Monday, January 30, 2012

Stock Picks for the week of 1/31/12 to 2/7/12


Listed below are my top dividend stock investments for the Common Man for the week of January 31st, 2012 to February 7th, 2012. Any one of these stocks always make an excellent addition to your Roth IRA stock portfolio. They are reliable dividend payers and I am a huge fan of each company. It is fairly simple to invest your dollars into any one or all of these stocks. I will check back in next Wednesday to determine how well or poor my picks performed. Have a great week! Continue to invest as much as you can each week to ensure that you have a solid dividend income stream of wealth!


Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE:EPR) $44.51
Universal Health Realty Income Trust (NYSE:UHT) $40.00
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) $67.46
The Hershey Company  (NYSE:HSY) $61.70
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) $38.89
Unilever plc (NYSE:UL) $32.56
H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ) $51.92
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) $37.01
Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. (NYSE:PCL) $40.08
NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) $103.39
The J.M. Smucker Company  (NYSE:SJM) $78.32
Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) $16.80
Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O) $36.34
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) $103.41
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) $48.48
McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) $98.69


Note: Stock prices as of 1/30/12

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF - VIG

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF, stock ticker VIG, is one of the best ET funds amoung the group. Just think, where can you buy a basket of the best companies in America and get paid a nice dividend while you own shares?

VIG is paying a sweet 33 cent quarterly dividend, which as of today, is a 2.08% dividend yield. Play it safe with this one. Think long term! VIG seeks to track the investment performance of the Dividend Achievers Select Index. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF is an exchange traded share class of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund and holds all the stocks in the index by approximately the same proportions as their weightings in the index. Click here to get the run down of all that is VIG!

The month-end top ten largest holdings within VIG as of 12/31/2011 include some of our favorite dividend stocks for the Common Man!

1 McDonald's Corp
2 International Business Machines Corp
3 Chevron Corp
4 Coca-Cola Co/The
5 Exxon Mobil Corp
6 ConocoPhillips
7 Procter & Gamble Co/The
8 Wal-Mart Stores Inc
9 PepsiCo Inc/NC
10 United Technologies Corp

Unlike many funds where adviser and broker fees chip away at your potential dividend income this fund only charges a 0.18% expense ratio. The fund is designed to pay it's owners increasing dividends, year after year! VIG is based on the Mergent Dividend Achievers Select Index which requires companies to have at least a 10 consecutive year history of rising dividends to be considered. Quite selective if you ask me.

While there are certainly no guarantees when it comes to investing in the stock market, true great companies know that the market views their dividend payouts as strong signaling devices of the overall health of their business. Why would any company willingly downgrade what their investors thought of their operations unless it became absolutely necessary? When a company has an established track record of raising its dividend there is a strong incentive to keep the dividends flowing and VIG is well positioned to reap the benefits of that concept.

Bottomline: VIG provides us with safety in dividend payers that are increasing their dividends, as well as provides us diversification over the spectrum of high quality companies. Check out the video below and please do yourself a favor and always reinvest your dividends!

American Water Works - AWK

A company that pays a 23 cent dividend per quarter may not sound like much to those who are outside of the stock market community, however those who subscribe to the "Common Man" mentality, that 23 cent dividend is like gold mine! Searching for a consistent dividend payer is no easy task, however once you find one and actually purchase shares a sense of calm should come over you. Rest well at night knowing that your money is working for you and with each share increase and dividend payment you are slowly, but surely, moving your way to financial freedom and security.

Look no further than American Water Works, stock ticker AWK, for one of those consistent dividend payers referenced above. Yes, AWK has only been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since April 25th, 2008 and began paying a quarterly dividend on August 13th, 2008, however this winner is hear to stay long term. With a current dividend yield of 2.75%, AWK has already become a safe haven stock.

We all need water, right? I would sure hope so. Well, AWK is a water and waste water utility company. They provide 15 million people with drinking water, waste water and other water related services in over 30 American states and two Canadian provinces. During 2010 alone, the Company closed on six acquisitions of water and waste water systems. AWK flew higher and higher during the Great Recession and has continue to increase in share price.

