From the category archives:
Lately it’s seemed like the flurry of dividend cuts we saw earlier in the year has slowed. Then today, Eastman Kodak came out and said its losses more than tripled in the first quarter of 2009.
The firm said it would be trimming executive pay, forcing employees to take an unpaid week off, and suspending the semiannual dividend.
When [...]
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I just wanted to post a quick follow-up note to my Money & Markets column this past week …
Today, GE said the finance unit will turn a profit in the first quarter of 2009. While this doesn’t prove that that the company is out of the woods, it does bring home my point that investors have [...]
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After U.S. Bancorp’s recent dividend cut, Wells Fargo (WFC: 27.87 -0.45 -1.59%) was the last major financial dividend payer left standing … until today. The company said it is slashing its payment by 85% from $0.34 to $0.05 a share. All told, the company expects to save $5 billion a year.
Wells Fargo, as you might [...]
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In the latest issue of Dividend Superstars I said a second-half GE dividend cut was possible. Well, it came sooner than expected.
The shares are now paying an annual dividend of $0.40 from the previous $1.24 a share. That, desptite previous reassurances from CEO Jeffrey Immelt.
It’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day … another day, and another so-called [...]
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I apologize for the late update on this event. I was travelling and away from an Internet connection for the last few days.
Integrys shares have fallen sharply for two related reasons:
First, the company posted quartlery earnings of $0.33 vs. $1.11 and is now forecasting substantially lower earnings for the current year (a range of $2.51-$2.66 vs. [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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This week, Pfizer announced that it would not be raising its dividend for the first time in 42 years.
Look at the stock’s current yield and you’ll see why. Heck, the very fact that they’re going to maintain that payment is pretty good, don’t you think?
Sure, they could have tossed a penny onto [...]
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I love how we finally have official word that the country is in recession. Gee, thanks NBER!
In case you missed it, the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee, the most widely-followed experts on the subject just determined that the U.S. economy ended its 73-month-long period of expansion in December 2007.
Coincidentally, [...]
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Bad news: American Capital Strategies has also fallen victim to the credit crunch and has decided to suspend its dividend payments.
Obviously, I am extremely disappointed by the news. ACAS has been my favorite high-yield play in the financial sector, and one of the companies that looked best positioned to capitalize on temporary weakness [...]
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