I am getting ready to go outside this morning to continue a big job I gave myself. I am planting about a million little plugs of groundcover. I am doing this so that, down the road, I do not have to spend all my money on mulch. So here I am, planting all those little plants, everywhere. (It's vinca or myrtle, as it is sometimes called.) Now, if you know anything about groundcover, you know that the first year it sleeps. The second year it creeps. And the third year it leaps.
Before you think that I am completely lost and I must think I am in the gardening forum, let me explain that I know where I am. And I have a vague idea where I am going. I hope. Not only with this post. But with the groundcover. And maybe even with some stocks I like.
I tend to go on and on about dividend paying stocks. I like them. But I do not chase huge dividends. I want only a reasonable dividend. Huge dividends make me skittish. You know that thing about if it sounds too good to be true....they're getting ready to slash the dividend followed by really bad news.
So anyway, yesterday, I came across a copy of
Business Week, a special issue from the first of the year that was about the investment outlook. And therein, I found an article about dividend payers that kind of sums up how I view them, too.
I am a really boring investor. No daytrading. Only calculated risk. Always keep some of it untouched. Understand what the company you buy does. Is there a product? Do people need the product? How long will they need the product? In other words, boring, boring, boring. Oh and also lazy. I do not want to have to monitor a stock all the time. And, at this point in life, I know how old I am.
So here's the article on dividend payers, in case you want to read a kind of old article on dividend payers.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...4068597633.htm
Like my groundcover that I am planting. The good dividend payers will probably sleep. Then maybe creep. And someday maybe leap. (I hope not a backward leap for either one. But you just never know.) Meanwhile, I will wait patiently and see a little green along the way.
Boomer