Anyone who has travelled or been to the ocean sometimes looks out and wonders about all the ships that went down with a cargo, are they worth value? is there gold somewhere there? whose property is it? In many countries around the world, if a ship goes down and its cargo washes ashore, then it is essentially finders keepers. It means in the area, more than usual amounts of the cargo will somehow make its way to the houses in the area. There is always a fine line between cargo accidentally washing ashore and being more directed, but that is something for the insurance adjusters to figure out. A real ship carrying gold from the California gold fields was the SS Central America – bringing the gold from Panama via Cuba to New York and off the coast of South Carolina, the ship which had weathered other storms met its match in a hurricane and between the wind and waves – the ocean won. Gary Kinder the author of Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea, Random House, NY, 1998 essentially wrote 3 stories in one  – the first one a description of turn off the century California when gold was discovered. Then the story of the travels between the ports of New York and San Francisco with a stop through the Panama Canal, together with the reports of what the hurricane was similar to. The next story is the person who discovers methods and ways to search for the gold – an amazing creative engineering mine of Tommy Thompson who has to make discoveries to work in the deep oceans. The last chapters are what happens when gold or valuables are discovered. Who do they belong to and who should see them?

Linking to dividend paying stocks, for the search to be successful various components have to be presented at the right time. In this case, new devices had to be invented. When you are investing using dividend paying stocks, there is little to be invented. The old adge of invest in profitable stocks remains a good thing to follow for new need to invest in the correct technologies just to stay in the game. Profitable companies can experiment with a number of new technologies to find solutions.

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

Business is an interesting subject because in the end it is math – do you make a profit from the goods and services or not. If you make a profit from doing something you enjoy so much the better. In one of the cases, given in our economy is diversified – you can make money or have a business in any sector. One example of how you do this is from Matt Mosteller writing in the Globe on October 16 with a title 5 Business Lessons from a Ski Bum.

Although the article does not say what Matt did during the summer, he had a love of skiing during the winter and likely he was either an instructor or guide in order to ski all day during the winter in the mountains. He has added responsibility over the years and works as an SVP. HIs 5 business lessons are:

1. Apres-ski or break bread with others. If you eat with others, the other people, in this case, others who share a passion for skiing, they will other advice to you; often try to help; integrate you within the community so your skills can help the community and vise versa.
2. First Tracks – the early bird gets the worm, the first up the ski hill lay down the tracks others will follow. Getting up early allows you to prioritize your time to do the things you want and need to do first.
3. Last run – if you love what you do, you want to do it most of the day including the last run before the resort closes. The last run in the mountains is determined by the setting sun – some of the best pictures are in the world can be seen in the sky.
4. Ski Patrol – Pay attention to the details. On the slopes – sometimes you go off the groomed paths but dangers will lurk you have to be aware of them, be able to deal with them and know when to stay away from the dangers. Life as a ski bum does not mean lots of income it means tight budgets (but it does involve skiing). One of the things you learn quickly is nature makes you respectful, humble and grateful.
5. Hot Tub Machine – share those tales you have made. If you talk to others, you will learn from others. If you want to ski everyday, it requires attention to fitness and exercise. The better you feel the more challenges you can take on with your increasing knowledge and respect for the situation you are in.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the lessons Mr. Mosteller offers is good for all kinds of leadership and business. You chase because you enjoy and as you enjoy you learn lessons to do it longer. Learning is key and simple lessons are often the best ones. Investing in profitable stocks which pay dividends is a good simple lesson.

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

In 1347, on a typical day one ship landed in Messina, which was nothing out of the ordinary. However on this ship all the crew were sick with a disease from the Orient. The Black Plaque had arrived in Europe and by 1351 between 25 to 50% of Europe’s population was dead. With those types of results many things changed in Europe and many volumes of books have been written about it. The approach Robert Gottried took in his book The Black Death published by The Free Press, London, UK, 1983 was the environmental one.

About 50% of the population of Europe and countries around the Mediterranean were lost to the Black Plaque and people reacted the way people have always reacted in a variety of ways. Since the disease attacked people no matter their economic situation leadership changes happened and the old social and religious bonds were loosen. Partly because there was no other choice and partly because it was time for a change. For many years Europe was in a feudal situation but after the plaques there was a shortage of people to do the work necessary. Wages and hours went up and there was a new sense of time. Prior to the plaques people lived their lives according to the sun, afterwards more clocks were built – to be chimed or the modern equivalent is the factory whistle. Another change was in clerics or ministers – the doctors in many communities were the priests or clerics – in the evaluation of their work much was ineffective. The result was new medical schools and hospitals partly funded by charity to improve medical care and research.

