Archive for July, 2007

  • The Dividend Aristocrats
    , July 31st, 2007 at 11:02 am

    S&P tracks its list of “Dividend Aristocrats,” these are S&P 500 stocks that have increased their dividend every year for the last 25 years.
    Here’s the list ranked by current dividend yield:
    FHN 5.51%
    BAC 5.34%
    ED 5.29%
    USB 5.21%
    PFE 4.92%
    BBT 4.81%
    CMA 4.73%
    RF 4.68%
    FITB 4.43%
    MO 4.09%
    KEY 4.09%
    CINF 3.55%
    LEG 3.44%
    GCI 3.24%
    LLY 3.12%
    KMB 3.10%
    SNV 2.85%
    GE 2.83%
    JNJ 2.72%
    BUD 2.69%
    PPG 2.68%
    CLX 2.61%
    MTB 2.60%
    KO 2.59%
    ROH 2.58%
    ABT 2.57%
    AVY 2.56%
    VFC 2.51%
    CBSS 2.47%
    CB 2.27%
    PEP 2.27%
    PG 2.24%
    SWK 2.21%
    EMR 2.20%
    MMM 2.15%
    MCD 2.05%
    SLM 2.01%
    WWY 2.01%
    ADP 1.96%
    WMT 1.90%
    SHW 1.77%
    GWW 1.57%
    SVU 1.54%
    FDO 1.50%
    DOV 1.43%
    MHP 1.34%
    ADM 1.34%
    STT 1.28%
    BDX 1.25%
    JCI 1.17%
    LOW 1.14%
    SIAL 1.01%
    STR 0.95%
    TGT 0.90%
    WAG 0.85%
    NUE 0.84%
    BCR 0.75%
    CTL 0.56%
    PGR 0.19%

  • Quote of the Day
    , July 31st, 2007 at 12:30 am

    Private equity firms are draining the capital out of our communities, and draining the lifeblood of our country.

    From John Edwards’ campaign blog

  • RIP: Chet Currier
    , July 31st, 2007 at 12:14 am

    Long-time financial writer, Chet Currier, died on Sunday. This is from his final Bloomberg column:

    For one long-standing indicator of shifting moods in the stock market, a now-or-never moment is at hand.
    The gauge in question, which focuses on cash reserves held by managers of stock-mutual funds, has been emitting increasingly bearish signals about the market outlook.
    But nobody has been paying much attention. The indicator’s once-stellar record of accuracy has been less than compelling lately. What’s more, the whole premise behind it may be out of date.

  • GDP Revisions
    , July 30th, 2007 at 2:02 pm

    One of my constant complaints about the government’s economic data is that it’s subject to endless revisions. Then the revisions are updated and the updates are subsequently revised. Geez, folks. Just wait till you get a final number and give it to me.
    In Friday’s GDP report, the government revised all the GDP numbers going back to 2004. It turns out that the economy was a bit weaker than it originally said. They were only off by about $120 billion. Unless, of course, that gets revised.
    Funny, I don’t feel any different.
    Anyway, here’s a look at GDP, new numbers and old:
    image503.png
    Eleven of the 13 quarters were revised lower. Here’s a look at the quarterly growth numbers:
    image504.png
    …………………….Old………..…..New
    Q1-04………..3.85%………….2.96%
    Q2-04………..4.04%………….3.48%
    Q3-04………..3.10%………….3.60%
    Q4-04………..2.61%………….2.55%
    Q1-05………..3.40%………….3.07%
    Q2-05………..3.26%………….2.81%
    Q3-05………..4.18%………….4.46%
    Q4-05………..1.76%………….1.19%
    Q1-06………..5.58%………….4.82%
    Q2-06………..2.56%………….2.44%
    Q3-06………..1.96%………….1.07%
    Q4-06………..2.45%………….2.09%
    Q1-07………..0.69%………….0.60%
    Q2-07………………..…………….3.38%
    (We pass the graphics savings on to you.)

  • Dow 14000
    , July 29th, 2007 at 9:13 pm

    From The Onion:

    The Dow Jones closed at over 14,000 for the first time last week. What are the contributing factors?
    Certain knowledge that crashes like those of 1819, 1837, 1869, 1873, 1929, 1987, 1989, 2000, and 2001 will absolutely never happen again
    Record number of contributions during annual Dow Jones telethon
    Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke showing a little more hustle
    Market theorist Harry S. Dent’s forecast that people in the fourth quarter of 2007 will like having lots of money
    Traders trying to impress cute girl who works at Wall Street Blimpie’s
    Dow Jones’ takeover of Marianne’s and other mom-and-pop indexes
    Someone forgot to ring the closing bell, resulting in 17 additional hours of trading
    Less selling, more buying

  • Economy Grew By 3.4% in Q2
    , July 27th, 2007 at 10:20 am

    From Bloomberg:

    The 3.4 percent annual pace of expansion, the most in more than a year, followed a revised gain of 0.6 percent in January to March, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose at the slowest pace in four years.
    Spending on commercial construction projects rose at the fastest pace in 13 years, helping to overcome another drop in homebuilding. Factories ramped up production to fill orders from Europe and Asia that made up for a slowdown in consumer spending. Treasury securities erased gains, stock-index futures trimmed losses and the dollar remained higher.
    “The good news is that capital spending and exports are growing,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. Still, “the economy is plodding along. We’re very vulnerable to a shock.”

  • Radio Silence
    , July 26th, 2007 at 11:59 pm

    I apologize for the lack of posting earlier. I’m at the Money Show investor conference in San Francisco.
    There’s not much I have to add to today’s news except to say that it was very ugly out there. The Buy List, however, was down -1.32%, which was 101 basis points better than the S&P 500. I guess that’s sorta good news.
    Also, I’m not buying that this is about valuations. The Value Index (^SVX) was down more than the Growth Index (^SGX). Actually, the Value Index has beaten the Growth Index for seven straight days. That seems a bit odd of a sell-off.

  • Possible Headline
    , July 25th, 2007 at 2:01 pm

    From the AP:

    Amazon Soars on Strong 2Q, Upgrades

    Or my suggestion:

    Amazon Now Down 20% Instead of 35%

  • Guess This Stock?
    , July 25th, 2007 at 7:31 am

    image502.png
    Give up?

    (more…)

  • Behold the Power of Wednesdays
    , July 25th, 2007 at 6:23 am

    Since I got so many e-mails on this subject, I wanted to revisit my post on how good Wednesdays have been for Wall Street.
    Going back exactly six years, the days of the week for the S&P 500 break down like this:
    Monday 1.31%
    Tuesday -9.96%
    Wednesday 37.19%
    Thursday 4.99%
    Friday -1.85%
    That’s capital gains only. For all five days, the S&P 500 is up 28.97%. So except for Wednesday, the rest of the week is net down.
    So what’s the deal on Hump Day?
    A few emails suggested it could be due to Fed meetings, or possibly when the oil stats are released. Personally, I think it’s due to Lost which broadcasts on Wednesday. For the next six days, everyone on the Street says “What the fuck was that about?” It’s just a theory.
    Let’s get some grad students on it.