still being frugal.
Here are some of the excerpts from the book in which I felt are good quotes to highlight..
“I lost momentum. I was out of the world for twenty years, I came back, and I wasn’t the same.” Donald discussing about his friend, Mr. Levitt. “No matter what you’re managing, don’t assume you can glide by. Momentum is something you have to work at to maintain.”
“You’re on the runway, buy your feel supply is the problem. You won’t get off the ground without it. Feed yourself some positive thoughts and you can take off at any time.”
“Think of their criticism as a compliment, proof of your significance.”
“My parents were frugal in the sense that they knew it wasn’t easy to make money, and that it should be treated with respect. They lived well but simply, and were not flamboyant in their spending. We rarely went out to eat. We took relatively few elaborate vacations.”
“College kids today are more money savvy, perhaps, than kids from earlier generations. They seem serious about their money. This is a good sign, because the sooner you understand the value of money, the more likely you are to possess large amounts of it.”
“Don’t be confined by your expectations. Sometimes, what we think we want and what we actually want are two different things.”
“Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.”
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the number of steps to take on your way to making a million dollars, check out these stories of ordinary people who became millionaires.
Neil McCarthy Neil McCarthy started investing in the stock market when he was 34, in the 1970s. Today he has a net worth of about $2.1 million. When stocks went down, he bought more. He contributed the maximum to both his IRA and his 401(k) and his employer matched 100 percent. That’s truly free money — no risk. The big payoff came during the 1990s bull market when his stock doubled in three or four years, suddenly reaching $1 million.
He avoided technology companies because it didn’t make sense to him. He saw price-earnings ratios of 200 to 300 and “thought it was absolute nonsense.” This practical investing style saved his millionaire status when the market crashed. When he retired in 2000, McCarthy took his retirement payout as a lump sum. Just before interest rates started to fall, he invested part of the money in an immediate annuity and earned a bigger payout than if he had chosen the company’s pension annuity.
His number one piece of advice that made all the difference is this: “If you wait to save out of what’s left over from your salary, it’s not going to happen. Pay yourself first.”
James Moran James Moran began by pumping gas at age 14 and getting his hands dirty running gas stations and fixing cars. In 1968, he acquired a Toyota distributorship and eventually added financing, leasing and insurance for auto dealers. Today he owns the world’s largest privately-held Toyota distributorship with sales of $7.6 billion. His net worth is 1.4 billion.
Petro Kulynych Petro “Pete” Kulynych started at the bottom as the bookkeeper for a small hardware store in North Carolina, earning $25 a week. That store became the first in the Lowe’s hardware chain and Mr. Kulynych ended up a top executive. He is quoted as saying, “I live in a small town and I don’t stick out any more than the guy down the street who works in the service station.”
Mike Domek Mike Domek started his business with $100 in 1992. He had run out of money for college and decided to try ticket brokering full time to save up for school. He launched TicketsNow, an online company, 7 years later. Domek’s projected sales for 2005 were $120 million and he did it without any outside funding.
Joel Boblit Joel Boblit launched BigBadToyStore.com in 1999. He sold action figures as a hobby for extra money while he was in school. With the help of his parents, he was able to turn it into a thriving business. BigBadToyStore caters to specialty toy buyers with vintage favorites like Star Wars figurines and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well as comic- and movie-related items. His projected 2005 sales were more than $4 million.
According to a study of college students at the Ernst & Young International Intern Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida, 59 percent of these young leaders expect to be millionaires within their lifetime. What’s more, 5 percent of them expect to hit the million-dollar mark while in their 20s.
And the super-rich are a growing group. The top 0.1 percent of the population’s average income was $3 million in 2002, up two and a half times the $1.2 million, adjusted for inflation, that group reported in 1980.
Earned Money vs. Easy Money
Easy money usually comes from inheritance or luck, such as winning the lottery. The track record of people who get their money through the lottery or other windfalls is usually very different from those who created their wealth themselves or who planned for an expected inheritance. Lottery winners are often a sorry lot; more than 90 percent use up their winnings within 10 years — some go through their money in weeks or months.
But there are some consistent patterns among those people who earn or plan to inherit their money, and these five strategies may be worth emulating.