In art there were two trends – one was the cynical process and the other which tends to be seen in great art works of the day is a prominence given to the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

The Black Plaque, the author believes was one of the greatest transformational event of Europe both from an environmental point of view and social point of view. If you think about our times or it seems the environment is changing which means society has to change one way or another.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in all crisis there are many ways to react because we are humans and none is necessarily wrong or right. Ideally you can still look to the future because there will be opportunities which come up. Some prices will fall because it needs to be changed; some will rise because prices have fallen – an optimistic person will thing of rebuilding which adds value. Crisis will affect everyone a little differently, hopefully you will always look to the better part of the future.

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

In 1347, on a typical day one ship landed in Messina, which was nothing out of the ordinary. However on this ship all the crew were sick with a disease from the Orient. The Black Plaque had arrived in Europe and by 1351 between 25 to 50% of Europe’s population was dead. With those types of results many things changed in Europe and many volumes of books have been written about it. The approach Robert Gottried took in his book The Black Death published by The Free Press, London, UK, 1983 was the environmental one.

In the most basic understanding (such as mine) the Black Plaque was caused by flea called Yersinia pestis or Y.pestis which travels on rodents one of the most popular known as the Black Rat, interesting one barnyard animal which the flea does not like is the horse. The fleas like warm weather in the 80’s with high humidity. Cold limits the activity, high heat slows it down and less than 70% humidity kills it. In Western Europe the best conditions are late summer and early fall.

Prior to the Black Plaque Europe had seen fatal plaques before – from 541 to 542 what was called Justinian’s Plaque killed 40% of Europe after that Europe was relatively disease free. This allowed it to grow and contacts between Europe and Asia grew more trade happened, but then the climate changed but outside and the political climate. The setting is Europe has been relatively disease free for a few hundred years.

There are many theories why the Y pestis reached Europe although it is agreed that it originated in Mongolia and spread outwards. On the environmental side, Europe was becoming wetter than normal, while central Asia was becoming drier which meant the Mongol and Turkic nomads moved their flocks in search of greener pastures. The Black Plaque moved into China and its population in 1393 dropped from 125 million to 90 million. It affects are easily documented in the European literature but the plaque affected all human populations. The myth is the plaque came on one ship, the reality it was moving through all populations across Asia and Europe. The important aspect is what did people do when the plaque came? In some parts of the world there was fighting between different religions. In Constantinople the emperor believed the Black Death was divine punishment. In Cairo, the population fell from 500,000 to 300,000 – everything was in chaos. People flocked to Mecca because The Prophet Mohammed had claimed no deadly diseases in the Holy City but people died – perhaps they were the nonbelievers. Wherever the disease went about 50% of the people died, law and order broke down and people blamed someone else.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, while the affects of the plaque were terrible to all people, it is how people react which is most important to investors. First you want to protect yourself and who you feel your family/community is and then there is a blame game which targets someone else. In the case of the plaque eventually it moved on to the next community until the weather conditions were not good. We are fortunate or believe to be fortunate to have the disease control centers which give you an idea of where and how the disease comes and possible drugs to take not to have the affects on you. Sometimes as climate changes, cycles will change and things need to go back into balance – how long it takes no one really knows. When there is a boom or bust in the markets, remember when things are at the worst after you have adjusted that is when to buy the best profitable stocks and sell them when the markets are booming. Is it easy no. Does history say this is the easiest thing to do – yes.

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

Most people know something about Sparta – for many years people like me knew of the myth or legend of a prince stealing another man’s wife (Helen of Troy) and a battle for her. There have been numerous movies on the theme and because the story is compelling there will be likely more. Eventually you might ask who are the Spartans? The book The Spartans by Paul Carledge published by The Overlook Press, NY, 2003 is one book to begin to look for answers. The Spartans were a city-state in Ancient Greece who a particular interest in combat. From an early age all young males took part in exercises that lead to having core values of self-sacrifice, community endeavor and achievement against all odds. In the movie 300 – 300 Spartan warriors against an army of Persians, one of the warriors went told there were enough archers to block out the sun, replied good we will fight in the shade.

