Get the New Amazon Kindle Fire Tomorrow

Tomorrow is your change to get the new Amazon (AMZN) Kindle Fire. This will have a full color seven inch multi-touch display.

According to the Amazon web site, the Kindle will have:

Over 20 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books

Thousands of popular apps and games, including Netflix, HBO GO, Hulu Plus, Pandora, and more

Amazon Silk - ultra-fast web browsing over built-in Wi-Fi

Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content

Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle

Fast, powerful dual-core processor

Favorite children's books, graphic novels, and magazines in rich color

The price of the Kindle Fire is just $199.

A waiting game as the Dow rose 11 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were slightly negative.  Today the overall market was weaker than the Dow.  Nothing to do but wait for the ECB tomorrow.  I still think that we will take another shot at 1420 on the S&P 500 in the near future.  As always, I could be wrong and often am.  GE was up 1/8 on lighter volume.  Still holding at the 50 day moving average on the daily charts.  Gold was little changed today as the US dollar didn't do much either.  The XAU was off 1/4.  ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional moves one way or the other on light volume.  The same wait and see attitude going on here as well.  Mentally I'm feeling tired, did not sleep well.  If we don't get moving tomorrow on the ECB, we should get going off of the employment numbers on Friday.  That's the idea for now.  My ABX October calls are still in the black and the price isn't moving much.  We'll see what happens tomorrow and go from there.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third Week of September

  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 ex-dividend date, the yield, and the market capitalization.


Cincinnati Financial Corporation (CINF) 9/17/12 4.2% $6.4B

UIL Holdings Corporation (UIL) 9/17/12 4.9% $1.8B

Xcel Energy Inc (XEL) 9/18/12 3.9% $13.6B

Safeway Inc. (SWY) 9/18/12 4.5% $3.7B

TOTAL S.A. ADR (TOT) 9/19/12 5.9% $110.7B

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.

Buying Dividends (Dividend Capture) book 25% Off
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

Welcome back everybody is what the markets would like to say as the summer has now passed on by.  It was a mixed market as the Dow fell about 55 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were positive.  The overall market was stronger than the Dow.  We were lower during the day but made some what of a comeback.  There will be an ECB announcement on Thursday and we've got the employment number on Friday.  The technicals on the stock indices are oversold here short term so I'm still in the bullish camp.  GE was lower by over an 1/8.  Volume here looks to be average and the recent uptrend line has been violated.  We are at the 50 day moving average on the daily charts and we'll see if that holds.  Gold gained $8 on the futures, which was a carryover from Friday.  The US dollar was a bit higher today.  The XAU was flat.  ABX and GG had fractional losses.  NEM led the way lower by 7/8.  NEM leading the way down isn't usually bullish for the gold shares going forward.  Volume was light.  My October ABX calls are still in the black.  The gold shares are overbought here short term.  My guess is that near term gold will do the opposite of what the US dollar does.  The US dollar is right at a longer term weekly uptrend line that has been in effect for a year.  Things will get interesting for this ABX trade.  Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired, did not sleep well.  The stock indexes are waiting for the next bit of news and we'll have to see what the reaction is.  I'm going to remain bullish for now but of course, anything can happen.  The ABX October call trade is still showing a profit.  Gold has had a nice near term run here and I would expect it to take a rest.  The timing of that is the question.  Plenty of time on the ABX trade but that doesn't mean it will remain profitable.  Always plenty of questions in this game.  We'll keep an eye on things overnight and see what develops tomorrow.

Curved Beer Glasses Cause Faster Drinking

According to research at the University of Bristol, the speed of drinking beer can be affected by what the beer glass looks like. Researchers discovered that if the glass is curved, beer drinkers take about seven minutes to finish their beers, but in a straight glass, it takes on average approximately eleven minutes. Sounds like the glassware at bars may be changing soon. Surprisingly, the same test was done with soft drinks but there was no change in the speed of beverage consumption.

According to a free recently updated list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over dozen publicly traded breweries and beer retailers. In addition, more than half a dozen of the beer stocks pay dividends, ranging up to almost 3%.

One example is Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), which has the memorable stock symbol representing its popular Budweiser brand. It also sells Stella Artois, Beck's, Leffe, Bud Light, Skol, Brahma, Quilmes, Michelob, and many other brands. The stock has a current price to earnings ratio of 20, a forward PE of 14, and a 1.44 PEG. The stock sports a yield of 1.6%.