Just the other day, on January 27th, 2012, the nation's largest publicly traded water utility (AWK) announced that they were awarded a research grant from the WateReuse Research Foundation to develop best management practices to control potential health risks and other issues associated with storage and distribution of reclaimed water. The project is valued at $377,578. Click here to learn more about WateReuse, great foundation if you ask me!

Water is essential to the human race and for that reason alone AWK should be an essential part of your Roth IRA stock retirement portfolio. Emerging markets in India, Latin America, China and all throughout the world are subscribing to a healthy living lifestyle and with that comes clean, purified water. AWK pays an excellent, healthy dividend and the share price is very predictable. I think water is currently an undervalued commodity. As the world population continues to grow it will take more work to ensure access to clean water. I think AWK is well positioned to profit from that.

I do not suggest investing your hard earned dollars into each and every stock discussed on my website, however any stock which pays you to hold their shares and will around now and during your retirement years works for me! To learn more about the great American Water Works please visit the links below and also watch some of my favorite YouTube videos pertaining to... WATER! Have a great remainder of the weekend. Stay safe.


Thursday, January 26, 2012

CBRE Clarion Global Real Estate Income Fund - IGR

I highly suggest that you should be positioned to take advantage of the real estate market once it turns back around. Your real estate investment should pay a monthly dividend and have international exposure. Where should you invest? Well, look no further than stock ticker IGR!

CBRE Clarion Global Real Estate Income Fund, stock ticker IGR, is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. If you would like to learn about "close-end" funds, click here. IGR's primary objective is high current income and its secondary objective is capital appreciation. IGR invests 80% to 100% of its total assets in income-producing real estate securities, including REITs, located mainly in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. IGR can invest up to 25% of its assets in preferred shares of global real estate companies. The Trust’s investments is concentrated in income-producing common equity securities, preferred securities, convertible securities and non-convertible debt securities issued by companies deriving their revenue from the ownership, construction, financing, management and sale of commercial, industrial, and residential real estate.

IGR's currently monthly dividend is set at $0.05 per share, which is a whopping 7.16% dividend yield! IGR has been selling between $6.15 and $8.60 per share during the past 52 weeks. With a market cap of 879.09 million dollars, it's safe to say that your money will grow month after month! If you invest $100.00 tomorrow, you will receive 13.26 shares.

This fund is selling at all time lows, but can easily go up at least 100% in a year or so, or even sooner. In the mean time you received a high dividend yield - paid every month! IGR will be a reliable performer for years and you'll be investing in that sweet mid-cap value segment.

I am a huge believer that real estate will come back, and with power and might! Right now, with IGR's 7% plus dividend yield you can't go wrong. That is a better interest rate than most stocks which are sold on the NASDAQ and NYSE. Hold this puppy for the long term and let it fund your Roth IRA throughout your working career and then you can reap the benefits of a smart investment decision during your retirement years. True, every investment involves risk, but when your buying at stock at a bargain price, being paid to hold it via dividend, and then the stock could double or triple in your lifetime, why would you not throw some money at it? Perform your own due diligence, but don't sleep on this one. Until next time friends, stay happy, healthy and hold your stocks within a Roth IRA and reinvest those dividends!

PS.. Check out who is currently invested in IGR!


Name 
Morgan Stanley ...
3.6M
$24,276,532+18%3.1%
Low
Invesco ...
2.6M
$17,422,800+13%2.2%
Low
MTB Investment ...
1.9M
$12,617,480+9%1.6%
Low
Wells Fargo Advisors
1.2M
$8,152,006+6%1.1%
Low
Bank of America ...
1.1M
$7,607,212+6%1.0%
Low
UBS Securities LLC
1.1M
$7,213,278+5%0.9%
Moderate
Advisors Asset ...
890.1K
$5,954,608+4%0.8%
Low
Newgate Capital ...
798.7K
$5,343,330+4%0.7%
Moderate
Wolverine Asset ...
708.3K
$4,738,581+3%0.6%
High
Millennium ...
609.7K
$4,078,559+3%0.5%   High

Monday, January 23, 2012

Time-Lapse - Yosemite National Park

I hope you had a great start to this week. Check out this time lapse video of Yosemite National Park. It certainly puts life into perspective. Enjoy!


Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

CME Group Inc. - CME

CME Group, Inc. stock ticker CME is a very reliable stock to hold within your Roth IRA stock portfolio. I state this claim for this simple fact: CME sold for $710.75 on December 21st, 2007 and is currently trading at $239.88 as of January 22nd, 2012. That is a difference of $470.87 and I believe CME was a great buy back at $710.75. Also, you will be paid a healthy quarterly dividend to wait for the share price to fly back up to $400.00-$500.00+. Check out these stats below:


Dividend yield of 2.33%
$1.40 dividend payout per quarter
52 Week range of $224.69 - $317.37
Market Cap of $15.93 Billion
70% Institutionally owned shares
P/E 12.71
EPS 18.87
Beta 1.09

Who is CME? Well, CME operates as a diverse financial exchange. The company brings together buyers and sellers on the CME Globex electronic trading platform and on its trading floors. It offers futures and options on futures in various product areas, including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, and energy, as well as alternative investment products, such as weather, real estate, and economic derivatives. The company was founded in 1898 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

They are a national investment brokerage company. CME operates the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX regulatory exchanges worldwide. CME Group also offers clearing services for cleared over-the-counter derivatives, including credit default swaps and interest rate swaps. Trades are executed through CME Group’s electronic trading platform, open outcry and privately negotiated transactions. Through its clearing house, CME Group offers clearing, settlement and guarantees for all products cleared through the exchange. Index Services creates, maintains and licenses Dow Jones indexes. It offers a range of products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and real estate. Finally, it offers a range of market data services, including live quotes, delayed quotes, market reports and a historical data service and index services.

CME has excellent management and collects it's income whether the market is up or down! CME will not lose value or become a victim if any one individual stock falters, but rather, become the beneficiary of increased market volumes as more investors come back into the market. There is absolutely no reason for this stock to have taken the beating it did. Put your money into this stock and hold for life. If you have 20 to 30 years to invest into this stock I suggest you dollar cost average and just keep pumping money into this winner. If you only have a few years to invest before retirement then I suggest you do the same, this puppy could double in value rather quickly.

Feel free to visit CME's home page, here, and their Investor Relations website, here. Also, enjoy these hand picked CME videos below. Have a great investing week!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

What is Compound Interest?

Welcome back to Dividend Stock Investing For The Common Man! I wanted to bring to your attention a fascinating topic. Drum roll please.. COMPOUND INTEREST. What is Compound Interest? Well, click here to find out.

The great Albert Einstein once stated, “The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest." Because compound interest is a really amazing invention he called it the "8th Wonder". It can work for you, or against you. When you invest, it works for you. When you borrow it works against you!

Reinvest your dividends throughout your working career so you secure maximum compounding. Investing in high yielding dividend stocks is key if you intend to live comfortably during your retirement years. Check out this handy Compound Interest Calculator. Plug in your numbers and use your favorite stock's dividend yield as the "Interest Rate" and also use 30 years in the "Years to Grow" section. Just think of how sweet those dividend payments will be when you are in your early 60s.

Please watch these three videos below. They are a few of my favorite Compound Interest videos available on YouTube. Never underestimate the power of compound interest!

Friday, January 20, 2012

The Home Depot, Inc. - HD

Can you imagine a world without Home Depot? I can't. Imagine reverting back to driving from establishment to establishment to find that one lug nut or particular piece of lumber. What a bummer. Well, those days are gone. The Home Depot has arrived and in my humble opinion, will be around forever. There is no denying that. For that one reason, I believe the Home Depot, stock ticker HD, is one of the safest stocks to purchase within your Roth IRA stock portfolio. During your retirement years you need stable income and a company which will not go out of business out of the blue. With a current 2.61% dividend yield, HD is paying you to hold their shares. They have paid a dividend since September 1st, 1987!

