Mini Stealth Assassin Drones from General Dynamics

Check out this new ad by General Dynamics (GD) relating to mini drones which can be used for eavesdropping and discrete assassinations.

Dividend Increasers for March

Stock indices are making new highs as more companies are increasing their dividends. A boost in dividends usually means that the company's future earnings prospects are very favorable. Here are some that have raised their dividends recently.

General Dynamics (GD) is increasing its quarterly dividend by 9.8%

Zimmer Announced an 11% increase in its quarterly dividend

Taubman Centers (TCO) declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, an increase of 8.1 percent.

Chico’s (CHS) raised its quarterly dividend by 4.8%

Colgate-Palmolive (CL) boosted its quarterly dividend by 10%

Devon Energy (DVN) raised its quarterly dividend by 10%

International Game Technology (IGT) bumped up its quarterly dividend by 33%

Qualcomm (QCOM) raised its quarterly dividend 40%

If you like stock lists like this, such as a list of stocks going ex-dividend, beer stocks, candy stocks, or coffee stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett Cuts Back on Consumer Goods Stocks

Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) (BRKB), has cut back on a few consumer goods stocks. According to recent filings, Buffett has reduced holdings in Procter & Gamble (PG) and Kraft Foods Group, Inc. (KRFT). In addition, although not a true consumer goods company, Berkshire Hathaway lightened up on Johnson and Johnson (JNJ).

Buffett is still maintaining his current positions in dozens of other stocks. As a matter of fact, he owns over 35 stocks, according to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, over 25 of which are dividend paying stocks.

One of his holdings is General Dynamics (GD), the aerospace and defense company, which trades at 9.5 times trailing earnings and 8.7 times forward earnings. The stock pays quarterly and yields 3.3%. Earlier this year, the company raised its dividend by 8.5%. Earnings for the latest quarter were down 8% on a 1% rise in revenues.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is another stock owned by Buffett. The stock trades at 13.8 times trailing earnings and 11.4 times forward earnings, with a yield of 1.8%. Earnings were flat for the latest quarter on a 5.4% drop in sales. It pays a decent yield of 1.8%.

Other holdings include Torchmark Corp (TMK), the insurance company, that trades at 10 times earnings and yields 1.2%, US Bancorp (USB) yielding 2.5%, and Wal Mart Stores Inc (WMT), which pays a yield of 2.3%.

For a free list of all the Warren Buffett stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has $40 Billion in Cash

Warren Buffett reported earnings for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B) last week, reporting that the company's earnings were $3.1 billion in the second quarter, which is a drop from earnings for the same quarter last year of $3.4 billion. Earnings per share for the quarter were $1,882 down from $2,072. The company's cash position is $40.7 billion, down from $47 billion.

In spite of the downturn, over the long term, Warren Buffett has provided Berkshire Hathaway investors with an average annual return of roughly 20% per year, far outperforming the S and P 500 and most money managers. If you want to follow in Buffett's footsteps, you can check out what Berkshire Hathaway owns, and pick what you think are the best stocks in the group. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has a free list of Warren Buffett stocks, over 25 of which pay dividends. As a matter of fact, a dozen have yields of 3.0% or greater.

One example is Procter & Gamble Co (PG) trades at 18.1 times earnings, and 15.8 times forward earnings. The stock pays a very favorable yield of 3.4%. The company recently reported a 44.7% increase in earnings for the latest quarter, year over year, on a slight 3.1% drop in revenues. Dividends payable quarterly were increased back in April from $0.525 per share to $0.562 per share.

Another High yield Buffett stock is General Dynamics (GD), which provides a decent yield of 3.2%. The stock trades at 9.4 times current earnings, with a forward price to earnings ratio of 8.6. Earnings were down about 3% on flat earnings for the latest quarter.

A couple of other high yield ideas include Intel (INTC) sporting a yield of 3.4% and GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) at 4.5%. To see the other Warren Buffett stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, where you can download, sort, and update the list.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the First Week of July 2012

 Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful, and may need to avoid the technique during those times.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Raytheon Company	RTN	$18.1B	7/2/2012	3.7%
Toronto-Dominion Bank	TD	$69.2B	7/2/2012	3.7%
Erie Indemnity Company	ERIE	$3.3B	7/3/2012	3.2%
General Dynamics Corporation	GD	$22.4B	7/3/2012	3.3%

Universal Corp	UVV	$1.1B	7/5/2012	4.2%
Darden Restaurants, Inc.	DRI	$6.4B	7/6/2012	4.0%
Enerplus Corp	ERF	$2.3B	7/6/2012	9.0%
OGE Energy Corp.	OGE	$5.0B	7/6/2012	3.1%
UDR, Inc.	UDR	$6.2B	7/6/2012	3.5%
Verizon Communications Inc.	VZ	$124.7B	7/6/2012	4.6%

  The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.


Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com