Warren Buffett Biography
The Story of Berkshire Hathaway's Billionaire Chairman
www.babypips.com for forex trading
Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930 to his father Howard, a stockbroker-turned-Congressman. The only boy, he was the second of three children, and displayed an amazing aptitude for both money and business at a very early age. Acquaintances recount his uncanny ability to calculate columns of numbers off the top of his head - a feat Warren still amazes business colleagues with today.
At only six years old, Buffett purchased 6-packs of Coca Cola from his grandfather's grocery store for twenty five cents and resold each of the bottles for a nickel, pocketing a five cent profit. While other children his age were playing hopscotch and jacks, Warren was making money. Five years later, Buffett took his step into the world of high finance. At eleven years old, he purchased three shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share for both himself and his older sister, Doris. Shortly after buying the stock, it fell to just over $27 per share. A frightened but resilient Warren held his shares until they rebounded to $40. He promptly sold them - a mistake he would soon come to regret. Cities Service shot up to $200. The experience taught him one of the basic lessons of investing: patience is a virtue.
Warren Buffett's Education
In 1947, a seventeen year old Warren Buffett graduated from High School. It was never his intention to go to college; he had already made $5,000 delivering newspapers (this is equal to $42,610.81 in 2000). His father had other plans, and urged his son to attend the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. Buffett stayed two years, complaining that he knew more than his professors. When Howard was defeated in the 1948 Congressional race, Warren returned home to Omaha and transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Working full-time, he managed to graduate in only three years.
Warren Buffett approached graduate studies with the same resistance he displayed a few years earlier. He was finally persuaded to apply to Harvard Business School, which, in the worst admission decision in history, rejected him as "too young". Slighted, Warren applied to Columbia where famed investors Ben Graham and David Dodd taught - an experience that would forever change his life.
Ben Graham - Buffett's Mentor
Ben Graham had become well known during the 1920's. At a time when the rest of the world was approaching the investment arena as a giant game of roulette, he searched for stocks that were so inexpensive they were almost completely devoid of risk. One of his best known calls was the Northern Pipe Line, an oil transportation company managed by the Rockefellers. The stock was trading at $65 a share, but after studying the balance sheet, Graham realized that the company had bond holdings worth $95 for every share. The value investor tried to convince management to sell the portfolio, but they refused. Shortly thereafter, he waged a proxy war and secured a spot on the Board of Directors. The company sold its bonds and paid a dividend in the amount of $70 per share.
When he was 40 years old, Ben Graham published Security Analysis, one of the greatest works ever penned on the stock market. At the time, it was risky; investing in equities had become a joke (the Dow Jones had fallen from 381.17 to 41.22 over the course of three to four short years following the crash of 1929). It was around this time that Graham came up with the principle of "intrinsic" business value - a measure of a business's true worth that was completely and totally independent of the stock price. Using intrinsic value, investors could decide what a company was worth and make investment decisions accordingly. His subsequent book, The Intelligent Investor, which Warren celebrates as "the greatest book on investing ever written", introduced the world to Mr. Market - the best investment analogy in history.
Through his simple yet profound investment principles, Ben Graham became an idyllic figure to the twenty-one year old Warren Buffett. Reading an old edition of Who's Who, Warren discovered his mentor was the Chairman of a small, unknown insurance company named GEICO. He hopped a train to Washington D.C. one Saturday morning to find the headquarters. When he got there, the doors were locked. Not to be stopped, Buffett relentlessly pounded on the door until a janitor came to open it for him. He asked if there was anyone in the building. As luck (or fate) would have it, there was. It turns out that there was a man still working on the sixth floor. Warren was escorted up to meet him and immediately began asking him questions about the company and its business practices; a conversation that stretched on for four hours. The man was none other than Lorimer Davidson, the Financial Vice President. The experience would be something that stayed with Buffett for the rest of his life. He eventually acquired the entire GEICO company through his corporation
Ben Graham - Buffett's Mentor (Continued)
Flying through his graduate studies at Columbia, Warren Buffett was the only student ever to earn an A+ in one of Graham's classes. Disappointingly. both Ben Graham and Warren's father advised him not to work on Wall Street after he graduated. Absolutely determined, Buffett offered to work for the Graham partnership for free. Ben turned him down. He preferred to hold his spots for Jews who were not hired at Gentile firms at the time. Warren was crushed.
