As the ice caps around the world melt, it means some good things and some not so good things. The tops of the worlds are melting and this eventually means sea levels will rise and climate changes. It also means in the north shipping can go through the north west passage. Ever since Europeans discovered the wealth to made from spices in the east or South China Seas, people have been looking for a quicker route. Since at the time few people knew about North America, but every one on the Atlantic and Pacific Coast could see water; few knew what was there. Eventually Columbus went to the Caribbean, and others found a land mass known as the Americans. Explorers being explorers tempted to cross the land, it takes time and no water goes across; they tried going north and south around the land. The north was the north west passage and books such as Silk, Spices and Glory by Margaret Macpherson, Fifth House, Calgary, 2001 are written about the adventures. The names of Frobisher, Hudson, Parry, Franklin and Amundsen come though and they are grand adventurers most realizing too late the Arctic was not very hospitable to people.

If we think about today’s civilization, living in the North East, during winter the winds comes from the Arctic and it is cold – thank goodness for oil and gas to heat the homes. If you were an explorer in the 1500’s or 1600’s and went to the Arctic would you have the correct gear? At the best of times on a ship it had to be damp and cold; going into the Arctic was something else, for many had to be freezing all the time. An interesting comment in the book was many explorers died from scurvy.Even in summer, which is short in length, the Arctic is not short’s weather. In reading about the explorers, it was great adventures, but my goodness. It took to 1903 for a ship to go through the northwest passage, at the time it was on a scientific journey rather than a merchant journey.

Linking to dividend paying stocks,  the adventurers pave the wave to successful companies. If the adventurers had discovered a quicker method around North America, costs would have been cut and profits increased. Other riches were to be found, but not the ones the investors wanted. Every dividend paying company has to constantly find new methods to cut costs and increase profits or to be adventurers that actually can be successful. If they do not, they risk not making profits. Risk happens at all dividend paying companies, it just means not needing a great return to keep the company in business.

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

In a wonderful book, Gavin Menzies wrote 1421 published by Bantam Books, London, 2002. Mr. Menzies was a navy man whose hobby is reading historical maps, As there is great joy in seeing how the maps change as nature moves the shoreline as well as people understand the landscape and fill in the details. In the book, Mr. Menzies outlines 4 Admirals who went out into the unknown world and discovered the world. The four generals were Hong Bao, Zhou Man, Zhou Wen, and Yang Qing and they went on large groups of ships with thousands of people of immense tasks from labour to astronomer to map the world and discovered the currents of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as longitude and latitude. The maps made by Chinese in 1421 would stand the test of time hundreds of years in the future. The ships also moved crops and help make the world more liveable. At the end of the journey, the Chinese were more knowledgeable about the world and its mineral wealth, except the country turned inwards. The great plans had stretched the budgets of China as well as accidents which affected the confidence of the Emperor. The new Emperor turned the country inwards for hundreds of years.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, 70 years later the Europeans had advanced so they could leave Europe with Chinese maps, or they knew where to go. Had China taken the next step to claim the lands, established colonies the world would be a different place. Knowledge by itself, while it is a great thing to have and is it very useful to have the goal; however in business the ability to use the knowledge and profit from it allows for dividends to be paid. How well a company implements or uses the great amount of knowledge it collects is something you want to know? How does the companies whose shares you own profit from the vast knowledge they collect? Is it seamless?

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

In North America, if you asked someone who sailed the oceans blue in 1492, the quick answer is Christopher Columbus. The European world knew something existed between Europe and Asia but few had gone over to see and nobody had mapped it. The known world existed around the Mediterranean and through overland routes of Arabia goods came from South East Asia and India. Through the overland routes of Asia into the Black Sea goods came from China, but very few Europeans had gone to map out the world. As ships became bigger and money was to be made through bringing the goods back, European ships started to map out the world. What if the Europeans were actually using maps from another country? What if the Chinese had made the maps from 1421 to 1423?

In a wonderful book, Gavin Menzies wrote 1421 published by Bantam Books, London, 2002. Mr. Menzies was a navy man whose hobby is reading historical maps, As there is great joy in seeing how the maps change as nature moves the shoreline as well as people understand the landscape and fill in the details. To draw an accurate map one needs to understand latitude and longitude; and a host of other skills. If you believe anyone can do it, next year go on a boat and map the shoreline. It turns out the skills needed to map the world were known and used by the Chinese. The third Emperor in the Ming Dynasty was Zhu Di, the Son of Heaven. When he became Emperor he had plans and the ability to carry them out. Domestically the city of Beijing became capital city again and he had 200,000 people doing the labours. At the same time, the Great Wall was repaired and improved; the Grand Canal was enlarged; as well as the great amount of ship building was completed – these ships were the ones that went around the world in 1421 to 1423.The resources of China were mobilized for large amounts of commodities – grain and timber were required to do the projects for the Emperor.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in writing this book Mr. Menzies used his skills from the Navy as well as his interest in map making to fill in the many missing pieces of the puzzle. When Mr. Menzies was reading a map which outlined North America long before Columbus had sail the ocean blue, that sent him on his discovery mission which lead him to write the book. Each of us has interests and something to energize the curiosity in us. Often the trail will lead us to greater understanding and sometimes we will be able to profit from that understanding. As the New Year begins, follow your curiosity for you will be able to understand and profit. Along the way, understand for Mr. Menzies the journey took many years to complete or to get to the point of being able to write the book – you will need a cash flow of dividends and capital gains from dividend paying stocks which help you achieve your goals.

