Nilus Mattive - Financial analyst, editor of Dividend Superstars, and editor of Weiss Research's daily e-letter, Money and Markets.

From the monthly archives:

January 2009

McDonald’s Earnings Show Continued Strength

by Nilus Mattive on January 27, 2009

in Dividend Stock

McDonald’s (MCD: 63.97 +0.56 +0.88%), a company I’ve mentioned in Money and Markets, also posted its results yesterday. Quarterly profits beat analysts’ estimates. Moreover, December same-store sales rose 5.8% around the world.
The company did note that some international locations are starting to feel the effects of the global slowdown - including Germany and China.
The lesson [...]

{ 11 comments }

Pfizer Makes Wyeth Acquisition Official

by Nilus Mattive on January 26, 2009

in Dividend Stock

If you’ ve been following some of the comment threads here on my blog, you know that I’ve been expecting Pfizer to make a bold acquisition at some point. And lately, the rumors pointed to Wyeth.
Well, now it’s official. And along with that announcement, Pfizer (PFE: 18.36 +0.25 +1.38%) also posted less-than-stellar earnings and a [...]

{ 0 comments }

More on Bank of America … another dividend cut.

by Nilus Mattive on January 16, 2009

in General

Today, Bank of America’s shares will likely rally on the announcement of another $20-billion bailout package from Washington.
However, in connection with the aid, (BAC: 16.09 +0.01 +0.06%) said it would further limit executive compensation and slash its dividend to nearly nothing.
This marks the second dividend cut in a row, and is a huge [...]

{ 0 comments }

The latest Bank of America news …

by Nilus Mattive on January 15, 2009

in General

Bank of America (BAC: 16.09 +0.01 +0.06%) is down sharply today on rumors of additional bailout money from Washington.
While I hate to see this kind of action, I don’t see this as bad news for Bank of America. If anything, Washington will be handing the company more money to support the bad chunks of [...]

{ 0 comments }

Retail downturn and $100+ “recession jeans”

by Nilus Mattive on January 13, 2009

in General

There’s no doubt the recession is taking its toll on retailers, and this recent Wall Street Journal article is simply more proof that companies are pulling out all the stops to get people to buy something, anything, no matter how heavily discounted.
But I had to laugh when I got to the bottom of story and read these [...]

{ 0 comments }

New Law Lets You Skip Required Minimum Distri…

by Nilus Mattive on January 5, 2009

in General

On December 23, I wrote an article for Money&Markets that talked about a possible suspension of required minimum distributions for retirees.
Well, on that very same day, and off most investors’ radar screens, that legislation did pass.
What this means is that anyone over age 70 1/2 does not have to withdraw money from their retirement [...]

{ 6 comments }

Thoughts for the start of 2009

by Nilus Mattive on January 4, 2009

in Housing Market

The year got off to a strong start. In fact, it was the fourth best opening day for stocks (as measured by the S&P 500) ever.
No, that doesn’t mean a heck of a lot. But it is worth noting that January is typically a good indicator for stock performance over the entire year:
According to S&P, [...]

{ 3 comments }