Part of the life for Spartans revolved around training and occasionally using that training to kept their lands. Another interesting part is to look at inheritance or passing of property. In the book, Mr. Carledge discusses the various rulers and their families – who they married and why. Sometimes marriages were done to ensure property holdings remained in a family so an uncle may marry a niece or close relative. It depends on where you are in the hierarchy but marriages could be have both political and economic considerations, ideally love or respect for each other developed as well as the next generation.

Another aspect to life as an independent is to try to remain independent which means forever forming alliances while others form alliances for other reasons. One example was Sparta went to fight Athens its strategy was to destroy the grain crop so as to starve the city. Unfortunately, Athens only a small portion of the grain consumed by Athens can from what it grew, most was imported from the what is now the Ukraine. Athens controlled the seas and were in no danger of starving. In the time of having many alliances means sometimes your friends are your enemies in the future.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, instead of city states fighting for lives we now have companies fighting for market share and hopefully everyone has a longer life. Within the context of fighting for market share will be alliances and strategies to enhance the company. Some of the strategies will be based on how does a person rise to the executive suite? some of it will be done on past history? and some of it will be done stepping on toes? These are all considerations for you to evaluate how the company will do in the future, ideally you want it to continue to make profits.

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

Most people know something about Sparta – for many years people like me knew of the myth or legend of a prince stealing another man’s wife (Helen of Troy) and a battle for her. There have been numerous movies on the theme and because the story is compelling there will be likely more. Eventually you might ask who are the Spartans? The book The Spartans by Paul Carledge published by The Overlook Press, NY, 2003 is one book to begin to look for answers. The Spartans were a city state in Ancient Greece who a particular interest in combat. From an early age all young males took part in exercises that lead to having core values of self-sacrifice, community endeavor and achievement against all odds. In the movie 300 – 300 Spartan warriors against a army of Persians, one of the warriors went told there were enough archers to block out the sun, replied good we will fight in the shade.

In the era of city states (rather than countries we now favor) the rulers had to balance both strong defenses at home and trying to expand their territories. One of the methods they did this was to show hereditary claim to the area. In a couple of cases, bones were discovered (no one really knows who they were) and claimed to be one of the adjacent lands. The bones were brought back to Sparta and a large ceremony were “properly buried”. It seems which worked in the past is still working today – the uses of both myth and propaganda which are designed to bring the whole under the government’s diplomatic-military-political sway. The reality of the myth of Helen was another country had the reason to go fight Sparta.

Linking to dividend producing stocks, we often think or believe some of what we do is relative recent events when the reality is people have been doing it for centuries. In terms of dividend producing stocks, investing in profitable stocks never goes out of style and breaks through the myth and propaganda of other types of investing. The system needs both but real wealth to the average person tends to come from the tried and true method – investing in great profitable companies.

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

Every once in a while boxing movies are made and you might remember Rocky or a scene from it, particularly from the first one in his training and the great music when he runs up the steps in Philadelphia. Another interesting boxing movie is called Southpaw staring Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker and others. You can watch this movie along a variety of lines – it is a boxing movie – the Jake character is the world champion; loses his wife and his life goes downhill; he learns to recover and is given a chance to recover his crown, which means there is a family story; there is personal story; and there is a boxing story. The boxing story is the interesting aspect for this column. In the ring, the Jake character boxes but he really never learnt the skills – he has a great ability to take punishment and in the later rounds come to life to defeat his opponents. The great ability to take punishment means when he is over 40 he would likely have brain damage, however that is another consideration. The Jake character goes to the Forest character to teach him about boxing. The Forest character uses simple and everyday techniques – such as fastening ribbons across the ring and having Jake move in and around the ring without touching the ribbons ( think of the movie Entrapment with Catherine Zeta-Jones). The art of learning is not hard, but does require effort.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, there are many methods to investing and some work some of the time, one of the things you are looking for is methods that are consistent and long-term. Investing in profitable companies means you will do better over the long-term because they are profitable which means people want to invest in them and along the way you get paid a dividend because the company is profitable. It is never too late, although if you look at which companies are profitable 50 years ago and today, some of the names will be the same. Over that time those profitable ones had their shares go up, split, pay a dividend and the owners are wealthier because the company remained profitable. On the list will be some companies that no longer exist – which is the reason why you need to be continuing learning about the markets.

