Warren Buffett Invested $23.9 Billion for the Latest Quarter

Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B) and the third richest man in the world, at least this week, invested $23.9 billion during the third quarter. Apparently, Buffett is now very bullish as this is the most he has spent in a quarter in the last 15 years. According to the Berkshire's latest report, stocks identified as “commercial, industrial and other” increased by a substantial 62 percent for the latest quarter.

There is no denying that Warren Buffett is an outstanding investor, and he knows what he is doing. Much has been written about Buffett, which gives advice about how to invest by following in his footsteps. But one of the easiest and best ways to invest like Buffett is by buying what he is buying. Over a dozen of the Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway stocks pay dividend yields in excess of 2%, according to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Buffett has a fairly diversified portfolio. He owns large oil companies, ConocoPhillips (COP) yielding 3.5% and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) which pays a yield of 2.1%. He also owns food and beverage companies, including Kraft Foods Inc (KFT) paying 3.8% and Coca Cola Co (KO) which pays 2.7%. Buffett is also bullish on financial stocks, considering the number of companies he owns, such as M&T Bank Corp (MTB) yielding 3.1%, American Express Co (AXP) 1.6%, Bank of New York Mellon (BK) 1.2%, US Bancorp (USB) 0.7%, and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) 0.6%.

The health care related stocks owned by Buffett include GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) which yields 6.4%, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 3.6%, and Sanofi Aventis (SNY) 3.2%.

You can access a free list of two dozen of the stocks owned by Warren Buffett at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which shows the PE ratio, the forward PE, the EG, and the yield.

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

By Stockerblog.com

Take a Bite Out of High Yield Food Stocks

No matter how bad the economic downturn and the recession is, people still need to eat. Which makes food stocks pretty much recession-proof. Now to boost sales, food companies are looking at innovative ways of increasing sales. For example, H. J. Heinz Company (HNZ), known for its famous Heinz Ketchup, has now turned to Facebook to market its special edition ketchup which utilizes balsamic vinegar instead of white vinegar.

Heinz is one of the high yielders that appears on the free list of food stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, as it pays a generous 3.6%. The stock trades at 15 times forward earnings. Revenues for the latest quarter ending July 27 were up 14.9%, however, earnings dropped 6%.

Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT), the third largest food and beverage company by revenues, is another high yielding food company, which offers its shareholders a decent yield, paying 3.3%. Company brands include Cadbury, Kraft, Maxwell House, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 14. Earnings for the last quarter were up 4.2% on a 13.3% rise in revenues. The company reports latest quater earnings on November 2.

To see the entire free list of food stocks, which can be downloaded and sorted, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

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

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fifth Week of September

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 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.

Nicor Inc. (GAS) market cap: $2.4B ex div date: 9/28/2011 yield: 3.6%

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) market cap: $20.3B ex div date: 9/28/2011 yield: 3.5%

Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) market cap: $59.1B ex div date: 9/28/2011 yield: 3.5%

National Health Investors Inc (NHI) market cap: $1.1B ex div date: 9/28/2011 yield: 6.0%

Thor Industries, Inc. (THO) market cap: $1.1B ex div date: 9/28/2011 yield: 3.2%

TransCanada Corporation (TRP) market cap: $28.4B ex div date: 9/28/2011 yield: 4.2%

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 the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Top Yield Stocks of Warren Buffett

Last month, eBay (EBAY) held an auction of a lunch with the famous billionaire investor Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B). The high bid at the auction was $2,345,678. With Buffett's outstanding track record, and investors willing to pay millions to have lunch with him to pick his brain.

Many of the stocks that Buffett owns through Berkshire Hathaway pay dividends, according to the free list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Yields range from less than one percent to in excess of six percent.

Kraft Foods Inc (KFT) is one of the high dividend payers on the list, sporting a yield of 3.3%. It trades at 13.8 times earnings, however earnings were down over 57% for the latest quarter on an 11% increase in revenues. The company reports earnings August 4.

Another high yielder owned by Buffett is Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), yielding 3.4%. It has a forward price to earnings ratio of 12.4. The company just reported earnings, which were down about 20% on an 8.3 increase in revenues.

A couple other high yield Buffett stocks include ConocoPhillips (COP) yielding 3.5% and Sanofi Aventis (SNY) with a payout rate of 3.3%.

To see other high yield Warren Buffett stocks, you can download the free list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which can be updated and sorted.

Disclosure: Author owns EBAY.

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