Warren Buffett Returns Home
Returning home, he took a job at his father's brokerage house and began seeing a girl by the name of Susie Thompson. The relationship eventually turned serious and in April of 1952 the two were married. They rented out a three-room apartment for $65 a month; it was run-down and served as home to several mice. It was here their daughter, also named Susie, was born. In order to save money, they made a bed for her in a dresser drawer.
During these initial years, Warren's investments were predominately limited to a Texaco station and some real estate, but neither were successful. It was also during this time he began teaching night classes at the University of Omaha (something that wouldn't have been possible several months before. In an effort to conquer his intense fear of public speaking, Warren took a course by Dale Carnegie). Thankfully, things changed. Ben Graham called one day, inviting the young stockbroker to come to work for him. Warren was finally given the opportunity he had long awaited.
Warren Buffett Goes to Work for Ben Graham
The couple took a house in the suburbs of New York. Buffett spent his days analyzing S&P reports, searching for investment opportunities. It was during this time that the difference between the Graham and Buffett philosophies began to emerge. Warren became interested in how a company worked - what made it superior to competitors. Ben simply wanted numbers whereas Warren was predominately interested in a company's management as a major factor when deciding to invest, Graham looked only at the balance sheet and income statement; he could care less about corporate leadership. Between 1950 and 1956, Warren built his personal capital up to $140,000 from a mere $9,800. With this war chest, he set his sights back on Omaha and began planning his next move.
On May 1, 1956, Warren Buffett rounded up seven limited partners which included his Sister Doris and Aunt Alice, raising $105,000 in the process. He put in $100 himself, officially creating the Buffett Associates, Ltd. Before the end of the year, he was managing around $300,000 in capital. Small, to say the least, but he had much bigger plans for that pool of money. He purchased a house for $31,500, affectionately nicknamed "Buffett's Folly", and managed his partnerships originally from the bedroom, and later, a small office. By this time, his life had begun to take shape; he had three children, a beautiful wife, and a very successful business.
Over the course of the next five years, the Buffett partnerships racked up an impressive 251.0% profit, while the Dow was up only 74.3%. A somewhat-celebrity in his hometown, Warren never gave stock tips despite constant requests from friends and strangers alike. By 1962, the partnership had capital in excess of $7.2 million, of which a cool $1 million was Buffett's personal stake (he didn't charge a fee for the partnership - rather Warren was entitled to 1/4 of the profits above 4%). He also had more than 90 limited partners across the United States. In one decisive move, he melded the partnerships into a single entity called "Buffett Partnerships Ltd.", upped the minimum investment to $100,000, and opened an office in Kiewit Plaza on Farnam street.
In 1962, a man by the name of Charlie Munger moved back to his childhood home of Omaha from California. Though somewhat snobbish, Munger was brilliant in every sense of the word. He had attended Harvard Law School without a Bachelor's Degree. Introduced by mutual friends, Buffett and Charlie were immediately drawn together, providing the roots for a friendship and business collaboration that would last for the next forty years.
Ten years after its founding, the Buffett Partnership assets were up more than 1,156% compared to the Dow's 122.9%. Acting as lord over assets that had ballooned to $44 million dollars, Warren and Susie's personal stake was $6,849,936. Mr. Buffett, as they say, had arrived.
Wisely enough, just as his persona of success was beginning to be firmly established, Warren Buffett closed the partnership to new accounts. The Vietnam war raged full force on the other side of the world and the stock market was being driven up by those who hadn't been around during the depression. All while voicing his concern for rising stock prices, the partnership pulled its biggest coup in 1968, recording a 59.0% gain in value, catapulting to over $104 million in assets
The next year, Warren went much further than closing the fund to new accounts; he liquidated the partnership. In May 1969, he informed his partners that he was "unable to find any bargains in the current market". Buffett spent the remainder of the year liquidating the portfolio, with the exception of two companies - Berkshire and Diversified Retailing. The shares of Berkshire were distributed among the partners with a letter from Warren informing them that he would, in some capacity, be involved in the business, but was under no obligation to them in the future. Warren was clear in his intention to hold onto his own stake in the company (he owned 29% of the Berkshire Hathaway stock) but his intentions weren't revealed.
