Companies make the front page of the newspapers for various reasons – an accident or something went wrong which affected human lives (train accidents), companies releasing new and wonderful products for the general consumers and for the company to protect their turf. Often times a dividend paying company which has been very successful in the past and present, will try to sway public opinion and politicians to leave their high generating aspects of their operations alone. While everyone loves competition in general, most only want it to affect their industry at the margins or to be able to point to competition and still make healthy profits. This is particularly true when politicians speak about opening up markets or deregulation, it will help some and hurt others. To the politicians their concern is votes, to the businesses it is money.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, this is one area where you can do your homework by scanning the various newspapers or journals you enjoy reading. When you see a headline which affects the companies you own, you can ask yourself what does it mean for the dividend? Usually, the answer is in the short term nothing, in the long run perhaps it is time to look at other companies in the industry to see which ones welcome the changes.

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