globalnook

Jon Stewart in FULL of CRAP!

   All he cares about is getting ratings!

   He made Cramer a scapegoat/CNBC for the sake of his show.

   Even if CNBC has started warning of the collapse ahead of time, there is no guarantee that the investing public would have taken heed.

   Cramer is a master investor and has proven it with his show.

   All of his stock predictions don’t come true.

   I don’t expect them to. I now how fickle the market can be.

   I will listen to the opinions of the so-called "pundits", but I would NEVER run out and start buying/selling based on their opinions.

   The most valuable asset Cramer offers the public is a perspective on investing which is unique, flexible and the result of a very-experienced eye.

   When I invest, my final decision is based solely on what I think, not what Cramer or CNBC or the alley cat across the street thinks or says.

   That way, I have nobody to blame but me for any losses.

   Suppose that Becky Quick and Joe Kiernan and David Faber et al had started saying: ”Get out of the market now! The financial system is about to collapse!! Shares of Bank of America and Citigroup are headed to single digits!”…. I would not have converted my entire financial sector into cash.

   Stewart made Cramer a scapegoat for the frustrations most Americans are feeling as a result of the meltdown.

   The meltdown and the anger that has grown out of massive swindles on Wall Street has created a hunger for vengeful finger-pointing by the investing public.

   All Stewart did in the Stewart vs. Cramer show was provide fodder for the blame-game.

   He was feeding the hungry!

   And he KNEW it!

Tips for GOOD dividends

When it comes to investing, few things will perk up a portfolio like dividends. Dividends are like free money. While everyone invests for capital appreciation, dividends are an added benefit. Dividends can not only offset a drop in a stock's price, but when the stock is going up, you're getting the capital appreciation AND the dividends. Ideally, what you want to do is buy good stocks that are low relative to the overall market AND pay good dividends. Happy days are here again! Some investments pays no dividends. Lots of investments pays up to  2 percent. Others pay 4 per cent or more. I will list my favorites later in this article. There are 2 keys to finding good dividend-payers. These are (1) the company's payout ratio and (2) the company's five-year average dividend yield. The first number will tell you the percentage of earnings a company pays out in dividends relative to earnings. A low payout ratio means the company is hanging on to most of its earnings and paying out little in dividends. A high payout ratio means the reverse, the company pays out a large percentage of earnings in dividends. The second number, the five-year average dividend yield, tells you the average dividend percentage the company has paid over the past five years.  But it takes some research and time to discover good dividend payers.The best online tool I have found for finding good dividend payers is Yahoo's financial page (Click here ). Here's how:
(1) Go to Yahoo's financial page and enter the symbol of the stock you want to research.
(2) On the right-hand side near the middle of the page,  click on "More Key Statistics".
(3) On the next page on the right side near the bottom, you will see a heading that says "Dividends and Splits". That's where you'll find the information you want. Ok, go ahead and knock yourself out. Here are my favorite dividend-paying stocks. I am only listing the five-year trailing dividends for each of these stocks based on Yahoo's finance page.
Altria (MO), 4.8%
AT&T (T) 4.4%
Verizon (VZ) 4.1%
Bank of America (BAC) 3.7%
Merck (MRK) 3.5%
Dupont (DD) 3.2%
Wachovia Bank (WB) 3.1%
Remember, it's nice to have a stock appreciate in price, but it's doubly nice to have one that pays a hefty dividend.
There's nothing like FREE money!