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

In Greek mythology, Icarus is the son of Daedalus who was an inventor and at one time or another offended the King. The King put him and his son in jail, while in jail Daedalus began to study the flights of birds. He studied the feathers made some wings and they worked as he and his son flew out of jail. The young man was intoxicated with his abilities to fly and decided to head for the sun. The sun’s heat melted the wax and Icarus fell to the seas only to perish. His father saw what was happening but was powerless to help, he flew to safety and retired the wings.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, when we are young and believe we can conquer the universe, we often buy stocks at low prices. Once in a while one goes up in value and visions of being a master of the universe will appear. The good advice is to learn to take some profits and let it ride so when the stocks invariably go down, you have made money. The lesson is easy to say, it is much harder to implement. With dividend paying stocks, although one expects the price to rise, often times the percentage rise per year will not give you masters of the universe feelings. However if you wait or have patience in a few years not only will the price have risen you will have collected dividends along the way and your wealth will be on the way to making you a master of universe with staying power. Learn the simple lessons and Happy New Year.

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

The best performing country in terms of economic recovery will be the US and some of the companies in the US are the best in the world. As the recovery picks up and becomes relative to the past normal economic activity, to lower the risk return ratio putting your money in the US stocks is a good idea. There are many methods to participate and one method is to look at the large cap US listed stocks  with good dividend yields and strong dividend records. Peter Ashton of Recognia Inc did this and published his results.

The process was to start with companies with a minimum capitalization (share price x number of shares outstanding) of $ 10 billion.

Out of those companies – more criteria – to focus on dividends and the quality of them

selected companies with dividend yields of 3 % or better.

To ensure payment of dividends – companies with a dividend coverage ratio of 250%  (to arrive at this figure the earnings per share divided by dividend paid over the past year)  The higher the number, the greater the expectation of payment to continue.

The third criteria is for companies with a history of raising their dividend payments over the past 5 years.

The important aspect of this chart is it helps to narrow the field. There are many companies on the stock markets, by narrowing the field to what you are looking for, this  helps you make better decisions. For the stock market, the best decisions are looking back, for the future will always be up or down. However, it is possible to lessen the risk.

The rankings were

Rank    Company      Ticket   Mkt Cap   Div Yield    Div Coverage   Div Growth 5 year

–            –                      –           billions       %                  %                          Average

1    Ford Motor           F-N          54.2         3.5                 455                            100.0

2.   Agrium                AGU-N    12.3         3.3                 283                             112.4

3. Seagate Tech       STX-Q     20.7         3.3                279                               90

4. Suncor Energy     SU-N      41.2         3.2                357                               31.3

5. Occidental Pete   OXY-N      57.7         3.7                286                              16.3

6.  Chevron               CVX-N  192.3            4.0                286                                9.1

7.  ConocoPhillips     OP-N     77.8              4.4                275                                7.8

8.  ExxonMobil           XOM-N  365.9            3.3                299                                9.8

9. Dow Chemical     DOW-N      50.3            3.8                290                                5.2

10. Caterpillar Inc       CAT-N      54.1           3.1                262                                7.6

11.  Kellogg                 K-N        22.8          3.0                276                                6.8

Linking to dividend paying stocks all the above are good companies to own and you can see some of them are linked to the oil industry. As the price has come down, some are available at lower stock prices; some will do better with a lower price of oil; some do better with a higher price. The decision you make is based on a number of factors but one thing you do know with the above companies the risk factors are down and for a long time the reward factors are high.