1. Avoid the Earn-to-Spend Mentality
Michael LeBoeuf, author of The Millionaire in You, points out that to increase wealth, it’s essential to emulate millionaires who view money as something to save and invest, rather than income to spend. Many wealthy people live quite simply, he points out, choosing less pretentious homes than they could theoretically afford and opting for financial independence over material showmanship.
2. Focus
LeBoeuf also counsels resisting the impulse to be scattered in your efforts and interests: “Winners focus; losers spray.” And goals that are clearly written down are easier to keep in focus.
3. Do Whatever Is Necessary to Meet Your Goal
People who earn their millions are able not only to focus but persevere in the pursuit of their goals. One single mom entrepreneur, Melissa Clark-Reynolds, started her first business, a health and safety consultancy, when she had a young son. En route to her goal of being a millionaire by age 35, Clarke-Reynolds and her son ate lots of pizza, did homework late at night and often slept at the office. She is now a chief executive mentor for Empower New Zealand, a global business consulting firm headquartered in London.
4. Take Calculated Risks
You have to take strategic risks to earn and grow money. And a little rebelliousness seems to help too. One interesting study found a majority of male millionaire entrepreneurs had been in trouble with school authorities or the police during their adolescence.
5. Be Generous
And why doesn’t it surprise us that millionaires are often very generous? Sometimes it’s for the tax breaks, obviously, but often it’s not. One Jewish Swiss millionaire, for instance, flew to Israel to give $5,000 in cash to a waiter at a Jerusalem café who foiled a Palestinian suicide bombing. Among the most generous of millionaires are those from North America, who are, according to a Merrill Lynch Cap-Gemini report, two to five times more likely to give to causes they value than their European counterparts.
These five habits are a pretty good prescription for living happily even if you’re not a millionaire.
But LeBoeuf insists it’s not so unusual to be a millionaire. As of 2004, there were 8.2 million households with a net worth of more than $1 million. And are the folks in those households happy? Yes, says professor Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in the UK. After studying more than 9,000 people over eight years, Oswald concluded that people who come into money are happier. The happiest among them, he says, seem to be “highly educated, well-paid women who have jobs.”
And how much money does the professor say it takes to be happy? “About $1 million, give or take a little.”
I was traveling to Orange County, California this past weekend. While waiting for my flight, I noticed a “fun” store inside the gates. Several folks from all ages were eager to set foot at this place as if it were a coffee shop and/or bookstore. Naturally, I followed since I had some extra time. There were no books or coffee but lots of t-shirts, stress balls and an emotional sense of “happiness”. I took a picture of the store to remind me to search the web on what “life is good” products are and who is behind all this. Well, it seems that the entire story can be read on lifeisgood.com website. And this is not just a t-shirt company. This is an $80M corporation. These guys have been featured on the cover of Inc. magazine.
Scott Shane is Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University and has written or edited eleven books, as well as the author of over 60 scholarly articles on entrepreneurship. In his new book, The Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By, Shane points out that many of those ideas of being an entrepreneur are MYTHS, and it’s important to take a realistic look at what it is really like to be an entrepreneur in America Today. For more information
Today’s featured company is Paychex. This company is a world leader in payroll services. Every midsize company I have consulted for tend to use their services. In fact, I really did not pay attention to the paychecks I received, but the name stuck to my head. Later, when I began my investing that it triggered my memory that this company has been around for a long time. What a brand recognition in the industry???
According to their website, It offers payroll processing services, which include the calculation, preparation, and delivery of employee payroll checks;
This company provides a good % dividend yield. Of course, you can also buy stock direct from the company..
Book value and intrinsic value are two ways to measure the value of a company. As you can see from the table below year after year their BVS has had a strong increase.
Today’s stock is one of my favorites. It is best to buy stocks in companies you are familiar with and products you use. Odds are others use the products we are grown to love. With Kellogg’s direct purchase plan, you can automate your purchase on a monthly basis. With annual dividend payout increases, it is no doubt, this is a solid company.
With the PE ratio of 18.22 and EPS of over $2 with a dividend of 2.5%, this continues to be a good stock to buy and hold.
Many folks spend their time in making extra money rather than spending some extra time in saving money where it is frivolously spent. It is like pouring more water in a bucket that has holes. Here is a website (www.connectutilities.com) where you can enter your address information to determine if you are paying too much for utilities. Even if you don’t want to change providers, you can always use these numbers as negotiating tool to lower your service bill with current provider.
