The Latest Dividend Boosters

The stock market is rising and more and more companies are raising their dividends. Unemployment is down, and it appears that the economy is improving. When a stock raises its dividend, it is always a good sign. Here are some that have boosted their dividends recently.

CMS Energy increased the quarterly dividend on the company's common stock by 6 percent

Parker Hannifin Corporation (PH) increased its quarterly dividend by 5%

GATX Corporation (GMT) increased its dividend by 3.3%

NGL Energy Partners (NGL) has bumped up its dividend by about 2%

Old National Bancorp (ONB) declared an increase in its quarterly common stock dividend of 11.1%

First Horizon National Corp. (FHN) announced Wednesday a quarterly dividend increase to 5 cents from 1 cent per share

Harleysville Savings Financial Corp. raised its dividend by more than 10%

Realty Income Corporation (O) declared a 19.2% increase in the company’s common stock monthly cash dividend

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) raised up its quarterly common stock dividend by 14%

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.

End of the Year Dividend Boosters

Companies are continuing to provide holiday presents by increasing their dividends. Check out this list of dividend raisers.

Dominion Resources Inc. (D) increased its quarterly dividend 6.6%

The Boeing Company (BA) increased its quarterly dividend 10%

Edison International (EIX) increased its quarterly dividend 3.8%

Tyco (TYC) Plans 7% Dividend Increase

KBR (KBR) raised its dividend by an incredible 60%

Realty Income (O) raised its monthly dividend by 2%

Rent-a-Center (RCII) raised its quarterly dividend by 31%

General Electric Company (GE) increased its quarterly dividend by 12%

Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NUS) increased its quarterly dividend 50%

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (AXS) increased its quarterly dividend 4%

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.

Stock Dividend Raisers Keep Rolling In

Companies are continuing to provide holiday presents by increasing their dividends. Check out this list of dividend raisers.

Tyco (TYC) Plans 7% Dividend Increase

KBR (KBR) raised its dividend by an incredible 60%

Realty Income (O) raised its monthly dividend by 2%

Rent-a-Center (RCII) raised its quarterly dividend by 31%

General Electric Company (GE) increased it's quarterly dividend by 12%

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.

One Letter Companies: Domain Names and Stock Ticker Symbols

Do you realize that there are only six one letter domains that are owned by companies, and five of the five companies are publicly traded?

These companies were lucky enough to register them before December 1, 1993 (or buy them from someone who registered them by that date), as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority put a restriction on single character domains at that time.

o.co and o.info are both owned by Overstock.com (OSTK).

q.com is owned by CenturyLink (CTL). If you go to q.com, it takes you right to CenturyLink's web site.

x.com is owned by x.commerce, which is owned by eBay (EBAY). When you go to the x.com website, it takes you to the x.commerce website.

z.com is owned by Nissan North America Inc., which is owned by Nissan Motor (NSANY), which trades on NASDAQ. However, the website is currently inactive.

i.net is owned by Future Media Architects, a privately held company.

u.tv is owned by UTV Media (UTV.L), a broadcasting and New Media company based in Belfast in Northern Ireland. The company trades on the London Stock Exchange.

Want to know all the companies that have one letter stock ticker symbols? Here they are:

Agilent Technologies Inc. (A)

Barnes Group Inc. (B)

Citigroup, Inc. (C) formerly the symbol for Chrysler

Dominion Resources, Inc. (D)

Eni SpA (E)

Ford Motor Co. (F)

Genpact Ltd. (G) formerly the symbol for Gillette

Hyatt Hotels (H)

Kellogg Company (K)

Loews Corporation (L)

Macy's, Inc. (M)

NetSuite, Inc. (N)

Realty Income Corp. (O)

Pandora Media (P)

Ryder System, Inc. (R)

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) formerly the symbol for Sears Roebuck

AT&T, Inc. (T)

Visa, Inc. (V)

United States Steel Corp. (X)

Alleghany Corp. (Y)

Zillow (Z) formerly the symbol for Woolworth, now known as Foot Locker (FL)

Before US Airways Group was delisted, it used to have the stock symbol U.

Stockerblog.com

How to Beat CD Yields and Get Income Monthly

The average one-year yield for a bank certificate of deposit is currently 0.34%. Even if you tie up your funds in a five-year CD, the average yield is still only 1.15%. So what is an income investor to do? One very popular alternative is the closed end bond fund. One of the best features of this type of investment is the fact that many of them pay dividends monthly. Another monthly dividend alternative is the real estate investment trust.

Monthly dividend investments can return your capital faster, and can provide faster compounding. The monthly payments can also reduce volatility. Fortunately, there are over 150 different stocks that pay dividends monthly. Actually, even though these investments are often referred to as stocks, they are technically closed end bond funds, real estate investment trusts, oil income trusts, and closed end income stock funds, which pay dividends every month.

These monthly dividend investments can be found at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which lists almost 200 different companies that pay dividends monthly, over 50 of which have high yields in excess of 7%.

One example is The MFS Multimarket Income Trust (MMT) pays a yield of 7.1%. It invests in fixed in fixed income investments throughout the world. The stock trades at a 0.8% discount to net asset value. The company, which has been around since 1987, has a management fee of 0.82%.

Gas Natural Inc. (EGAS), previously called Energy, Inc., It is a distributor of natural gas in Montana, Wyoming, North Carolina, and Maine. It was founded in 1909. The stock pays a yield of 4.9% and sports a price to earnings ratio of 14.1.

The Advent Claymore Convertible Securities & Income Fund (AVK) sports a yield of 6.6%, sells at about a 11.4% discount to net asset value, and carries a 0.92% management fee. This closed end fund, founded in 2003, invests approximately 60% of its portfolio in convertible securities and 40% in lower-grade non-convertible income securities.

LMP Real Estate Income Fund Inc. (RIT) is a way of investing in real estate and receive monthly income. It is an exchange traded fund that invests in real estate related companies including real estate investment trusts. It carries a yield of 7.9%, and has paid dividends since 2002. It is trading at a 14.9% discount to net asset value. The management fee is 1.2%.

Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGH) is a Canadian oil royalty income trust that yields 7.5%. The company was founded in 1988. The company explores, develops, and produces oil and natural gas reserves in western Canada.

Realty Income Corp. (O), one of the few stocks with a single letter stock ticker symbol, yields 5.1%. This real estate investment trust which specializes in commercial retail real estate, has been around since 1969. The stock trades at 18.2 times forward earnings.

When looking for monthly dividend investments investors should avoid investments with high management fees, limited liquidity, ones that trade at a premium to net asset value, and the ones using excessive leverage. The municipal bond closed end funds may trigger the Alternative Minimum Tax; check with your accountant about this possibility.

A list of over a couple hundred monthly dividend stocks, including many that have yields of 6% or more, is available at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Keep in mind that very high yields may not be sustainable.

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

By Stockerblog.com