The Home Depot sells an assortment of building materials, home improvement and lawn and garden products and provide a number of services. HD stores average approximately 105,000 square feet of enclosed space, with approximately 24,000 additional square feet of outside garden area. As of January 30, 2010, they had 2,248 stores located throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada, China and Mexico.

Some people may like going to a mom and pop hardware stores to pick up their product of choice, but the times they are a changing. Home Depot is thee home improvement retailer. True, Lowe's is a solid competitor, however their market cap is 1/2 of Home Depots and their dividend yield is currently 0.5% less.  

HD is the hardware industry leader and pays that healthy, sweet quarterly dividend. In my neighborhood,  their stores are filled with customers on the weekends while Lowe's are ghost towns. It is apparent that customer's pent-up demand from housing woes over the past few year should help sales growth in future years. Home owners are beginning to construct additions on their houses and willing to spend their cash. HD's relative strength index is high and with the return to a strong housing market it may give home improvement product suppliers like Home Dept the needed push for higher stock valuation.

In the spring time they sell plants and flowers like it's gold. In the winter they have the shovel and snow-blower game on lock. And during the spring and fall their lawnmowers don't stay on the shelves for very long. I think of HD as a diversified company within each store. You can purchase something as small as a thumb tack or as large as a fridge or wood from their lumber yard.

Home Depot has improved their supply chain operations since the Great Recession through real-time distribution and are definitely working hard on customer service. It shows! The crew at my local Home Depot are so pleasant and eager to assist. Home Depot is the lifeblood of construction. When the housing market makes a full recover, Home Depot will be there to facilitate.


Click here to read Home Depot's 2010 annual report. A great tool to gain some insight into this dividend winner! Also, check out how many institutions hold HD shares in their portfolio, click here! Feel free to watch the cool videos below about Home Depot. I love the place. Hold long term and let your dividend payments grow by reinvesting within a Roth IRA! Thanks for your time.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Deere & Company - DE

Deere & Company, stock ticker DE, is an excellent stock to hold in your Roth IRA stock portfolio for years! Since DE was founded in 1837 John Deere is dedicated to those who are linked to the land – farmers and ranchers, landowners, builders, and loggers. They are committed to standing by their core values. I believe DE is a great investment for your retirement because their quarterly dividend payment grows year after year. DE currently pays a 41 cent dividend, which is a 1.89% dividend yield. DE's share price target was recently raised to $90.00 per share by Robert W. Baird Analysts (click here for more details).

DE operates in three business segments: 1) Agriculture and turf, 2) Construction and forestry and 3) Credit. The agriculture and turf segment manufactures and distributes a line of farm and turf equipment and related service parts including large, medium and utility tractors, loaders, combines, cotton and sugarcane harvesters and related front-end equipment and sugarcane loaders; tillage, seeding and application equipment. The construction and forestry segment manufactures, distributes to dealers and sells at retail a range of machines and service parts used in construction, earth moving, material handling and timber harvesting. The credit segment primarily finances sales and leases by John Deere dealers of new and used agriculture and turf equipment and construction and forestry equipment.

DE is headed higher! I am a fan of agriculture companies and do not believe that DE will stay at this level. Just remember that if food prices go up, farmers can afford new premium equipment. Once the economy fully recovers, Deere will continue to be there for the Common Man farmer and commercial farmers as well.

In closing, DE has raised their dividend payout nine times in the last seven years. Their technicals are looking bullish and with estimated 2012 earnings indicating that Deere is worth $96.00+ per share, and 2013 earning that indicate a $100+ share price. I really like the current valuation and regardless of the financial markets, people must eat! So, the products that Deere manufactures should not lose their demand unless a competitor is stealing market share. Deere has the strongest brand recognition and loyalty in their industry, so I don't see them losing market share either.

Why Invest in DE? Feel free to click here for their own take on why you should become a shareholder. Also, please visit Deere's website, here, and their Investor Relations page, here. Until next time, have a great Friday and a fun weekend.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Update: Stock Picks for the week of 1/9/12 to 1/13/12

Greetings! I hope you are having a great new year so far. 2012 should be a fantastic year for the market. Please click here for a quick pep talk if you are having the stock market blues. Stay consistent and follow your Roth IRA portfolio business plan. Don't let the market fluctuation stop you from getting your piece of the pie. Investing in dividend paying stocks will keep your Roth IRA healthy.

