The writer was reading a book called Buried Treasurer (Travels Through the Jewel Box) by Victoria Finlay, Sceptre 2006. The concept of the book is looking at your jewelry box and asking where do those gems come from? what are the stories? why are they considered important?  Nestled within the chapters is a delightful quote

” Archaeology is all guesswork and speculation of facts mixed with a trowel of trust. It is a big jigsaw puzzle in which 97% of the pieces are missing, but you have to keep asking why?

The quote can easily be transitioned to investments. If you enjoy trying to either figure out the past or predict the future  growth stocks are a wonderful measure to do so. If you would rather see the puzzle 80% completed and enjoy the challenge of the other 20% as the company already has a significant market share, enjoys a healthy margin and pays dividends yearly, then dividend paying stocks are the way to go.

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

The writer owns a bicycle that has two speeds: slow and slower. The bicycle essentially needs to be tuned up but how much was the writer going to use it? A few days ago, on a bicycle ride, part of the ride included going down a hill. The bicycle when it accelerates above a certain speed (which is not very high), the pedals have no value for they do not work. When the bike slows down to slow or slower, the pedals work fine and the ride continues.

How does the above relate to dividend paying stocks? The steady slow growth of dividend paying stocks will get you to the place you wish to go. Sometimes it make take  a few more minutes but the distance will be travelled and the rewards will be yours.

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

A family member, similar to many readers has an older make vehicle which runs well and over the years has performed good service. In terms of economic value, as the vehicle ages, its value goes down. At some point, from an economic point of view, the family member should buy a new vehicle rather than put money to fix it up.

Similar to many people, the family member has grown attached to the vehicle and is not considering replacing it, even though there could be better in the marketplace. Bridging to the world of investments, because people are human, forms of attachment are made to the company. Reading the annual report every year familiarises yourself with the management; you may use the product or services; and many companies sponsor good works in the community.Possibly as an investor, you see the name of the company you own shares supporting the same event you support, the attachment grows stronger. When do you sell the investment? when you grow attached, the decision becomes a little harder, not impossible just harder. For an easier decision making process,  dividend paying stocks, as much as the attachment grows if the dividend is not paid, you can easily sell and move to something better in the marketplace..

There is always more questions than answers, till the next time  to raising questions

Occasionally the writer walks through a University Campus where one of the buildings has special panels on the walls, to give a nightly light show. Due to the park beside the building, a number of people in and around the campus gather and will see the nightly show. The light show is the colours of the rainbow and some of the variations you would like more than others. Why is this the case? Most of us have heard colours say something, no one is quite what, but they say something. Some colours represent cool, some hot, some leadership and the gamete goes on. The writer once followed a sports team which tried all the “correct” colours in their uniforms only to have another bad year. The team was not very good and the “correct” colours was not going to correct it. Having said that, colours do represent something. If you know more about your colours than investing, you should stick to your colours.

If you colours reflect dividend paying stocks, you should stay there. Dividend paying stocks are relatively low risk as they pay dividends and the price should go up over the long term. One great example is Coca Cola, and there are many others.

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

In the book by Stephen Denning called The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling, Mr. Denning writes about his experiences of trying to bring change to the World Bank to ensure that knowledge management or sharing of information is a key component of the organization. Storytellers and bankers, although both tell exciting stories, their perspective tend to be a little different. You can easily imagine Mr. Denning making presentations to the World Bankers for them to embrace storytelling in their speaking styles was not a easy sell, as evidenced one of the chapters in the book is titled Tame the Grapevine. Within that chapter is a discussion about corporate culture or how does a large organization makes decisions? Corporate culture is a form of know how. That is, as Edgar Schein sums it up, it’s a pattern of basic assumptions that the group has learned as it solved its problems ,,, that is to be taught to the new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. Any group that has been together for a significant time tends to develop a shared view of the way the surrounding world works or does not work.

