In the world of the stock market, companies are in a state of change – some do well, some do not. Some stake their future on a big discovery or merger, some are adding to their offerings, someone else is subtracting. One of the companies the writer follows wanted to do a large merger, larger than its past, but not larger enough to affect their profitability or dividend payout. In the past all went smooth, the investment community understood their rational, the government approved it and they beat the competition from doing exactly the same thing. This time the expectations were high, but the government was swayed by the competitors and turned down the merger.

Linking to dividend producing stocks due to the fact the companies pay a dividend, most of the time management gets it right. When a dividend producing company does a merger, it has options or choices. If it goes ahead, that is great, the company is highly likely to be even more profitable. If the merger goes ahead and the results are sideways, the company still makes money and can pay a dividend. if the company eventually sells much of the acquisition, then it has learnt an expensive lesson but still paid a dividend.The key is continuing to be profitable and paying a dividend.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.