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 profitable 10 for 18 week, however it was a roller-coaster ride. Some selections decreased in value while others had a pretty nice percentage gain for the week. BBT, O, CSC and JPM were this past week's clear winners, however GIS was looking healthy. The over all net gain for the week of 1/9/12 to 1/13/12 was $1.60.

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 Realty Income Corp and General Mills. Both will inject your Roth IRA stock portfolio with stability and profits. Until next time, happy investing, reinvest those dividends and let your smart investment decisions work for you!


Stock/Stock Ticker.. Quote @ 1/9/12..  Quote @ 1/13/12..   Net Gain of $1.60

BP plc (BP) $44.07, $43.77, -$0.30
TOTAL S.A. (TOT) $51.25, $49.63, -$1.62
Intel Corporation (INTC) $25.46, $25.14, -$0.32
Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) $38.39, $38.32, -$0.06
Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) $46.59, $47.36, +$0.77
ConAgra Foods, Inc. (CAG) $26.42, $26.85, +$0.43
Royal Bank of Canada  (RY) $50.61, $50.88, +$0.27
Waste Management, Inc. (WM) $32.94, $33.40, +$0.46
Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) $33.91, $33.80, -$0.11
Realty Income Corp (O) $34.79, $35.67, +$0.88
Enerplus Corp (ERF) $25.34, $24.53, -$0.81
Universal Corporation (UVV) $45.68, $46.09, +$0.41
Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) $23.37, $24.15, +$0.78
Unilever plc (UL) $33.04, $31.50, -$1.54
General Mills, Inc. (GIS) $39.96, $40.64, +$0.68
Sanofi SA (SNY) $35.79, $35.32, -$0.47
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $35.25, $35.92, +$0.65
BB&T Corporation (BBT) $25.73, $27.23, +$1.50


Friday, January 13, 2012

Roth IRA Stock Portfolio: Business Plan Advice

It is very important to develop a business plan or a plan of action before opening a Roth IRA stock portfolio. Some questions you may ask are: Which stocks do I want to invest in? What percentages of each sector should I direct my hard earned monies towards? How often should I re-balance my portfolio? Well, always remember that you are in total control of your stock portfolio. Don't let anyone persuade you to invest in a recent hot stock or a get rich investment scheme. This is your money that your working with and ultimately the success of your portfolio and how wealthy you are during your retirement years are a direct correlation of how many wise and well thought out investment decisions are made over your many years of stock market investing.

That being said, you do not need to be a professional stock broker nor a genius like Warren Buffet to develop an income stream within your Roth IRA stock portfolio. Now of course, that is contrary to what any broker may tell you, but believe me, being confident in your business plan, performing your due diligence for each stock investment, and then following through with your ultimate goal is a sure way to achieve a successful stock portfolio.

You may be saying to yourself, why should I buy stock within a Roth IRA? Well, a Roth IRA is the ultimate retirement tool that allows you to invest in stocks, bonds and mutual funds, while letting them grow and compound dividend payment after glorious dividend payment. Then after you turn 59 1/2 years of age you are allowed to withdraw the entire sum of your investments including gains, tax-free!

Treat your portfolio as if you are running your own business. Would you hire an employee who sleeps on the job? Would you use your profits to invest in an unknown start up company with the hopes of getting rich quick? I strongly advise you to monitor any company that you buy stock from on a weekly basis. Invest in companies that pay you to hold their stock in the form of a monthly or quarterly dividend, then if the stock price goes down their dividend yield will increase. Also, invest in companies which have been around for decades, have a moat of cash on hand, and have a dividend yield higher than 2%, if not 3%. There are plenty of great companies out there which pay a reliable and secure 4%, 5%, 6% and even 7% dividend yield. That's guaranteed free cash!

