Most of the time as dividend investors there is need to do research but little to do investigative reporting because profitable stocks are followed by analysts. The investment banks have somebody following the company as well as forecasting what it should do and then when the results come in – as an investor you can compare. The bulk of the research is done for you and if the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, there should be more than one analyst following the company. That being said, it is recognized the investment bank analyst is not necessarily working for you, his or her company wishes to gain fees from transactions with the company – issuing shares, bonds, refinance, bridge loans on takeovers friendly or non-friendly, offering opinions on values to sell assets, etc. There is a duo role, which is the reason why there are very few sell recommendations. However there are times when you need to do more research and a recent example is Valeant Pharmaceuticals – its stock a year ago set a high of $268 and now trades at $22. The once high flyer was the darling of the industry, raising over $ 30 billion in debt; raising prices as there was no tomorrow and using an increasing stock price to grow. Now the model is gone and the company is under a increasing microscope all its practices under review. What else did it go into the grey area? What is it true value?  How did everyone miss it for so many years?

If you want to do research, you might start with how do reporters do investigative reporting? One method is to review the books, the journalism students are given and one will similar to what Canadian students are given – Digging Deeper by Robert Cribbb, Dean Jobb, David McKie and Fred Vallance-Jones published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 2006.  The 12 keys to successful investigations are:

1. Curiosity – why did that happen? who was responsible? how does it work? Curiosity is the engine that powers many other crucial parts of the investigation. it also keeps you going when obstacles and frustrations impede you along the way.

If you remember Watergate, after the burglars were caught and were in court, a senior member of the Justice department was there. The reporters asked why is he here? who does he represent? normally it connected to the White House.

In the movie The Contract with Morgan Freeman and John Cusack – the reporter asked why did the prisoner say Thank You to the Officer?

In the age of the internet where curiosity can take you anywhere, many people including me watch a movie rather than being really curios about anything.

2. Preparation  – think of your research as a job interview. You need to investigate the company – what is present in the marketplace (for all to see) and the 10k reports – for their SWAT analysis and how the company sees the world. The internet is great for preparation work.

3. Organization – there is no best except for if you need to quickly find any document or interview you need and understand its significance, as well as come to understand the bigger picture and develop a list of key points. If you stay organized throughout you will save hours or day when you reach the writing stage of your product.  One of the best methods is still chronologically. Mark everything down similar to being a lawyer.

4. Patience – its patience to research and write an investigative story. You are always waiting for something, whether it is a reluctant source to return your calls, public officials to respond to freedom of information requests or inspiration to hit.

5. Tenacity  – there will be many obstacles, but the key is sticking with it. Bureaucrats will fight to stop you from obtaining public documents. Key sources will be difficult to find or be reluctant to speak to you. Databases will seem impenetrable and unintelligible. Sometimes you will not have a clue how to nail down a crucial piece of information.

6. Resourcefulness – while much of the world seems to be open, people still like keeping secrets. You will need to use your initiative in deciding where to look. The creative use of the available resources allows you to assemble your information successfully.

7. Thoroughness and completeness – in your research you will go down many roads, some will be dead ends. some will lead you to other roads. You need to know enough to decide whether to keep digging or when you ask people who are not saying, if they are telling the whole truth or will ramble about something fact you are not aware of.

8. Attention and observation – you need to be on the look out for the unexpected or for any facts which contradict their hypothesis. What can you learn by observing both what is said and not said?

9. Open-mindedness – You want to be accurate and right. Constantly challenge your assumptions. Try just as hard to disprove your hypothesis as to prove it.

10. Care, caution and discretion – investigations look into the reputations of others, with this power comes great responsibility. Livelihoods and careers can be ended.

11. Skepticism – you need to maintain a healthy skepticism. You should not be cynical but facts and statements are checked and verified by others rather than just repeated.