Warren Buffett Gains Control of Berkshire Hathaway
Buffett's role at Berkshire Hathaway had actually been somewhat defined years earlier. On May 10, 1965, after accumulating 49% of the common stock, Warren named himself Director. Terrible management had run the company nearly into the ground, and he was certain with a bit of tweaking, it could be run better. Immediately Mr. Buffett made Ken Chace President of the company, giving him complete autonomy over the organization. Although he refused to award stock options on the basis that it was unfair to shareholders, Warren agreed to cosign a loan for $18,000 for his new President to purchase 1,000 shares of the company's stock.
Two years later, in 1967, Warren asked National Indemnity's founder and controlling shareholder Jack Ringwalt to his office. Asked what he thought the company was worth, Ringwalt told Buffett at least $50 per share, a $17 premium above its then-trading price of $33. Warren offered to buy the whole company on the spot - a move that cost him $8.6 million dollars. That same year, Berkshire paid out a dividend of 10 cents on its outstanding stock. It never happened again; Warren said he "must have been in the bathroom when the dividend was declared".
In 1970, Buffett named himself Chairman of the Board of Berkshire Hathaway and for the first time, wrote the letter to the shareholders (Ken Chace had been responsible for the task in the past). That same year, the Chairman's capital allocation began to display his prudence; textile profits were a pitiful $45,000, while insurance and banking each brought in $2.1 and $2.6 million dollars. The paltry cash brought in from the struggling looms in New Bedford, Massachusetts had provided the stream of capital necessary to start building Berkshire.
A year or so later, Warren Buffett was offered the chance to buy a company by the name of See's Candy. The gourmet chocolate maker sold its own brand of candies to its customers at a premium to regular confectionary treats. The balance sheet reflected what Californians already knew - they were more than willing to pay a bit "extra" for the special "See's" taste. The businessman decided Berkshire would be willing to purchase the company for $25 million in cash. See's owners were holding out for $30 million, but soon conceded. It was the biggest investment Berkshire or Buffett had ever made.
Following several investments and an SEC investigation (after causing a merger to fail, Warren and Munger offered to buy the stock of Wesco, the target company, at the inflated price simply because they thought it was "the right thing to do". Not surprisingly, the government didn't believe them), Buffett began to see Berkshire's net worth climb. From 1965 to 1975, the company's book value rose from $20 per share to around $95. It was also during this period that Warren made his final purchases of Berkshire stock (when the partnership dolled out the shares, he owned 29%. Years later, he had invested more than $15.4 million dollars into the company at an average cost of $32.45 per share). This brought his ownership to over 43% of the stock with Susie holding another 3%. His entire fortune was placed into Berkshire. With no personal holdings, the company had become his sole investment vehicle.
In 1976, Buffett once again became involved with GEICO. The company had recently reported amazingly high losses and its stock was pummeled down to $2 per share. Warren wisely realized that the basic business was still in tact; most of the problem were caused by an inept management. Over the next few years, Berkshire built up its position in this ailing insurer and reaped millions in profits. Benjamin Graham, who still held his fortune in the company, died in in September of the same year, shortly before the turnaround. Years later, the insurance giant would become a fully owned subsidiary of Berkshire
Changes in Warren Buffett's Personal Life
It was shortly thereafter one of the most profound and upsetting events in Buffett's life took place. At forty-five, Susan Buffett left her husband - in form. Although she remained married to Warren, the humanitarian / singer secured an apartment in San Francisco and, insisting she wanted to live on her own, moved there. Warren was absolutely devastated; throughout his life, Susie had been "the sunshine and rain in my [his] garden". The two remained close, speaking every day, taking their annual two-week New York trip, and meeting the kids at their California Beach house for Christmas get-togethers. The transition was hard for the businessman, but he eventually grew somewhat accustomed to the new arrangement. Susie called several women in the Omaha area and insisted they go to dinner and a movie with her husband; eventually, she set Warren up with Astrid Menks, a waitress. Within the year, she moved in with Buffett, all with Susie's blessing.