Constantly reassess what your stock portfolio goals are and also how much risk you are wiling to take. If you make solid, well thought-out purchases then you can sleep better at night. Do your homework! Research how long each company has paid a dividend, listen to their quarterly conference calls so you can hear how well or bad the company is performing directly from the CEO's lips. Take notes and then hold them accountable if they do not meet analysts, but more importantly, your shareholder expectations. Keep excellent records so you can go back and pinpoint where the company may have gone wrong, or made erroneous decisions.

My final comment pertaining to a Roth IRA stock portfolio business plan is to only invest money that you can lose. Now of course, you probably won't lose your money if you make smart investing decisions, but it is so important to not use money that you should be using to pay your bills (for example, college loans, utilities, car note, mortgage, grocery, clothing money, etc.). Don't cut yourself short each month just because you want a few more shares of your favorite winning stock. The stock market is a risky place, but historically has provided some of the best return on investments the world has ever seen.

Please feel free to comment below and share your story of what makes a great stock portfolio business plan. Share your tips with the world so we can all profit. Have a great Friday and continue to reinvest your dividends! Thank you for your time and support.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

TOTAL S.A. - TOT

TOTAL SA, stock ticker TOT, is a France based international oil and gas company. TOT operates in more than 130 countries and engage in all aspects of the petroleum industry, including upstream operations [oil and gas exploration, development and production, liquefied natural gas] and downstream operations [refining, marketing and the trading and shipping of crude oil and petroleum products]. TOT produce base chemicals (i.e. fertilizers) and specialty chemicals for the industrial and consumer markets.

TOTAL has interests in the coal mining and power generation sectors. It is also active in solar-photovoltaic power. Their worldwide operations are conducted through four business segments: Upstream, Downstream, Corporate and Chemicals and operate various subsidiaries: Elf Aquitaine, Total Venezuela, Total E&P Nigeria SAS, and Total E&P USA, Inc. and many more.

I love TOT because of their solid $0.74 per share, current dividend yield of 5.76%, and their massive moat of cash on hand. In year's past TOT typically paid their shareholders a $1.38 to $1.61 dividend every 6 months. They have been issuing quarterly dividends since May 18th, 2011. TOT once sold for $89.37 on May 23rd, 2008 and is currently selling at $51.51 per share, so picking up some shares at this level would be a fantastic move for your Roth IRA stock portfolio. There is plenty of room to grow here and you must get in in order to reap the benefits of incremental stock increases. Keep in mind that shares of TOT have fallen recently due to resurging fears of the Euro-debt crisis, however this company is a proven winner and will brush off any short term bad news.

The reaction to Euro problems combined with down cycle on oil and gas make TOT a very compelling stock. TOT has great cash flow and should continue with their great dividend yield. In my opinion, they are best in class and while you are waiting for stock growth you are rewarded with a great dividend! Looking at the major oil companies TOT looks like a bargain basement deal. They are a worldwide mega company which will give you many years of gains and dividends a.k.a. FREE CASH!

Continue to spend your money wisely and certainly perform your due diligence. We all work so hard for our money and it's important to make smart decisions when investing for your future. Make each dollar count! Feel free to visit TOTAL SA's web page, here, and their Investor Relations page, here. Also, I have posted a few TOTAL videos from YouTube below for your viewing pleasure. Until next time, reinvest those dividends within a ROTH IRA and have a great day!


Sunday, January 8, 2012

Universal Corporation - UVV


Universal Corporation, stock ticker UVV, is where it's at. A current 4.23% dividend yield, $0.49 cents per quarter and a market cap of 1.08 billion dollars is enough to get excited about. Your Roth IRA needs a company like this one. Most recently, UVV announced that the Board of Directors approved a program for the repurchase of up to $100 million of Universal Corporation common stock. They currently have 23.2 million common shares outstanding. UVV's board also increased the regular quarterly dividend on the common shares of UVV by one cent to $0.49 per share. Hey, a penny saved is a penny earned. Each dividend increase is something to be happy about. The current dividend increase is payable February 13, 2012, to common shareholders of record at the close of business on January 9, 2012.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's discuss more about the company. UVV is a global leaf tobacco merchant and processor. Universal’s primary subsidiary is Universal Leaf Tobacco Company. The company involves buying, processing, packing, storing, shipping, and financing leaf tobacco for sale to, or for the account of, manufacturers of consumer tobacco products throughout the world. UVV operates in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Dark Air-Cured, Oriental, and Special Services. They are primarily involved in flue-cured and burley leaf tobacco operations for supply to cigarette manufacturers. Also, dark air-cured tobacco principally to manufacturers of cigars, pipe tobacco, and smokeless tobacco products, and Oriental supplies oriental tobacco to cigarette manufacturers. If you would like to learn more about UVV's history then click here. They have been around since World War I and have had many, many years of profits.