12. Time – investigation takes time from doing other things, although if it is important to you, elements can be squeezed in here and there and invariably linked to other things you do.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the great thing about the stock market is there are other options. If you do not like the stock for any reason, find an alternative. That however is easier said than done because similar to all things in life as humans we develop some form of attachment to our holdings. Whether it is places we have been in the past, homes, or investments. Typically as dividend holders you will own your shares as long as the company earns a profit and can pay a dividends – ideally rising them on a yearly basis. The time to sell is when the company is either taken over or it does something which you do not like – buys companies which you do not like or areas where you do not think it should be. Most of the time you will not do a great deal of investigative reporting because you can use diversification strategies and if the holding is too big – sell some. However from time to time if you are curious or have a theory – you can investigate it.

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

 

 

One of the reasons why successful people are successful is the follow-through factor, they have an idea or dream and work on it till it is completion. It sounds easy, yet for millions of people have ideas, they may even start on it and life and nagging questions begin to slow it down and grind it to a halt. If you look around you, it is easy to see. It is even easier to do. If you really want to jump the barrier, how do you do it? One of the answers is with a coach and Gene Hayden is a coach who has written a book to help. The book is called The Follow-Through Factor by Gene Hayden published by McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 2010.

Energy; Ask yourself only once if you want to follow through. And when you come up with an answer, stick to it. Do not keep asking yourself the same question over and over again. You made a decision, stick to it.

Money: Give yourself permission to invest in your potential. Know that even if the worst happens and do not get the payback you want, you will survive and have something you can apply to your future.

Intuition: You need to connect with your intuition to trust in yourself and project the message that your are confident and in control. To gain clarity in interactions with others, get out of your head and into theirs by asking questions about what they are thinking, needing and feeling.

Lacking a mentor: Build your own mentor by patching together the compliments you have received, the wins you had and the fears you have conquered over your lifetime. In the absence of a mentor, the mirror with have to do.

Boredom: Every project requires some grunt work, so be bored and do not run from it. Stick with boredom; more often than not it gives way to inspiration.

Impatient: The way to counter impatience is to set up a series of achievable min-steps that you have to power to accomplish. Remember patience is also a form of action.

Failure: It is easier to accept and justify mistakes than to explain inaction, even to ourselves.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, buying them and achieving wealth allows you to have more options in life. It is easier to follow your dreams if you know that there is a continuing dividend going to your accounts. It is easier to use some of the capital gains to whatever you have thought about, although for many things in life, it does not have to cost a lot of money to enjoy. If you learn to love nature, the beauty is spending more time in it. There are many challenges in the world, make stock investing as simple as buying profitable companies and enjoying their gains. The challenge is which profitable company do you start with.

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

 

One of the reasons why successful people are successful is the follow-through factor, they have an idea or dream and work on it till it is completion. It sounds easy, yet for millions of people have ideas, they may even start on it and life and nagging questions begin to slow it down and grind it to a halt. If you look around you, it is easy to see. It is even easier to do. If you really want to jump the barrier, how do you do it? One of the answers is with a coach and Gene Hayden is a coach who has written a book to help. The book is called The Follow-Through Factor by Gene Hayden published by McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 2010.

Sometimes you just do not know what you want to. You think you know, but you are open to possibility of being wrong. Nobody yo-yos better and faster with the word maybe than you do. The issue is the there is not one authoritative overriding truth to guide you. The solution is because their is truth in every perspective, which one gives you an energy charge. One solution perks you up? It helps to ask questions such as: why do I want to make this idea happen? are there other ways to achieve what I want? and what is the price I will pay? The price is not actually a dollar amount but it will require an investment of time, focus and energy to do it. For the first question of why – ask yourself or have someone ask you 10 why questions and you need to answer all of them and because is not an answer.

The summary of the chapters are worth thinking about:

Follow-through: The worst thing that happens to those who fail short in follow-through is nothing. The opposite of success is not failure, but status quo.

Faith In Yourself: Faith is about the relationship you have with yourself. You need to trust that pursing your goal is worthy and the right thing for you to do, if for no other reason than you will like yourself better for trying.

Knowing whether to pursue a goal: Understanding how activities link to your interests and values is the surest path to understanding the source of your faith.

Truth: Truth is defined as a valid perspective. And every perspective has some validity. To help you figure out what’s true for you, redefine truth as a source of positive energy.

Pointlessness – nothing has meaning but meaning you give it. If it is worthwhile to you, that is the whole point of going for it.

Choice: There is good and not so good for every road. It does not matter which path you pick, just pick one and start moving.

