COP has a better dividend than CVX or XOM.... has better 3 year total return... and a very good 5 year TR.... and they have the split going for them.

The other two did NOT have that.

I missed your other question and think that it is the most relevent to Investing 102

You asked would a split event like this spark buying interest? Meaning - would the announcement of a split in a stock or some other big news event cause me to buy a stock?

I buy on the fundamentals ONLY.... and if there's a split... or a buyout... or some other "news" then it's just a freebie. Usually -- if I already own the stock and have for at least a year and one day (LTCG's) I will SELL half of the holding if I see a big run up. I can always buy back in.

The fundamentals of COP looked better in comparison to CVX and XOM...

Gotcha. That makes sense.

Nice pick. :thumbsup:

For whatever reason, when i was doing my comparisons for which of the oil stocks i would buy, that one didnt even get on my list. doh.

So, that brings me to another question... Since most "investing 102" people dont know the "entire market" we are looking to get in, where is a good place to find this info?

If i recall, i just went to schwab and looked at one of the pages (likely, for CVX) and it showed similar companies or something like that. In which I wrote down/researched XOM, BP and RDSA (and of course, CVX). I ended up with CVX due to hits mediocre dividend (compared to the other 3, it was the 3rd on the scale), but its overall higher returns in the 1/3/5/10 year marks.

So somewhere along the line, I "missed" the "competitors" to research.

One place this thread has turned me onto is Seeking Alpha. I'm inundated with emails on prospects as well as articles on my current positions. But I do take everything with a grain of salt, and love reading the comments on the articles. Lots, if not to much info, but it gives me ideas and positions I can research and get a feel for. Then I can make a more informed decision based on facts and if I feel comfortable with that position.

Same here...

I setup my "roth" portfolio on there, as its easier to track the days ups/downs. I also setup a "watch" list. Where anytime i hear someone talking about a good "dividend" company, i toss it on there, for future review. :)

You can go into Seeking Alpha and select what emails you receive.... I only get the Dividend Investor stuff....

I just ran across this, and not sure how "helpful" it really is.. but seems it would be pretty important..

David Fish, on Seekingalpha has a "U.S. Dividend Champions" spreadsheet (or PDF), of a few hundred dividend companies.

I ran across it a while back, and it was a little over my head.. i'm going to take a look at it again..

Anyone else use this for help "finding" (not necessarily, choosing) their stocks?

Here is his most recent article about it, and updated spreadsheet: http://seekingalpha.com/article/4722...-now-with-beta

I looked at this some time ago -- way too much info and not organized in a helpful useful way.

Schwab has tools that can help you set criteria you want to search for and then narrow your focus.

The problem for most people with investing -- is when they start to only look at numbers and don't really know the company or have any "faith" in the company. Next thing that happens is something (the market maybe) blows up and they start looking to bail. That's why I say - if a guy has 100K to invest - just start by looking up the companies that you use - buy from - are around the streets you drive down... then compare those to similar businesses -- and this will give you a good start.

lol, I chose OXY over Conoco. Oh well.

Don't get all caught up in small scale ups and downs... and your choices for individual stocks.

When you roll out the 10 year PRICE appreciation --- you'll see this:

OXY --- UP 553%

CVX --- UP 140%

COP --- UP 148%


No bad choices in any of these in my book. Anytime you have 100% + price appreciation (capital appreciation) AND you're getting a dividend on top of this! WTF -- no shame in this house!