Warren Buffett Wants Two Nickels to Rub Together
By the late '70s, the his reputation had grown to the point that the rumor Warren Buffett was buying a stock was enough to shoot its price up 10%. Berkshire Hathaway's stock was trading at more than $290 a share, and Buffett's personal wealth was almost $140 million. The irony was that Warren never sold a single share of his company, meaning his entire available cash was the $50,000 salary he received. During this time, he made a comment to a broker, "Everything I got is tied up in Berkshire. I'd like a few nickels outside."
This prompted Warren to start investing for his personal life. According to Roger Lowenstein's "Buffett", Warren was far more speculative with his own investments. At one point he bought copper futures which was unadulterated speculation. In a short time, he had made $3 million dollars. When prompted to invest in real estate by a friend, he responded "Why should I buy real estate when the stock market is so easy?"
Berkshire Hathaway Announces Charitable Giving Program
Later, Buffett once again showed his tendency of bucking the popular trend. In 1981, the decade of greed, Berkshire announced a new charity plan which was thought up by Munger and approved by Warren. The plan called for each shareholder to designate charities which would receive $2 for each Berkshire share the stockholder owned. This was in response to a common practice on Wall Street of the CEO choosing who received the company's hand-outs (often they would go to the executive's schools, churches, and organizations). The plan was a huge success and over the years the amount was upped for each share. Eventually, the Berkshire shareholders were giving millions of dollars away each year, all to their own causes. The program was eventually discontinued after associates at one of Berkshire's subsidiaries, The Pampered Chef, experienced discrimination because of the controversal pro-choice charities Buffett chose to allocate his pro-rated portion of the charitable contribution pool. Another important event around this time was the stock price which hit $750 per share in 1982. Most of the gains could be attributed to Berkshire's stock portfolio which was now valued at over $1.3 billion dollars.
Warren Buffett Buys Nebraska Furniture Mart, Scott Fetzer and an Airplane for Berkshire Hathaway
For all the fine businesses Berkshire had managed collect, one of the best was about to come under its stable. In 1983, Warren Buffett walked into Nebraska Furniture Mart, the multi-million dollar furniture retailer built from scratch by Rose Blumpkin. Speaking to Mrs. B, as local residents called her, Buffett asked if she would be interested in selling the store to Berkshire Hathaway. Blumpkin's answer was a simple "yes", to which she responded she would part for "$60 million". The deal was sealed on a handshake and one page contract was drawn up. The Russian-born immigrant merely folded the check without looking at it when she received it days later.
Scott & Fetzer was another great addition to the Berkshire family. The company itself had been the target of a hostile takeover when an LPO was launched by Ralph Schey, the Chairman. The year was 1984 and Ivan Boesky soon launched a counter offer for $60 a share (the original tender offer stood at $50 a share - $5 above market value). The maker of Kirby vacuum cleaners and World Book encyclopedia, S&F was panicking. Buffett, who had owned a quarter of a million shares, dropped a message to the company asking them to call if they were interested in a merger. The phone rang almost immediately. Berkshire offered $60 per share in cold, hard, cash. When the deal was wrapped up less than a week later, Berkshire Hathaway had a new $315 million dollar cash-generating powerhouse to add to its collection. The small stream of cash that was taken out of the struggling textile mill had built one of the most powerful companies in the world. Far more impressive things were to be done in the next decade. Berkshire would see its share price climb from $2,600 to as high as $80,000 in the 1990's.
In 1986, Buffett bought a used Falcon aircraft for $850,000. As he had become increasingly recognizable, it was no longer comfortable for him to fly commercially. The idea of the luxury was hard for him to adjust to, but he loved the jet immensely. The passion for jets eventually, in part, led him to purchase Executive Jet in the 90's.
The 80's went on with Berkshire increasing in value as if on cue, the only bump in the road being the crash of 1987. Warren, who wasn't upset about the market correction, calmly checked the price of his company and went back to work. It was representative of how he viewed stocks and businesses in general. This was one of "Mr. Market's" temporary aberrations. It was quite a strong one; fully one-fourth of Berkshire's market cap was wiped out. Unfazed, Warren plowed on.