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

In recent weeks, you may have read about a desire for a mega billion dollar merger between Anheuser Busch InBev SA and SABMiller Inc. In the competitive beverage industry the best method to gain market share is to buy another company, thus margins can be maintained. Which leads to what other choices are there in the beverage industry, given besides water most people drink something and those that drink sometimes consume on a regular basis.

Charles Martin of Thomson Reuters used his company’s data base to look at the answer.

he started with the larger companies or those with a market cap greater than $ 250 million

he was looking for profitable companies with an operating margin of greater than 10%

the return on equity should be higher than 10%

if interest rates, leverage is a concern as a result he wanted firms with total long term debt to capital of less than 60%.

other variables include accounts receivable turnover and dividend yield.

Company                    Ticker     Mkt Cap   Operating   ROE Common  Long Term Debt     Accounts         Dividend

(US $ Bil)   Margin %   Equity  %          to Total Cap %       Receiv  Turn    Yield %

Coca-Cola                  KO-N      180.612         21.0             24.2                  26.4                      9.85                 2.9

PepsiCo                     PEP-N     143.528        14.4               27.4                51.3                      9.80                 2.6

SABMiller                   SAB-L       90.278         19.3               13.3               28.7                      14.00                2.0

Diageo                        DGE-L      70.28           29.3              32.6                41.5                        4.74                3.1

Monster Beverage     MNST-Q     27.672         30.3              30.5                0.0                        8.54                 0.0

Constellation Brands    STZ-N      26.278         24.8              16.9               54.0                       8.41                 0.2

Brown-Forman              BFB-N      22.284         32.8              36.7               24.1                       5.44                0.9

Dr Pepper Snapple        DPS-N     15.864          19.3             31.6                53.0                     9.88                 2.0

Boston Beer                   SAM-N       2.925          16.2             22.6                 0.1                      17.58               0.0

National Beverage        FIZZ-Q         1.467         11.6             35.3                 6.3                      10.93               0.0

AG Barr PLC                  BAG-L          .931         14.9             19.1                 8.7                      5.54                 2.3

Nichols  PLC                   NICL-L        .791           16.3            38.1                 0.0                      4.86                1.6

Fevertree Drinks           FEVR-L          .765           23.3            20.2                 9.9                      5.06               0.1

Corby                            CSW-T           .412            20.6           10.3                 0.0                       5.1                4.0

Linking to dividend paying stocks, there are many choices in the marketplace and charts such as this one allows you to narrow down the choices in order to reduce the risks. If you were concerned about possible targets it would be important to look at how many shares are in friendly hands or what premium would have to be paid. There are other paths to take however the use of the charts allows you to narrow the choices.

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

The Horse That Leaps Through Clouds is the Chinese name for Baron Gustaf Mannerheim who was sent by the Tsar of Russia to travel to Beijing along the Silk Road and report back on the countries. It took him 2 years to do the journey and later he settled in Finland (as he born there) and his trip was incorporated in the university studies. One of the students who studied the reports was the author Eric Enno Tamm who decided to recreate the steps in 2006 (the 100th anniversary) and wrote the book The Horse that Leaps Through Clouds, published by Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver, 2010. The journey takes place through the old USSR and China and both countries (among many others) in the past moved water from where it was seemingly abundant to more fertile areas. In many analysis this can be seen as doing a good thing – it was a massive infrastructure project – there was water in the north – the people are in the south. In both cases, the effects were to grow more cotton and wheat and population in the area was better off. In the second journey, Mr. Tamm reports the water sources are in a process of drying up which makes the land less fertile. The population was near a desert and the desert blooms, without water (in one place 13 months without rainfall) the desert races back to reclaim the land. The dust storms are bigger which results in more damage. There is salt in the earth and with less water to flush it, the land becomes even less productive and the cycle continues. What does a country do?

Linking to dividend paying stocks, for many companies, they had or have the goodwill of the government and for many years it was good. Now that things are changing, who should pay? who bears responsibility when in reality people believed they were making their lands more progressive and giving opportunity to the people? Government? Companies? Profitable companies? There is no answer that is easy, but there will be pressure on profitable companies. Has you company thought about it? made plans or can it easily move its operations if it is near the declining areas? Companies may try to do the right thing by taking advantage of opportunities in the marketplace, but every once in a while there are unintended problems.

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

Trying to do the right thing is easier said than done, for every company can always do better. One example is parts of China and the old USSR tried to irrigate lands to grow more cotton and wheat, which can be a good thing. The effect is over the years, water supplies are draining and areas near the deserts are fast becoming deserts again