Update: Stock Picks for the week of 4/25/12 to 5/2/12

Welcome back to Dividend Stock Investing for the Common Man. Thank you stopping by and supporting the idea of investing in dividend paying stocks for the long term. I wanted to recap last week's picks for you since it is important to review all investments on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

As you can see below, it was a healthy 9 days of gains in every sector. It was a 20 for 25 week A stellar week overall for REIT stocks, as well as my favorite fast food joint MCD!

As a rule of thumb, always invest in high yielding dividend paying stocks for your retirement years. Continue to hold on to your stocks for the long term so the dividends have plenty of time to compound. Feel free to watch the videos below featuring McDonald's Corporation, Medtronic, Inc., and Diageo plc. All three companies will inject your Roth IRA stock portfolio with stability and profits via quarterly dividends

Until next time.. I wish you nothing but the best during your investing years. Perform your due diligence for each of these quality dividend payers below.

Happy investing, reinvest those dividends and let your smart investment decisions work for you!

Stock/Stock Ticker.. Quote @ 4/25/12..  Quote @ 5/3/12..

Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT) $31.92 $31.76
Illinois Tool Works Inc.(NYSE:ITW) $56.68 $57.33
McDonald's Corporation(NYSE:MCD) $94.59 $97.04
Unilever plc (ADR)(NYSE:UL) $33.54 $34.61
Brandywine Realty Trust(NYSE:BDN) $11.70 $12.13
The Coca-Cola Company(NYSE:KO) $74.12 $77.44
The Kroger Co.(NYSE:KR) $23.31 $23.25
Verizon Communications Inc.(NYSE:VZ) $39.50 $40.64
Medtronic, Inc.(NYSE:MDT) $37.12 $38.54
Darden Restaurants, Inc.(NYSE:DRI) $50.39 $50.50
The J.M. Smucker Company(NYSE:SJM) $78.35 $77.38
Diageo plc (ADR)(NYSE:DEO) $100.75 $103.74
Duke Energy Corporation(NYSE:DUK) $21.18 $21.40
Mattel, Inc.(NASDAQ:MAT) $32.33 $33.59
Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF(NYSEARCA:VWO) $42.04 $42.40
Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF(NYSEARCA:SCHD) $27.46 $27.87
Exelon Corporation(NYSE:EXC) $37.94 $38.82
BHP Billiton plc (ADR)(NYSE:BBL) $61.52 $64.03
BB&T Corporation(NYSE:BBT) $31.95 $32.04
LTC Properties Inc(NYSE:LTC) $32.50 $33.09
Waste Management, Inc.(NYSE:WM) $35.98 $34.27
Johnson & Johnson(NYSE:JNJ) $63.77 $65.34
Starbucks Corporation(NASDAQ:SBUX) $58.05 $56.65
UIL Holdings Corporation(NYSE:UIL) $33.53 $33.61
iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend (ETF)(NYSEARCA:DVY) $55.92 $56.48

Former MCD CEO - James Skinner promoting their brand.

Medtronic CEO - He's a winner like his company!

Diageo's Brands are on fire!