The writer believes if you understand the term generation gap, you understand corporate culture. What does the above mean for dividend paying companies? The companies tend to large organizations where people have a distinctive culture. As you keep receiving the dividends, read the annual reports to see if you still agree with what the company is telling you through their corporate culture or decision making process. If you agree keep with them, stick with them; if you disagree it maybe time to switch to another dividend paying company.

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

Another story from The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling by Stephen Denning. The author worked at the World Bank in Washington, DC and over time decided the role of the World Bank needed to change. One of  the World Bank’s  strengths was its abilities to gather information from around the world, one of its weaknesses was unless you were employed by the World Bank, few ever saw the information. Mr. Denning believed the World Bank had to change part of its mandate to knowledge sharing to make the world a better place. To knowledge share is to share stories.

An great example of knowledge based information sharing is the government of Pakistan asked the World Bank field office about a better highway technology as the roads were falling apart, was the process better? The field office sent an email and responses came back from Jordan, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand all within 48 hours and all with great advice. In the past, the response rate would have been 6 to 12 months for a report on the subject to come out and then be shelved.. ( the writer looked at the World Bank website and there is a wealth of information on it)

How does this relate to dividend paying stocks? the above is a great story and dividend paying stocks have great stories to tell. If you like the story of the company the returns can be and are wonderful.

There is always more questions than answers, till the next time  to raising questions.

Another story from the book The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling by Stephen Denning is the story about longitude. Anyone who has looked at a map knows what longitude and latitude are. How did longitude come about? It was one of the great scientific problems throughout the 18th century. After years of working with limited solutions a large prize was offered by the Board of Longitude to anyone who could come up with a solution.

A self-taught clock maker named John Harrison came up with a solution  – a clock on the ships would keep precise time. To find the longitude the angle of the sun at noon is measured against a known point (Greenwich), then longitude would be calculated.

The Board of Longitude did not like the solution, maybe did not like Mr. Harrison (he was not one of them), they tried all the tricks in the book to send Mr. Harrison away.  Mr. Harrison was proven accurate in 1762, but did not receive his prize till 1773.

Similar to dividend paying stocks, there are experts who wish to sell you something else, which likely has some merit. The best solution is the dividend paying stocks of good companies that has two returns  the dividend and the very good potential of higher stock prices.

The writer was reading the book The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling by Stephen Denning and naturally there are some wonderful stories in it. The premise behind the book is management should use Storytelling techniques in their presentations to both the public and internally.

A wonderful story is a a physician (Norman Berlinger) had to deliver a baby with a large cystic growing around the baby’s windpipe. It was expected shortly after birth, the air passage would be blocked and seal up. The baby was delivered, the air passage began to seal up. What to do? Dr. Berlinger remember a story about another case involving a neck injury and the medical technician had already submitted a tube in the person’s neck. How did he do it? The technician said he had looked for bubbles and insert the tube, the man lived. The Doctor looked at the baby, looked for bubbles and inserted the tube and the baby lived.

Sometimes the solutions are the simplest, similar to dividend paying stocks. Buy dividend paying companies and  you receive two returns – dividends and potential stock growth. Nice easy simple solution.

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

The writer was driving the car and the other passenger remarked the light light to tell you to fill the gas tank was on. The car was almost home, and there was little danger in running out, so the car kept driving. As the gas gage slowly started to embrace the Empty sign, the passenger eyes were focused on the gage rather than the view from the car. To transition to risk – reward and dividends.

Which person do you see yourself as, the driver or the passenger? The passenger in the world of investments stays very close to dividend paying stocks as that is their risk tolerance. The driver calculated the risk reward and expected lower gas prices in the next town (traditionally the prices are 5 cents lower). and was willing to take slightly higher risk on that one occasion. Understanding most of the time the car is refueled when it hits the 1/4 or 1/3 empty. If you consistently go near the empty sign of the gas tank, you are are candidate for growth stocks. If you consistently fill the tank well before the empty, you should stay with dividend paying stocks.

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