Use this extra $30, $40 or more to invest in the market on a monthly basis.
Accordingly, “Stocks in the S&P 500 index that paid dividends in 2000 climbed nearly 16%, while nondividend payers slipped more than 2%. On average, in the latest three bear markets years, 200–2002, the dividend payers in the index roughly broke even, while the nondividend stocks fell 35%. In 2004 dividend-paying stocks in the S&P 500 had a total return of 18.2%, compared with 13.2% in 2003. From 2001-2004 dividend payers in the S&P 500 rose 40.5% versus a 27.4% gain for nonpayers.”
Buying dividend blue chip stocks are a good “lazy” way in investing. There is no need to forecast or the worry in volatility. Buy it and forget it. Companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Clorox, Boeing, Verizon, etc..
Accordingly, “Stocks in the S&P 500 index that paid dividends in 2000 climbed nearly 16%, while nondividend payers slipped more than 2%. On average, in the latest three bear markets years, 200–2002, the dividend payers in the index roughly broke even, while the nondividend stocks fell 35%. In 2004 dividend-paying stocks in the S&P 500 had a total return of 18.2%, compared with 13.2% in 2003. From 2001-2004 dividend payers in the S&P 500 rose 40.5% versus a 27.4% gain for nonpayers.”
Buying dividend blue chip stocks are a good “lazy” way in investing. There is no need to forecast or the worry in volatility. Buy it and forget it. Companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Clorox, Boeing, Verizon, etc..
Several times I have blogged about placing your money into assets and let your assets pay for your luxuries (or toys). I accumulated enough points on my AMEX card that I decided to get the iPod video to use during my travels on flights. I wouldn’t really spend money on these gadgets? Right? Well, I did spend a lot of time after receiving it in the mail. I have been using the Philips Portable DVD DCP750 (with iPod docking station) for over a year now to watch DVD on during flights. Recently I decided to complement this with an iPod video. I have lots of download TED videos over the years which are nice to view as a refresher. These videos can be downloaded from TED.com.
The iPod classic is a cool gadget. However, after hours of searching online (I am new to gadgets) I find out that the 6th generation iPods don’t work with the Panasonic due to a locked key and new firmware. This this whole thing ticked me off. I was hoping to watch my videos on a larger screen on Panasonic. Upon searching and purchasing several different Apple AV cables, there is only one cable that costs $49 that works to unlock the iPod to be used on the Panasonic DVD with the iPod docking station. This is the only cable that will work with the TV out option of this iPod. After several hours of syncing and downloading iTunes with this iPod and visiting several local Fry’s and Best Buy to find the proper cables, it dawned on me why I was wasting so much of my time on this? I am not a fan of iTunes, so the use of this software was new to me. By the way, if you upgrade the iPod firmware from 1.0.2 to 1.1.1, the TV output will not work on these nice Portable DVD docking stations. I am not a techie, so you can imagine how much time I spent on this entire process. I couldn’t give up. I was determined to get this thing to work and to have all my videos converted from MPEG to MP4 to upload on this iPod. For the past several days, I have been so involved in this, that now I want to get the iPod Touch with the wii-Fi capabilities. Although, the measly 8 or 16 gig is a small hard drive, and I wouldn’t spend the money for the 32GIG hard drive.
This journey began to make me think, that my entire psychology has been to invest your money into assets (regardless of how small) into buying stock, etc and allow dividends to pay for the toys. This was the time that I stepped away from the store when I was about to purchase the iTouch. I thought to myself that this goes against my psychology and mindset. I would be much more content to put this money (and the wasted time) into the market. I guess the money is not the big issue, it is the time required to get the gadgets to work. And each new “toy” requires lots of accessories that require more money. This time could be better spent reading the several financial books I have sitting in my bookshelf ready to be read.
Recently, I wrote a little article (with nearly the same name as this one) aimed at exposing a fairly common market myth: the idea that any individual can trade his or her way to supersized returns, day in and day out.
“All I need is the chart,” these hopeful traders tell me. They say, “Give me jumpy, high-volume, popular stocks like Applied Micro Circuits (Nasdaq: AMCC), and I can skim a few percent per trade, 50% or 100% a month.”
