Ok let's just make sure I'm reading these correctly.

Coke(KO)

https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYS...vsQeV8gE&ed=us

This dividend is 2.77% which at the last payout was 26cents per share (coming from the Div/yield 0.28/2.77 field).

Did I get that correct? Or is this the projected % at the next payout? If it's not, how do you determine if it'll stay the same, up or down. From what I gather if a stock is doing great then the dividend % will go down - supply and demand.

Most stocks that I have been watching, most from this thread, are in the 2.x% range. I've been trying to find higher ones that I still know the company, searching is hard! :bang:

You read it right --- so that's good!


The names used here are always just examples.... what to look for --- what to think about --- things such as total return etc. So if you have low dividend then you need some growth in capital (thus the total return).

Coke (KO) is a "steady eddie" stock... with a proven RISING dividend.

What's happened this last year is when you have stocks prices rising 30% --- then the percentage gets messed up. So that same .28 a share when the stock price was $37 was just a hair over 3%.

But that's the thing about the dividend paying shares --- the good ones tend to raise their dividend payouts. 5 years ago Coke paid out .21 a quarter now they're paying .28 cents and so on.

I'm not saying anyone should buy COKE -- It's just a good example. So the total return on it over the last 5 years is 104% -- which means in 5 years you've doubled your money. Not bad. And it's pretty safe too...

So that's why I always say it's more about TOTAL RETURN -- that's where the homework comes in. And all of this "depends" --- depends on what you're trying to do -- what kind of an investor you are -- and you totally risk adverse -- can you take on some risk -- or are you all in topedos be damned!

That's why nobody can say -- do this and don't do that.... because everyone is different.

Greg, I don't want you to have a day off. I haven't been doing this long but today was interesting.

The DJIA declined .41%.
The Nasdaq increased .3%.

My account went UP .23% today.

What's interesting is 3 out of 4 of best performers increased along with my WORST performer.

Is this just due to my account characteristics or did everybody see this today? Normally the DIJA and Nasdaq seem to follow suit. Why was today different?

I know this is over analytical but I'm trying to learn a little more about the stock market..

Good question Todd -- with no explanation except that the DJIA -- is the DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE.... so if you're not invested in much that's actually in the Dow --- then you're not tracking with them.

People don't really understand these indexes.... and without writing a book about it I'll give a brief explanation:


"The Dow" is made up of 30 stocks that they pick --- It's PRICE WEIGHTED - so they add up all 30 stocks and then divide that number by 30 to get the "Average". Since there's ONLY 30 STOCKS that actually make up "The Dow" -- you can see how if you don't own any/many of them - your day can be different than their day.


The NASDAQ --- is made up of every stock traded on it's platform -- so think like 3000 stocks and they are MARKET CAP WEIGHTED --- so the bigger market cap companies pull more than the smaller caps (Cap is the value of the company - which is computed by multiplying all the outstanding shares times the closing market price per share...

Makes sense to me, thanks for the explanation.

You're welcome!


Years ago I had to actually look all this up for myself - when one of the tv talking heads said that "IBM was taking the Dow down".... I'm like "really" -- IBM all by itself?? Sure enough --- most of the rest of the 30 were doing just fine - but old IBM was struggling and was killing the average.

Personally -- I've given up paying too much attention to the Dow and the NASDAQ averages... they're general trends -- but I've had up years when they've had down... and more importantly I've MADE MONEY every year - regardless of what those two indexes are doing. So do they really matter? Like selling real estate -- yeah the "market" can suck - but that doesn't mean you can't still make money. It'll suck you down if you let it - but it's not the only numbers that matter.

Greg you are a gentleman and a scholar!

We've obviously never met....

Just got another raise. Ford (F) just raised dividend 25% to $0.125 per share.
I bought some in May of 2012 and kept adding to it thru July 2012. The dividend was $0.05 when I first got some. You just got to love getting these increases, not to mention the growth on share price.

I own a few shares of Mother Ford (F).... (20,000)... My average cost is $16.12 so I'm not too underwater.... Raising the dividend is the same reason I bought Wells Fargo (WFC) bank (10,000 at an average cost of $39.90)... they just started back with their dividends -- they're profitable -- well run -- and have a history of rewarding the shareholders. I'm hoping over time that WFC doubles and triples the div...

I sold half the WFC I was holding only because I had a very nice gain in the shares - well ahead of what I expected - so took half that gain and held the rest. As it is I have a $62,000 unrealized gain still on the books! That's a keeper.

Ford also has a history of splitting... Not that anyone should buy anything on a lick and a promise. You have to be happy owing it as is -- and anything that comes in the future is just icing.