If you want to watch an interesting movie the movie Unstoppable staring Denzel Washington is well worth watching. The day starts as any normal day starts and then someone does not follow the standard procedures (tries to cut a corner), makes an another error and can not correct the first error. Errors tend to compound themselves and soon a train has become a runaway. Originally because it rarely happens, the reaction is we have stop-gap measures and they will work, but what if most of them were not applied or the normal methods did not work. The music of the movie, plus the understanding by the long term workers save the day.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, it is not a big thing which tends to derail us, but little mistakes which should not have happened. We buy a stock but the market does not react the way we think it will and then what do you do. The stock has not moved or lost money so you hold. If you are average person, you wanted to make a capital gain so you wait. If you also bought for the dividends, you can wait while you receive an extra reward – dividends. The only time you have perfect information is when the event has happened, it is very hard to anticipate what the street will do – many people have the same or greater information than you do and many decisions with it. If you try to stay with profitable companies which pay dividends and those dividends are being increased every year by the end of the year your total return will beat the index funds.

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