Passion: No one feels the love 24/7 when developing an idea and struggling to make it work. But when you stick with something, your affection for it grows, not diminishes.

Not having a clue: At some point you have to proceed, even though you lack experience. At that time, fake it until you make it.

Being fearful: When fear and doubt are taunting you, get angry. Shout down your inner scaremongers with a verbal equivalent of a black-belt karate punch. When you get irritated and angry with fear, it turns from a snarling dog to one with its tail between its legs.

Time: Take stock of what you are saying yes and no to, throughout the day. If you do not have a moment to spare, remember that what you do with each moment is a matter of choice.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, there are many theories how to gain wealth, just as many years ago there were many theories. In many ways living a good life in a reasonable neighborhood is a success. There are challenges and opportunities and if you live a good life you have the advantage of time. To help you with time, use the compound interest tables or factor of 9. Whatever return you are getting, divide by 9 and that is how long it takes to double your money. Some years it is easier than others. However as the amount grows, the easier it gets to accumulate. wealth. Profitable stocks which pay dividends help a great deal.

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

 

 

 

 

One of the reasons why successful people are successful is the follow-through factor, they have an idea or dream and work on it till it is completion. It sounds easy, yet for millions of people have ideas, they may even start on it and life and nagging questions begin to slow it down and grind it to a halt. If you look around you, it is easy to see. It is even easier to do. If you really want to jump the barrier, how do you do it? One of the answers is with a coach and Gene Hayden is a coach who has written a book to help. The book is called The Follow-Through Factor by Gene Hayden published by McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 2010.

To understand follow-through, if one of your goals is to write a book – the commitment is to writing it. You have done well. The follow-through is to have it published (need to find someone or do it yourself and then sell the book). In many ways writing is easier than selling, because publishers have a good idea of what sells and what does not. Your book may or not fit into their picture, for trying to ensure your book gets into the hands of people who actually will buy it is the challenge for the publisher.

Follow-through does not require luck as Tennessee Williams said luck is believing you are lucky When you think you have chance on your side, you allow yourselves to take risks. And eventually one risk or another pays off. There is a wonderful movie called Field of Dreams and the classic line “if you build it, they will come”. The line in the real world is after you build it, work it so they will come. The follow-through is make things happen for you.

When you have faith in yourself, you do not require absolute proof of what will be, and you no need the buy-in of others. Those with follow-through say what keeps them going is simply an unshakeable feeling that they are doing the right thing and in some way they will like themselves more for doing it. They feel better about themselves as they try to skirt around the obstacles rather than give up.

How do you start with a question of why? Why do you like the things you do is a powerful way to get to the straight to the heart of whether its meaningful for you to pursue an ambition. It is the surest path to understanding the root of the your faith in the project. Never ask the question am I good enough, rather ask do I have a foundation of knowledge to build on? if I do not am I interested in developing one?

Linking to dividend paying stocks, much of investing is thinking about what is important to you. Whether it is the project or to invest in a stock you are do not know the outcome because the only perfect information in the stock market is what has happened, no one knows what will happen. There are ways to understand but we do not know 100%, what we do know is investing in profitable companies has been a low risk, high reward for generations; we also know because index funds drop the losers every quarter or every half year and puts in companies that are performing better the index funds over the years will up in value. The issue is we do not know exactly when it happens except for over the course of a year, profitable stocks will trade higher than non profitable stocks. Start with a solid foundation and add dividends to take advantage of compound interest.

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

One of the reasons why successful people are successful is the follow-through factor, they have an idea or dream and work on it till it is completion. It sounds easy, yet for millions of people have ideas, they may even start on it and life and nagging questions begin to slow it down and grind it to a halt. If you look around you, it is easy to see. It is even easier to do. If you really want to jump the barrier, how do you do it? One of the answers is with a coach and Gene Hayden is a coach who has written a book to help. The book is called The Follow-Through Factor by Gene Hayden published by McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 2010. Among the many activities Mrs. Hayden does is lecture so you may see her one day.

