Update: Stock Picks for the week of 4/11/12 to 4/20/12

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 10 days of gains in every sector. It was a 24 for 25 week. It is somewhat comical that the only stock pick which decreased in value was Johnson & Johnson, stock ticker JNJ. JNJ has the most reliable dividend out of the bunch, so don't worry if you lost some cash on this one. The dividend will help you recoup any loses.

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 Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., Tiffany & Co., and Automatic Data Processing. All three companies will inject your Roth IRA stock portfolio with stability and profits via quarterly dividends

Until next time, happy investing, reinvest those dividends and let your smart investment decisions work for you!

Stock/Stock Ticker.. Quote @ 4/10/12..  Quote @ 4/20/12..

Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.(NYSE:APD) $86.97 $89.75
Sara Lee Corp.(NYSE:SLE) $20.99 $21.69
Starbucks Corporation(NASDAQ:SBUX) $56.78 $59.16
Duke Realty Corp(NYSE:DRE) $13.73 $14.51
Dominion Resources, Inc.(NYSE:D) $50.20 $51.02
GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR)(NYSE:GSK) $45.04 $47.29
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) $64.20 $63.71
Glimcher Realty Trust(NYSE:GRT) $9.59 $10.00
Tiffany & Co.(NYSE:TIF) $65.82 $67.15
Visa Inc.(NYSE:V) $116.74 $121.01
Medtronic, Inc.(NYSE:MDT) $37.37 $37.61
Darden Restaurants, Inc.(NYSE:DRI) $48.76 $49.93
Costco Wholesale Corporation(NASDAQ:COST) $86.89 $87.58
Senior Housing Properties Trust(NYSE:SNH) $21.46 $21.64
Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) $53.92 $55.02
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) $27.45 $27.60
Emerson Electric Co.(NYSE:EMR) $49.64 $50.27
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) $101.45 $102.52
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.(NYSE:CMG) $416.62 $419.26
Macerich Co (NYSE:MAC) $56.15 $59.54
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc.(NYSE:DPS) $39.28 $40.59
Schlumberger Limited.(NYSE:SLB) $67.26 $71.70
Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc.(NYSE:PCL) $40.40 $41.38
Toronto-Dominion Bank (USA)(NYSE:TD) $82.47 $84.59
Bank of Hawaii Corporation(NYSE:BOH) $46.36 $47.63

Yum! Brands, Inc. - YUM

I love fried chicken (KFC). I love pizza (Pizza Hut). I love the $5 box meal at Taco Bell. Shrimp is always tasty at Long John Silver’s (LJS) and A&W All-American Food Restaurants (A&W), well I've never been to one, but who doesn't like a root beer float! All of these companies are owned by YUM! Brands, Inc., stock ticker YUM. They pay a $0.28 dividend, current dividend yield of 2.12%. I generally like any company which pays higher than 2% dividend yield, but the company must be diversified in their industry and post solid numbers each quarter. YUM does just that. Their market cap is 24.75 billion dollars, they are 77% institutionally owned, and have a P/E of 21.04. YUM went up $1.58 today alone!

YUM's biggest competitors are McDonald's (MCD), Panera Bread (PNRA), Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG), Burger King Holdings (BKC), Darden Restaurants (DRI) and Wendy's (WEN). That's a lot of competition, but YUM has developed their own niche and are exceeding most analyst's expectations. It is very difficult to stop the MCD money train or the buzz around PNRA or CMG, but YUM is taking over China and various other foreign countries. It has been said that in China, KFC and Pizza Hut are the best fast food places to go to. The Chinese interest in fried chicken and the All American Pizza pie is gaining momentum. True, MCD is opening restaurants left and right, but are they ruling the pizza and fried chicken industry? They do not even offer those two items on their current menus. I am not bashing MCD, actually I like MCD as a buy, more so than YUM, but one must get invest in the fast food industry as heavily as possible. YUM is a different type of buy than MCD. Both are great growth stocks while paying a stable, healthy dividend to boot! Currently, YUM is the McDonald's of China until MCD injects their marketing campaign with $$$.

YUM will continue to expand as Chinese and other foreign country's consumption expands. They are rapidly expanding overseas, and the people in these markets are seeing their median income rise faster than any other time in history. Fast food worked in the United States because it was cheap and convenient, and that is why it will work elsewhere. The food may not always be the best for you, but each YUM brand provides a healthy alternative for those health conscious "Common Man" investors out there.

Please take the time to visit YUM's website, click here. Also, visit their Investor Relations website, here. While on their Investor Relations website there is a 3 minute and 34 second message from their Chairman & CEO David Novak, check it out! He is a real nice guy and has a shareholders first way of doing business.

I have posted a few videos from YouTube about YUM. I highly suggest if you own some MCD already to pick up some YUM shares before purchasing any PNRA, CMG, BKC or WEN. Just as UL is a great alternative to PG, you can't lose with the one, two punch of YUM, MCD. Until next time, reinvest those dividends, and have a great weekend!