It’s worth asking. Fast-moving tech stocks have taken a beating recently, leading to a slew of bargains for those with the guts to buy.
No surprises there. Market panics occur daily. Just ask investors who hold shares of ValueClick (Nasdaq: VCLK), which fell more than 4% on Tuesday on no news whatsoever. Sheesh.
Washington Mutual is a well branded bank everyone has heard of. Unfortunately, the EPS is negative given all the issues they have had with the mortgage side of the business. Regardless, they continue to provide a 3.6% dividend yield and I highly doubt this company is going to go down the drain. The company market cap is fairly large with over 13B. I have been buying WM for a few years now at high prices, but now I continue to buy with discounted price. Since the EPS is negative the PE ratio is not calculated. This is a good buy for the long-term buy to hold
Millions marry and start families each year without taking basic steps to make sure their future, as well as their children's, is financially secure.
According to a recent survey by Princeton University and the Consumer Federation of America, 70% of households with incomes under $50,000 a year have retirement savings of less than $5,000. This same report said "most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck".
A potential stumbling block to joining a DRIP is that in most programs you already have to be a shareholder of the company in order to enroll. Brokers offer one avenue for getting that first share, although the fees to purchase one share of stock will be quite high in percentage terms of the total investment. However, investors should realize that once the initial investment is made through the broker, they will never need a broker again to purchase stock in that company. One discount brokerage firm with reasonable fees for small purchases and does not charge to forward you your stock certificates is Mydiscountbroker.com (1-888-882-5600).
Biovail Corporation is a specialty pharmaceutical company that applies advanced drug-delivery technologies to improve the clinical effectiveness of medicines. This company provides a 10.70% Yield with a very low PE ratio.. Buy now and hold for the long-run. Buying just 2-3 shares a month will allow you to see the growth in a few years so long as you re-invest the dividends.
Strong: heath care facilities; homebuilding; auto retail; computers & electronics; education services; dept. stores; gen merch stores; agriculture; home furnishings; human resources & employment services
Weak: internet software & services; trucking; thrifts & mortgages; internet retailers; specialty stores; construction & engineering; photo products; fertilizer & agriculture chemicals; div. metals & mining; residential REITs
Top 10 Mid-Day Advancing and Declining Stocks by %Chg.: Sym. Co. Time Price Chg. %Chg. Vol.
Truth be told, your most important retirement asset isn’t your cash — it’s your time. The longer you have before you must spend your money, the less you need to save per month (and in total) to have what you’ll need when you need it. It’s just the way compounding works.
Assume that you’re looking to retire by age 70 with $1 million socked away, and you think you can roughly match the market’s historical 10% annualized return. These numbers show just how important time is to meeting your financial goals:
Years to Go
Monthly Investment
Total Invested
50
$57.72
$34,633.25
45
$95.40
$51,514.42
40
$158.13
$75,900.37
35
$263.39
$110,624.19
30
$442.38
$159,257.65
25
$753.67
$226,102.24
20
$1,316.88
$316,051.95
15
$2,412.72
$434,289.21
10
$4,881.74
$585,808.84
5
$12,913.71
$774,822.68
If you thought coming up with $58 a month to invest at age 20 was tough, just try waiting until age 60, and finding nearly 80 times as much spare cash in your budget. No matter how you slice it, the sooner you get started, the less painful it’ll be.
The conventional thought is not to invest in the market with your emotions involved. I am here to tell you to do the opposite. With the key factors (listed below), you should go with your gut feeling. These factors include the following.
1. Does the company have a brand recognition? Eg Coke, John Deere, IBM, BofA. 2. Does the company have a large market cap…in the billions? 3. Is the PE ratio low? 4. How is the EPS? 5. Does it give dividends?
Now, as you can see from the above Google fits all with the exception for #5. And, therefore should not be a long-term investment company in your portfolio. The reason for this (and Apple) is that if the stock price goes down you don't win. But, if dividends are given out, you still receive returns.
When you reinvest your dividends, you are really receiving a dividend and then buying additional shares of stock. So you pay income tax on the dividends that are paid to you, and the new shares that are purchased are nothing more than capital assets, just like the original stock purchased. If you hold these shares for a year or less before you sell them, you’ll pay taxes on any gains at your marginal income tax bracket. But if you hold the shares for more than one year, any gain that you realize will be taxed at the preferred capital gains rates.