The follow-through factor separates the dreamers from the doers. The factor is an iron clad promise to yourself that you will do whatever it takes to experience that what is important to you. Ideally it is legal. There will be many barriers along the road, the ones who succeed do not accept that any problem is greater than the pact they made with themselves. It is a matter of honoring the deal between who you are and who you want to be.

Follow-through is a choice. If you not do it, life goes on as is or life is the status quo. There maybe nothing wrong with the life but then again you maybe somebody who says I should have or could have or might do …. and then you really want to look at follow-through. Follow-through is not the same as commitment. Commitment is a discipline, follow-through is a state of mind. Commitment is the body of your idea, follow-through is it legs. Commitment is a map with well-marked roads; follow-through is more of a pirate’s treasurer map. You will have to problem-solve to go through unchartered territory; you will never really know what is around the corner; it may take more take to get there but when you do you will be in the place you want to and be wiser for it.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the commitment is to invest and receive good returns on your money. The follow-through is invest in profitable companies with a good track record and pay some of their profits to you in the form of dividends. In this case, the time is advantage for other time, your investments will increase as the players in the market will invariably give trade you stock at higher multiples ensuring the price goes up.

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

In recent times, the writing of Dan Brown lead to best selling books and movies and then the experts saying well there maybe some truth, it is more of reach than accurate. Another writer from the 1970’s was in a similar position. All over the world are construction projects that are wonders because the seem out of place. Sometimes we all feel, that our generation must be the brightest and for an ancient society to do the acts, there must be outside influences. In the book Chariot of the Gods Erich Von Daniken suggested the outside influence was from outer space (we have been visited and one day they will come again). It was a very catchy theory for there are very unusual items such as the statutes on Easter Island, the Nazca Plain markings in Peru, the Egyptian Pyramids and others. They seem out of place and when examining them towards their relationship to the night sky, they seem to line up more closely than they should? or was it designed by others? In the book The Space Gods Revealed by Ronald Story published by HarperRow Publishing, NY, 1976 – the scientists show man could and did make the sites. While it was not easy, it was possible to do and for the Pyramids – plenty of cheap labor or slaves could do the work needed. What is the amazing part is – we often think machines have to do the work now, it was possible to use simple matters of leverage and physics to move the stones. If society wants grand building schemes and the government is organized in that fashion – it can be done.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, on the market many have different ideas of how the market works and make money doing so. At one point or more, they will all be correct, the other times they are not worth the paper they are printed on. The other times the tried and true method of investing in profitable companies which pay a dividend work well. The company being profitable will trade at a higher multiple than non profitable ones. The dividend over the years will compound your interest and having compound interest work for you rather than against is the best method to accumulating wealth.

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

Whatever you do in our economy, you will run into Information Technology companies and they are not going away. Since you are going to use their software, you might concern making money from them. Recently Craig McGee of Richardson GMP looked at IT companies to see where the bargains are:

In late July, IT total return was up 6.2% for the year, are there still bargains?

Mr. McGee used his source of Bloomberg to find the top  IT companies from the S&P/TSX composite and the criteria he used was:

EV/sales  (enterprise value divided by sales)  a lower number is better.

EV/EBITDA ratio of less than 10  (enterprise value divided by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization)

ROIC  or Return on invested capital (higher number is better)

3 Month consensus EPS estimate revision no worse than minus 5 %

12 month price change – lower is better

Dividend Yield in %

Company              Mkt Cap       EV/             EV/           ROIC          3M EPS     12M Price  Div

–                    ($ Bil)            Sales          EITDA     %                 Revision  Chg %        Yield

Celestica                2.05            0.24              6.48          6.39           2.65          -14.49       n/a

HP Inc                  24.14           0.35                4.32          13.84         -1.12            0.89         3.52

First Solar              4.92         0.84                3.32          13.30            0.47          11.99         n/a

NetApp                   7.41           0.80               7.10           4.93         -2.59         -14.8         2.87

Cisco Systems    154.46        2.42                8.28          11.87          1.88              8.13        3.39

Western Union       9.95        2.20              8.79           19.51            0.00            8.63       3.16

Intel                      163.66         2.99              8.16           11.88             4.58            23.52      3.00

Juniper Net             9.13          1.84              8.16           10.40            -1.47        -13.69       1.68

Alliance Data        13.62         2.66              9.90         11.23              0.60           -15.70     n/a

Qualcomm             90.11          3.10              9.77         11.37              2.65            -0.79       3.47

Mr. McGee says if you kept the top 10 qualifying stocks for the year, you would generated a nice 9.5% return.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, often staying invested in top quality companies will give a good return and if you add the dividend for relatively low risk you will make a good return on your money. The key is narrowing the field to top quality or best in breed or whatever term you wish, stick to the profitable companies.