I'll Take a Coke
A year later, in 1988, he started buying up Coca-Cola stock like an addict. His old neighbor, now the President of Coca-Cola, noticed someone was loading up on shares and became concerned. After researching the transactions, he noticed the trades were being placed from the Midwest. He immediately thought of Buffett, whom he called. Warren confessed to being the culprit and requested they don't speak of it until he was legally required to disclose his holdings at the 5% threshold. Within a few months, Berkshire owned 7% of the company, or $1.02 billion dollars worth of the stock. Within three years, Buffett's Coca-Cola stock would be worth more than the entire value of Berkshire when he made the investment.
Warren Buffett's Money and Reputation On the Line During the Solomon Scandal
By 1989, Berkshire Hathaway was trading at $8,000 a share. Buffett was now, personally, worth more than $3.8 billion dollars. Within the next ten years, he would be worth ten times that amount. Before that would happen, there were much darker times ahead (read The Solomon Scandal).
Warren Buffet at the Turn of the Millennium
During the remainder of the 1990's, the stock catapulted as high as $80,000 per share. Even with this astronomical feat, as the dot-com frenzy began to take hold, Warren Buffett was accused of "losing his touch". In 1999, when Berkshire reported a net increase of 0.5% per share, several newspapers ran stories about the demise of the Oracle. Confident that the technology bubble would burst, Warren Buffett continued to do what he did best: allocate capital into great businesses that were selling below intrinsic value. His efforts did not go unrewarded. When the markets finally did come to their senses, Warren Buffett was once again a star. Berkshire's stock recovered to its previous levels after falling to around $45,000 per share, and the man from Omaha was once again seen as an investment icon
Thursday, November 17, 2011
dividend
DIVIDEND
.Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit at home, reading by the pool, living off dividend checks that arrive regularly through the mail? Before you can even hope to achieve that level of financial independence, you must understand what dividends are, how companies pay dividends, and the different types of dividends that are available such as cash dividends, property dividends, stock dividends, and liquidating dividends, just to name a few.
That's why I put together this step-by-step Dividends 101 resource. It will walk you through the basics, ensuring that you have a solid foundation before diving into the more practical content in our Ultimate Guide to Dividends and Dividend Investing. By starting here, you'll learn to avoid tax traps such as buying dividend stocks between the ex-dividend date and the distribution date, effectively forcing you to pay other investors' income taxes! You'll also learn why some companies refuse to pay dividends, how to calculate dividend yield, and how to use dividend payout ratios to estimate the maximum sustainable growth rate.
Clear off your desk, grab a pen and notepad, and get a cup of coffee. You're about to embark on a journey that will put you years ahead of other new investors on understanding dividends and the important role they plan in your investment portfolio
How a Company Pays Dividends and the Three Dividend Dates that Matter to You
Before a company can pay cash dividends to shareholders, it has to go through a legal checklist that includes declaring a declaration date, ex-dividend date, date of record, and distribution date. As an investor, you need to know what these represent.
Mike Kemp, Getty Images
.Companies that earn a profit can do one of three things: pay that profit out to shareholders, reinvest it in the business through expansion, debt reduction or share repurchases, or both. When a portion of the profit is paid out to shareholders, the payment is known as a dividend. For many investors, "living off dividends" is the ultimate goal (for more information about this, you can read the 10 Part Guide to Income Investing.
During the first part of the twentieth century, dividends were the primary reason investors purchased stock. It was literally said on Wall Street, “the purpose of a company is to pay dividends”. Today, the investor’s view is a bit more refined; it could be stated, instead, as, “the purpose of a company is to increase my wealth.” Indeed, today’s investor looks to dividends and capital gains as a source of increase. Microsoft, for example, did not pay a dividend until it had already become a $350 billion company, long after making the company’s founders and long-term shareholders multi-millionaires or billionaires.
The Process
Dividends must be declared (i.e., approved) by a company’s Board of Directors each time they are paid. There are three important dates to remember regarding dividends.
