The other day on the way home from work, the sun was shining and the author stopped at a park. Among the activities in the park were two young people practicing skateboarding tricks. The two were dressed in the correct clothes and were doing the lingo of the skateboarding crowd, but they still needed lots of practice to do the kind of tricks they seemingly wanted to do. If you were to ask me, what kind of board they should be using? who are the major players in the skateboarding industry? my answer is do not know, and for the most part not interested. If another family member starts skateboarding, then my interest would be sparked. Similarly in the past, a nephew did not read very much but he did read skateboarding magazines. It was at that time he received a subscription to one of the magazines, he has since gone to post secondary education.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, similar to the young people practicing in front of the audience of the park, you will need practice. It is easiest, if you keep working on the basics before trying new dynamic tricks. For the author, the basics include for dividend stocks whether the dividend will be paid and possibly increased? how long has the dividend being paid? Those two questions lead to others but if the dividend is being paid, then the stock can stay on the keeper list. If the dividend is being lowered it is a big sign to sell. If the dividend is rising, then it is sign to worry about other things.

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