Where to Invest When the Market Crashes

Some investors believe that low priced stocks are the best ones to invest in during a market crash because they can have the biggest percentage upside when the market recovers. Other investors think that sticking with the large caps is the way to go in case market bottom is missed by investing too soon, the loss won't be as bad. And yet others think you should just stay out of the market until we are absolutely, positively in a bull market, in order to avoid any further loss.



My opinion? Buy income stocks that pay decent dividends with a great payout history; companies such as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Target Corp. (TGT). If the market keeps dropping, at least you will still be receiving income, getting your capital returned to you. If you are lucky and you have picked the exact bottom, your stocks will go up and you will still receive income. If the market stays flat, you will still receive income. It's a win, win, win situation.



Now you just have to narrow down your investment choices to the ones with a solid dividend track record. According to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over 20 stocks that have increased their dividends for over 30 years in a row. An example would be Abbott Laboratories (ABT), which has increased its dividend 38 years in a row. The stock trades at 9.6 times forward earnings. Speaking of earnings, the company reported a 50.4% increase in quarterly earnings year-over-year on a 9% increase in revenues. The company is currently generating a payout rate of 3.8%.



PepsiCo Inc (PEP) has had a similar dividend increase history. The company boosted its earnings by 17.6% for the latest quarter, with a 13.7% rise in sales. The stock trades at 13 times forward earnings, and yields 3.2%.



Want more ideas? Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) has increased dividends 36 years in a row, Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) 35 years, and Family Dollar Stores (FDO) 34 years. For a free list of over 20 stocks that have bumped up their dividends for more than 30 years in a row, including a couple that have increased over 50 years in a row, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.



Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Charlie Sheen Stock Index Outperforms the Dow Jones Industrial Average

Unless you never watch TV, never listen to the news on the radio, and never look at magazine covers, you know who Charlie Sheen is. Star of the extremely popular TV show Two and a Half Men, earning around 1.8 million dollars an episode, he has been in the news daily during the last couple weeks due to the disagreement between him and the show's producers regarding the cancellation of the show. Sheen's outspoken comments have made headlines, and he has been the guest on several talk shows. So it is only fitting that we look at the companies that have a connection to Charlie Sheen to see how their stocks have performed.

Stockerblog.com was the original developer and creator of numerous celebrity stock indexes, including the Paris Hilton Stock Index, the Gisele Bunchen Stock Index, the Heidi Klum Stock Index, and the Angelina Jolie Stock Index. Now it is time for the Charlie Sheen Stock Index, details of which can be found at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Based on the companies that have some connection to Sheen, the Sheen Index has outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average, since the beginning of this year, the beginning of last year, the beginning of 2009, and the beginning of 2008. As a matter of fact, since the February 24 radio broadcast of the Charlie Sheen interview hosted by Alex Jones, the Charlie Sheen Stock Index rose 2.0% versus only 0.8% for the Dow.

Two and a Half Men, which I consider the funniest show on television, has ranked in the top 20 television shows since 2003, and last year garnered almost 15 million viewers. The show is broadcast on CBS (CBS) and is rerun on the CW Network which is 50% owned by CBS, along with Warner Bros., a division of Time Warner (TWX). CBS trades at 23 times current earnings and 12.5 times forward earnings, and pays a small dividend of 0.9%. If you are looking for high income, you could consider the CBS Corporation New Senior Note (CPV), which yields a generous 6.6%, payable quarterly. Earnings for the latest quarter were up an amazing 381.3% (could a lot of that be due to Two and a Half?) over the same quarter last year.

The show is filmed at Warner Bros. Studios and Warner Bros. Television is one of the production companies. Time Warner has a price to earnings ratio of 16.6 and forward PE of 12. It generates a decent yield of 2.5%. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 21.9%.

Charlie Sheen did an outstanding job of portraying Bud Fox in the classic stock market movie Wall Street, and along with Michael Douglas, made the movie a blockbuster hit which is still popular today. Sheen even appeared in the sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Both movies were produced by 20th Century Fox, a subsidiary of News Corporation (NWS) (NWSA). News Corp. has a PE of 14.7, a forward PE of 13.5, and yields 0.9%.

In terms of celebrity endorsements, Sheen appeared in commercials and print ads for the Comfortsoft line of Hanes undershirts for Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI). Although the ads were dropped last year, Hanes may still benefit from them (an alternative to bowling shirts). Hanesbrands trades at 11.8 times current earnings, and has a forward PE of 8.6.

Sheen is now sending out tweets on Twitter, thanks to the help of Ad.ly. Unfortunately, Twitter and Ad.ly are not currently publicly traded companies. However, Charlie and one of his girlfriends, Rachel Oberlin, have promoted Naked Juice, a product owned by Pepsico (PEP) on Twitter. Pepsico has a PE of 16 and yields 3.0%.

In regard to performance of the Charlie Sheen Stock Index, it is up 6.2% so far this year versus 4.3% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Since the beginning of 2010, the Sheen Index was up 21.1% versus 15.0% for the Dow, and from the beginning of 2009, Sheen was up an incredible 65.0% versus only 34.7% for the Dow.

To see a free list of all the stocks in the Charlie Sheen Stock Index, along with financials and the connection to Sheen, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written. No celebrity endorsement is expressed or implied. No investment recommendations are expressed or implied.

By Stockerblog.com

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the First Week of March

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Flowers Foods, Inc. (FLO) market cap: $2.4B ex div date: 3/1/2011 yield: 3.0%

Regal Entertainment Group (RGC) market cap: $2.3B ex div date: 3/1/2011 yield: 5.9%

Dominion Resources, Inc. (D) market cap: $26.4B ex div date: 3/2/2011 yield: 4.4%

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) market cap: $26.4B ex div date: 3/2/2011 yield: 4.3%

Potlatch Corporation (PCH) market cap: $1.5B ex div date: 3/2/2011 yield: 5.5%

PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) market cap: $100.0B ex div date: 3/2/2011 yield: 3.1%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Top Super Bowl Stocks

The Big Football Game is this Sunday, February 6, 2011, between the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the NFC champion Green Bay Packers, held for the first time at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The event involves sports and fans and celebration, but beyond that, it involves money and in a big way. I'm not just talking about the $135,000 seats still available in the Hall of Fame Suites at the stadium, I mean the amount of advertising dollars generated. It can cost a few million dollars for a 30 second ad.

Most of the companies that have chosen to advertise during the Super Bowl XLV broadcast are publicly traded stocks, so if you think these companies will benefit from this advertising, now is the time to pick out a few good ones and jump on the bandwagon. Here is a list of the advertisers along with their stock ticker symbols.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD)
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY)
Bridgestone Corp. (BRDCY.PK)
CarMax Inc. (KMX)
Coca Cola (KO)
Disney (DIS) Pirates of the Caribbean
E*TRADE Financial Corporation (ETFC)
Ford (F)
General Motors (GM) Silverado, Cruze, Volt
Hyundai Motor Co. (HYMTF.PK)
Kraft (KFT) Planters Nuts. Wheat Thins, Chips Ahoy
Motorola (MOT)
PepsiCo (PEP) Doritos
Salesforce.com (CRM)
Skechers USA Inc. (SKX)
Sony (SNE) Just Go With It, Battle: Los Angeles, Priest
Viacom (VIA) Paramount Pictures: Kung Fu Panda 2
Volkswagen AG (VLKAY.PK)

If you like interesting stock lists like this, don't forget to check out the other lists available at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author owns DIS and F at the time the article was written.

Super Bowl is a registered trademark of the NFL.

By Stockerblog.com