•Declaration date: The declaration date is the day the Board of Director’s announces their intention to pay a dividend. On this day, the company creates a liability on its books; it now owes the money to the stockholders. On the declaration date, the Board will also announce a date of record and a payment date.
•Date of record: This date is also known as “ex-dividend” date. It is the day upon which the stockholders of record are entitled to the upcoming dividend payment. According to Barron’s, a stock will usually begin trading ex-dividend or ex-rights the fourth business day before the payment date. In other words, only the owners of the shares on or before that date will receive the dividend. If you purchased shares of Coca-Cola after the ex-dividend date, you would not receive its upcoming dividend payment; the investor from whom you purchased your shares would.
•Payment date: This is the date the dividend will actually be given to the shareholders of company.
A vast majority of dividends are paid four times a year on a quarterly basis. This means that when an investor sees that Coca-Cola pays an $0.88 dividend, he will actually receive $0.22 per share four times a year. Some companies, such as McDonald’s, pay dividends on an annual basis
Cash Dividends, Property Dividends, and Special One-Time Dividends
Cash dividends literally represent money sent to you in the mail or direct deposited into your bank account. The goal of successful investing is to be able to have cash dividends pour into your life regularly so you don't need to work unless you desire.
John Shaw, Getty Images
.Cash Dividends
Regular cash dividends are those paid out of a company’s profits to the owners of the business (i.e., the shareholders). A company that has preferred stock issued must make the dividend payment on those shares before a single penny can be paid out to the common stockholders. The preferred stock dividend is usually set whereas the common stock dividend is determined at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors (for reasons discussed later, most companies are hesitant to increase or decrease the dividend on their common stock). You can find a detailed discussion of preferred stock and its dividend provisions in The Many Flavors of Preferred Stock: A Possible Investment for Your Fixed Income Portfolio.
Property Dividends
A property dividend is when a company distributes property to shareholders instead of cash or stock. Property dividends can literally take the form of railroad cars, cocoa beans, pencils, gold, silver, salad dressing or any other item with tangible value. Property dividends are recorded at market value on the declaration date.
Special One-Time Dividends
In addition to regular dividends, there are times a company may pay a special one-time dividend. These are rare and can occur for a variety of reasons such as a major litigation win, the sale of a business or liquidation of a investment. They can take the form of cash, stock or property dividends. Due to the temporarily lower rates of taxation on dividends, there has been an increase in special dividends paid in recent years.
To add sugar to spice, there are times when these, special one-time dividends are classified as a “return of capital”. In essence, these payments are not a payout of the company’s profits but instead a return of money shareholders have invested in the business. As a result, return of capital dividends are tax-free.
Special one-time dividends sometimes offer an opportunity for arbitrage
Dividends and How They are Different From Stock Splits
Stock dividends are issued when a firm mails additional shares of stock to the owners instead of, or in addition to, cash dividends. Although you aren't any richer with stock dividends that you were before, there are strong psychological benefits.
.Stock Dividends
A stock dividend is a pro-rata distribution of additional shares of a company’s stock to owners of the common stock. A company may opt for stock dividends for a number of reasons including inadequate cash on hand or a desire to lower the price of the stock on a per-share basis to prompt more trading and increase liquidity (i.e., how fast an investor can turn his holdings into cash). Why does lowering the price of the stock increase liquidity? On the whole, people are more likely to buy and sell a $50 stock than a $5,000 stock; this usually results in a large number of shares trading hands each day.
A practical example of stock dividends:
Company ABC has 1 million shares of common stock. The company has five investors who each own 200,000 shares. The stock currently trades at $100 per share, giving the business a market capitalization of $100 million.
Management decides to issue a 20% stock dividend. It prints up an additional 200,000 shares of common stock (20% of 1 million) and sends these to the shareholders based on their current ownership. All of the investors own 200,000, or 1/5 of the company, so they each receive 40,000 of the new shares (1/5 of the 200,000 new shares issued).
Now, the company has 1.2 million shares outstanding; each investor owns 240,000 shares of common stock. The 20% dilution in value of each share, however, results in the stock price falling to $83.33. Here’s the important part: the company (and our investors) are still in the exact same position. Instead of owning 200,000 shares at $100, they now own 240,000 shares at $83.33. The company’s market capitalization is still $100 million.