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

Throughout history there has been plunder from someone else; it many instances along the way, the ruling government approved the plunder from the opposition. After a period of time, the plunder was put in safety deposit boxes and museums. Some of the valuables was melted down, some of it to sold to others who sold it who moved it around and as fewer of the items are on the marketplace the value eventually goes up. Ever since gold or other minerals were found, the mineral had to be moved from the place they were found to places where the minerals could be molded into items which people will buy. Along the way there has been opportunity to steal, opportunities to find lost treasurers due to storms or ships sinking due to reefs; as many reasons as a storyteller can come up with. In the book The World Atlas of Treasure by Derek Wilson, Collins, London UK, 1981, an overview of the places for lost treasure are given. The primary focus is on gold and golden treasurers because many governments tied their currency to the price of gold. This means some treasures are based on myth, some on fact, and some a bit of both. The adventure is you might discover some of the treasure and you will have some great stories to tell.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, there is treasure in owning these types of stocks for the companies have consistently earning profits. The idea of discovering a lost treasure or holding the winning lottery ticket has a large appeal and many people will try. Receiving lottery tickets for Christmas was done in many homes across the world and hopefully, the winners shared with the families. Sometimes the better gift is what would you do if you won story. If you own dividend paying stocks, the time frame for what would you do can be closer. As the years go by the dividend paying stocks increase in value for their dividends and capital appreciation. Be fascinated by the treasures, if you are in the area look for them, but for the long term rely on dividend producing stocks.

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

Ever since the introduction of the radio, people have been listening to music or greater variety and deciding one music type is better than the next. Often times the themes are the same but the methods are a little different. In the rock music category – the two biggest acts in the 1960’s to 1990 were the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Although both came from the UK, the music represented something different to many and for years people asked do you like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones better? Both bands given the length of time people have listened to the music; people have bought the music and have been influenced by the music are in the status of great bands. For a while, the Beatles had the cleaner cut image and the Stones were rougher at the edges. Some of that is true as written by John McMillian’s book Beatles vs Stones, Simon & Schuster, NY, 2013. In the early days, the reality was the reverse, but the public image was what people saw and would comment on.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, very often in the stock market there is a choice between two companies which are seemingly the same and different – the easiest example is the Apple and Microsoft. Because we all have opinions, we all have biases; it was easier to own one or the other. Now days, the situation is reverse. There are biases in your selection, because you are a person. We tend to favour local or regional companies based on where you live. As long as you are reasonably diversified and the companies are performing at your expectations which includes making a profit, the age old question of which one is better can and should continue. Hopefully during the holiday you will be asked at the table which is better and in the spirit of the holidays find good reasons to accept the arguments. Have a great holiday.

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

If you believe the glass is half full or even better, than the movie’s title and subject matter is something you will like. In the movie, Flash of Genius staring Greg Kinnear, Universal Pictures, 2009. the character has a Flash of Genius on inventing something which is standard on all cars – the position between stop and go for windshield wipers. The rest of the movie is about actually getting paid for the invention. It is the Flash of Genius which Is the important part. We are all good at something and the more we do it, the better we become – the 10,000 hours to master a skill theme. After we have mastered something, you will search for a method to do it better which was either not done before or is something new. Technology helps breaks some of those barriers, but  trying is the journey you are on. Whether that flash of genius happens with the apple and Newton understanding the laws of gravity or whether that happens when you do a non related activity you will find the missing connection or the missing piece of the puzzle to move along your idea.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, investing means you do not have to be a genius. If the idea is to try to lose less money over the long term, then buying shares in profitable companies which pay you a dividend is easily seen as a good thing to do. Sometimes the best ideas are simple ones, not the genius ones but the ones that solve the problem. When you are investing think simple. What you will be amazed at is how often for the amount of risk you take, the simple ideas have the better returns.

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

In the USSR, prior to 1918, the country was headed and run by the family of the Romanovs with the male head called a Czar. The Czar owned much of Russia and to attend to their homes around Russia more than 30,000 servants, attendants, and gardeners worked in the households. The Russian Czars were the richest people in the world and it came to a crashing end in 1918 or did it? Prior to their end, the Czars had the biggest and most expensive collection of jewels in the world. The famed Faberge eggs are one small part of the collection. If you have seen the ballet the Nutcracker, it is set in the time of Czars for after the French Revolution the ballet world moved to Russia.

The official story from Russia is the Czar and his family were shot and buried but is that what really happened? A book called The Hunt for The Czar by Guy Richards, Doubleday & Co, NY, 1970 suggests the Czar were not shot. Besides their wealth, the other aspect of Europe at the beginning of the century was the intermarriage between the Royals of Europe. The Czar was linked to all the Royal Families and they would have been very nervous with the official report. Who would be next? Is the social scene which they all knew and loved gone forever? and what happen to the money and wealth that was not in Russia? The Czar had diversified his holdings and moved some of Russia’s gold to the US and UK. Was the gold his? or Russia’s? Courts and time meant the banks kept the property in safekeeping.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in some companies figuring out the truth of the company and its financials are a detective story. There are possibilities and some you will want to believe. With dividend paying stocks, either the company pays a dividend or it does not. If it pays and has paid over the years, your concerns are how sustainable it is. If you believe it is sustainable the mystery is over and the stock can be on your list to buy and hold for a period of time, sometimes as long as it took to discover if the Czar was killed or escape to a simpler life elsewhere.

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