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

 

 

 

If you have been around young people, the top craze this summer was the Pokémon Go mobile app. The game was put out by Nintendo a Japanese based company and its stock market price has risen by more than $ 2o billion. When you have numbers such as those the copy cats or similar games will be hitting the market soon. You can have your theories to which ones can, who has the resources, and will people play a similar type of game.

The leading contenders are large franchise type of possibilities:

Star Wars – the company which produces Star Wars is called Lucasfilm which is owned by Disney. Disney has the people, money and product to do a Pokémon Go.

Marvel Superheroes – it would be easy to set up for your favorite Marvel superhero and go around the city. Many people go to the films. Marvel Entertainment is owned by Disney.

Harry Potter – many of the generation which looks to the mobile phone grew up on Harry Potter and his magic adventures. Harry Potter is linked to Warner Communications which is linked to TimeWarner Cable. They have the money to do a Pokémon Go.

There will be other franchises.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, when a game makes a billion dollar impact, the stock price is affected. In the case of Nintendo the upside has been great. It is reasonable to expect the competition to match or even surpass with the next games. Disney plays a dividend and its stock was boosted by a very good Star Wars movie. The games should have an equal effect. It may not stay the hot game, but the companies will take the rewards and have the ability to build on the games. The entertainment giants should easily cross platforms to keep the process as a sustaining one, even if it is one more reason to visit their theme parks.

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

In 1969 the war in Vietnam was going strong, one of the military strategies was to drop lots of bombs, did you ever wonder how the bombs moved from the US to Vietnam? If you have then the story of the SS Badger State will interest you. The Badger State was a merchant marine cargo ship which transported materials across the Pacific. The story of the ship was written by William Benedetto whose book Sailing into the Abyss – A true story of Extreme Heroism on the High Seas published by Citadel Press, NY, 2005. The story of the ship is it was on a regular voyage except for two thing: the cargo was bombs and the Pacific was not rolling waves on a leisurely day, if you ever seen a movie such as George Clooney’s The Perfect Wave, you will have some idea of what type of conditions they were facing. The waves were pushing the boat up the angle of incline and combined with carrying bombs – the bombs would eventually move around. It seemed your average package had more packing material around it, than the bombs. As the waves rolled the ship, the pallets broke and the crew tried to fix it with whatever was on the ship. The story is how the crew work for days to secure the cargo and hoped for the calmer seas that the forecasters said were to be found. If there were 10 foot swells, the ship would have a chance to dock at an island and fix the hold. The sea did not co-operate and eventually a bomb blew up which lead to abandon ship. Two of the results of the efforts of the people who live and those who died with the ship – the merchant marine groups were officially established and cargos were better packed before they left the port.

In between the many stories of the people of the Badger State, the author takes the reader into the world of merchant marines – the ships and other shipping disasters both in war and in peace time. The book is both educational and a terrific story of trying to stay afloat. One of the stories is prior to the civil war, the shipping building industry was primarily owned by Americans, due to increased insurance rates the ships quickly became foreign owned. While there is still a shipping industry, insurance rates play a factor in where the ship is registered.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, hopefully owning the stock of a company will never put you at risk of your life. The story of the SS Badger State is the story of the “working man” being recognized for the work they do to ensure operations run smoothly. While the focus of annual reports is a focus on the executive of the company, it takes a lot of good people doing work everyday to keep companies working well through all kinds of events. It was a testament to the training, work ethic, and desire of the men to do everything possible to keep the bombs from moving and to keep going. It would have been easy to have a defeatist attitude with such high odds against the crew. For dividend stock buyers the payoff of is the continuing dividends over the years to increase your total return – you have to have a positive attitude of what life will be like over the coming years.

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