This is the dumbest email I have received. First, I don’t have a BofA account, and second, they use the word “their” instead of “there”. The email looks professional, but the content sucks.. Even when you click on this, it goes to an IP address instead of bofa.com.. What a dumb scam. .I wonder if anyone still falls for this?
Your Online Banking is Blocked
Because of unusual number of invalid login attempts on your account, we had to believe that, their might be some security problem on your account.
So we have decided to put an extra verification process to ensure your identity and your account security.
Please click on continue to the verification process and ensure your account security. It is all about your security.
Thank you.
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender (c) 2008 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved
Simple: just $100 per month. You will see the growth over the years. Later, I will show you how you can build a portfolio in just $100 per month of investing in stocks such as JNJ and CAT.
Have you heard of Mr. Clean products? How about Scope mouth wash? These are products we use everyday. You can purchase stocks in Proctor and Gamble directly without a broker. They have a direct deposit application where you can purchase stocks on a monthly basis. Better yet, the stocks certificate will be in your name…(traditionally, if you buy through a broker, it would be in the broker’s name).
Here is some other great info.. Market Cap for the company is 204B.. That is big. PE ratio is fairly low, EPS is over $3, and they give out over 2% dividends. Percent dividends are not much, but you have a strong company with well-known brands. You can buy and hold for a very very very long time with no worries about the market. Reinvesting the dividends will get you more shares.
Posted: 15 Feb 2008 07:00 AM CST on Get Rich Slowly
In October, Michael wrote with a question about credit cards. Because I try to discourage credit card use, I haven’t posted it. But my attitude is beginning to soften. Michael’s question now seems perfectly reasonable, and I suspect other readers have similar concerns. He writes:
I have a credit card account which I got with Wells Fargo when I started college. I’d like to switch over to a card with some sort of bonus (miles, or cash back or something), which means I’m now credit card shopping. As I’ve tried to look for the best credit card for my needs, I’ve run into some difficulties:
There are TONS of junk pages out there making it hard to find good objective comparison sites.
Info pages on the cards only list the initial APR (which is usually super low, like 0% for 12 months.)
I may actually keep the current credit card open since I’ve had it for almost six years and have been very responsible with it. I’ve paid it off completely every month, except for maybe two or three times, but always paid it off completely the following month.
I can’t recall having seen an article like this on your site. How can I choose a credit card?
Drips are offered by companies to their shareholders as a way to buy stock directly from the company (usually through a transfer agent) in very small amounts to large amounts, and usually on a monthly basis if desired. The plans also reinvest all or partial dividends paid (it’s up to the shareholder) into more stock, thus the name “Dividend Reinvestment Plan.”
Now, we know Drip or DRP isn’t a very Foolish name, but for now it gets the point across: You’re reinvesting dividends, but you’re also “dripping” money into your holdings every month, ideally. Drip… drip… drip…. And that adds up over time.
The advantages of such plans are numerous, the most obvious of which being: You don’t need a large amount of money to start. You can open an account with as little as one share of stock. Let’s look at some other “perks.”
Companies offer DRPs as a way for their shareholders to buy stock directly from the company (usually through a transfer agent) in very small to large amounts, and usually on a monthly basis if desired. These plans get their name from the fact that they also reinvest dividends paid, using these dividends to purchase more stock. Thus the name “Dividend Reinvestment Plan.” The specifics of whether or not you have to reinvest the dividends depends on the plan.
I love to kick off the new trading week by taking a quick peek at companies that have just raised their dividends, because any company that’s easing up on its pocketbook probably has improving fundamentals to back up that generosity.
Given the number of sites on the web regarding dollar cost averaging, I decided to discuss one of the brokerage firms that provide such service.. You can purchase stock and mutual funds on a monthly basis. There are lots of these types of firms out there, but cost associated for each transaction can add up. You may want to check out a discount broker for such use as DCA.. I recommend Sogotrade.
Second company, is Baxter. You may not ha
ve heard of this company, but you or someone you know have used their products if they have been hospitalized. Baxter International was founded in 1931 and is based in Deerfield, Illinois. Again, solid numbers, but the Dividend Yield is on the low side. Regardless, this company has been around for years, and as long as there are going to be sick or injured people here or abroad this companies products will be in demand.