Another dividend paying brewery is Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP), a Canadian based company that markets the Coors Light, Molson, Carling, Pilsner, Keystone Light, and Granville Island brands. The stock trades at 14 times current earnings and 12 times forward earnings, with a reasonable price to earnings growth ratio of 2.29. In addition, the company pays a decent CD beating yield of 2.9%.

Compania Cerveceras Unidas S.A. (CCU), based in Santiago, Chile, makes and markets beer, wine, and other beverages throughout the countries of Chile and Argentina. Its brands includes Royal Guard; Royal Light; Heineken; Budweiser; and Paulaner. It trades at 16.8 times current earnings, 14.1 times future earnings, and pays a dividend yield of 1.1%.

If you are looking for more beer stock ideas, check out the free list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which can be updated, sorted, and downloaded.

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

By Stockerblog.com

Chocolate Eclair Hot Dog: I'm Totally Grossed Out

If there are two types of food that don't go together, it's chocolate and hot dogs. However, Maple Lodge Farms is offering this delicious combination at the Canada National Exhibition in the form of a Chocolate Eclair Hot Dog.

If you would rather see some more useful uses of chocolate, check out this chocolate article.

10% Yields on Business Development Corporations and Private Equity Funds

Private equity companies, venture capital funds, and business development corporations are usually grouped together in the same investment category. This is mainly due to the fact that these investment vehicles allow investors to get in on the ground floor of private companies before they go public. Once the companies in the portfolios have an IPO, the returns can be substantial.

Private equity firms invest in the equity and often the debt of private companies. Usually private equity investments are available for accredited investors only, but fortunately, there are several private equity funds which are publicly traded that anyone can buy.

A Business Development Corporation, also known as a Business Development Company or BDC, is similar to a publicly traded private equity fund. Many private equity companies are registered as BDCs for tax advantages, generally paying no corporate income tax because at least 90 percent of their income, profits, and capital gains are paid out as taxable dividends to investors.

If you are wondering how common these types of investments are, WallStreetNewsNetwork.com recently updated its list of the publicly traded Business Development Corporations and Private Equity Companies, which lists over 25 of them, most of which, income investors will be happy to hear, pay dividends. The yields range from 2.9% to in excess of 12%.

One example is BlackRock Kelso Capital Corporation (BKCC), a private equity firm founded in 2005 specializing in middle market companies, with EBITDA or operating cash flow between $10 million and $50 million. The firm invests in such companies as American SportWorks, Fitness Together, Grocery Outlet, Heartland Automotive Services, InterMedia Outdoors, Pre-Paid Legal Services, Renaissance Learning, and Sentry Security Systems. The stock trades at 11.8 times trailing earnings and 9.6 times forward earnings. It sports a yield of 10.6% and pays its dividends quarterly.

TICC Capital (TICC) is a BDC that has been paying dividends quarterly since 2004, and yields 11.1%. The stock has a price to earnings ratio of 14.3 and a forward PE of 8.7. The company invests in secured and unsecured senior debt, subordinated debt, junior subordinated debt, preferred stock, and common stock of both private and public companies, specializing in technology, media, telecommunications, and medical equipment. The company has invested in NetQuote, Inc., the web-based portal for insurance companies and consumers, StayOnline, Inc. a provider of wireless high-speed Internet access solutions for the lodging industry, and Ai Squared, a manufacturer of assistive technology software which makes the screen magnification program ZoomText.

PennantPark Investment (PNNT) is a business development company that yields 10.3%, and has been paying quarterly dividends since June of 2007. The company invests between $10 million and $50 million in each of its portfolio companies, holding mezzanine debt, senior secured loans, and equity investments. The stock trades at 9.2 times forward earnings. PennantPark invests in such companies as the hot tub and spa manufacturer Jacuzzi Brands Corp., Learning Care Group, Inc. which is owner of one of the largest early education and child care providers La Petite Academy, and VPSI, the world's largest vanpool service provider.

To see a list of over 25 high yield business development companies and private equity firms, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, you may want to obtain it at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Several of these companies pay dividends monthly and more than a dozen have yields above 8%.

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

By Stockerblog.com