UVV is an inexpensive quality business that is consistently profitable in an industry that will stick around well beyond your working career and retirement years. That is pretty much all there is to a long equity investment.

If you invest in UVV expect solid dividends in this tobacco stock which has no tobacco litigation risk! You may ask, why is that? Well, because UVV sells leaf to manufacturers and does not sell to the consumer market. The company is internationally diversified and provides a broad base of services to tobacco farmers.
UVV is one of those long running, what I like to call, boring stocks. Much like those rotisserie ovens, all you have to do is purchase this stock, then Set it and Forget it! Let it grow in your Roth IRA for years.

UVV has increased their dividend payout for 40 years, which makes this company a dividend aristocrat! It is low priced based on earnings and book value. Not bad for a boring stock! This company has low leverage and great fundamentals - both when comparing the share price with the income statement and balance sheet. UVV generates plenty of cash from operations to sustain this great dividend.

If you feel bad or uncomfortable when investing in tobacco companies then please feel free to disregard this analysis and do what's right for you, but remember it's all about creating a safe nest egg for your retirement years. When investing in UVV or even MO, consider this! Many people will choose to smoke regardless of any warning labels that the FDA may regular and much of UVV's income comes from outside the United States.

Enjoy the video below and thanks for your time and support. Have a great remainder of the weekend and a profitable week! Reinvest those dividend and continue to invest as much as you can now for unlimited gains and wealth for your retirement years.


Friday, January 6, 2012

Stock Picks for the week of 1/9/12 to 1/13/12


I hope the new year has been profitable for you so far! Welcome back to Dividend Stock Investing for the Common Man. Listed below are the newest dividend paying stock selections for the Common Man's portfolio for the week of January 9th, 2012 to January 13th, 2012. Any one of these stocks will safeguard your Roth IRA stock portfolio with solid dividends, or what I like to call it free cash! I am bullish long term on each of these companies and I believe in their financials. I'll check back in next Friday to determine how well or poor these picks performed.

Continue to invest as much as you can each week to ensure that you have a solid dividend income stream of wealth! I must remind you that I am only a fan of these stocks and am not pumping them for my own personal gain. I just enjoy sharing which stocks I believe are dividend aristocrats and should be seriously considered when investing your hard earned dollars. Feel free to check out the videos below, which include BP, CSC and MRK. Have a great weekend!


BP plc (ADR)  (Public, NYSE:BP)
TOTAL S.A. (ADR)  (Public, NYSE:TOT)
Intel Corporation  (Public, NASDAQ:INTC)
Merck & Co., Inc.  (Public, NYSE:MRK)
Starbucks Corporation  (Public, NASDAQ:SBUX)
ConAgra Foods, Inc.  (Public, NYSE:CAG)
Royal Bank of Canada (USA)  (Public, NYSE:RY)
Waste Management, Inc.  (Public, NYSE:WM)
Bristol Myers Squibb Co.  (Public, NYSE:BMY)
Realty Income Corp  (Public, NYSE:O)
Enerplus Corp (USA)  (Public, NYSE:ERF)
Universal Corporation  (Public, NYSE:UVV)
Computer Sciences Corporation  (Public, NYSE:CSC)
Unilever plc (ADR)  (Public, NYSE:UL)
General Mills, Inc.  (Public, NYSE:GIS)
Sanofi SA (ADR)  (Public, NYSE:SNY)
JPMorgan Chase & Co.  (Public, NYSE:JPM)
BB&T Corporation  (Public, NYSE:BBT)


Note: Stock prices as of 1/6/12

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