A stock split is, in essence, a very large stock dividend. In cases of stock splits, a company may double, triple or quadruple the number of shares outstanding. The value of each share is merely lowered; economic reality does not change at all. It is, therefore, completely irrational for investors to get excited over stock splits. If you do not still fully understand this, you must read How to Think About Share Price. It will clear up any lingering confusion.
One of the more interesting theories of corporate dividend policy is that managements should opt for stock dividends over all other kinds. This will allow investors that want their earnings retained in the business (and not taxed) to hold on to the additional stock paid out to them. Investors that want current income, on the other hand, can sell the shares they receive from the stock dividend, pay the tax and pocket the cash - in essence, creating a “do-it-yourself” dividend
5 of 9Previous NextCorporate Dividend Policy, Dividend Payout Ratio, and Dividend Yield
The dividend payout ratio is important because its inverse, the retained earnings ratio, allows you to calculate a stock's maximum sustainable growth rate by multiplying it by the return on equity.
.Are high dividends good or bad? The answer depends upon your personality, financial circumstances and the business itself.
In Determining Dividend Payout: When Should Companies Pay Dividends?, you learned that, “a company should only pay dividends if it is unable to reinvest its cash at a higher rate than the shareholders (owners) of the business would be able to if the money was in their hands. If company ABC is earning 25% on equity with no debt, management should retain all of the earnings because the average investor probably won't find another company or investment that is yielding that kind of return.”
At the same time, an investor may require cash income for living expenses. In these cases, he is not interested in long-term appreciation of shares; he wants a check with which he can pay the bills.
Dividend Payout Ratio
The percentage of net income that is paid out in the form of dividend is known as the dividend payout ratio. This ratio is important in projecting the growth of company because its inverse, the retention ratio (the amount not paid out to shareholders in the form of dividends), can help project a company’s growth.
Calculating Dividend Payout Ratio
Coca-Cola’s 2003 cash flow statement shows that the company paid $2.166 billion in dividends to shareholders. The income statement for the same year shows the business had reported a net income of $4.347 billion. To calculate the divided payout ratio, the investor would do the following:
$2,166,000,000 dividends paid
---------(divided by)---------
$4,347,000,000 reported net income
The answer, 49.8%, tells the investor that Coca-Cola paid out nearly fifty percent of its profit to shareholders over the course of the year.
Dividend Yield
The dividend yield tells the investor how much he is earning on a common stock from the dividend alone based on the current market price. Dividend yield is calculated by dividing the actual or indicated annual dividend by the current price per share.
The Washington Post pays an annual dividend of $7 and trades at $910 per share; Altria Group (formerly Philip Morris) pays an annual dividend of $2.72 and trades at $49.75 per share. By calculating dividend yield, the investor can compare the amount he would earn in cash income annually from each security.
Washington Post Dividend Yield Calculation
$7.00
----(divided by)----
$910
= 0.0077 or 0.77%
Altria Group Dividend Yield Calculation
$2.72
----(divided by)----
$49.75
= 0.055 or 5.5%
In other words, despite the fact that the Washington Post pays a higher per-share dividend, $100,000 invested in its common stock would yield only $770 in annual income as opposed to the same amount invested in Altria Group which would yield $5,500. An investor interested in dividend income and not capital gains should opt for the latter, all else being equal.
6 of 9Previous NextThe Dividend Tax Debate
The IRS taxes dividends twice: Once when the company earns the money, and again when paid out to stockholders! In other countries, companies get a tax deduction to encourage managements to reward owners instead of building empires on their dime.
Will Terry, Getty Images
.Dividends, like interest, are taxed at a person’s individual tax rate. Capital gain taxes, on the other hand, are assessed according to the length of time an investor held his investment and can be as low as half the rate levied on dividends income. This difference in tax treatment is another reason many investors opt for long-term equity holdings that reinvest capital into the business instead of paying it out in the form of a dividend; by avoiding the double-taxation, they can compound their wealth at a faster rate.
There is a significant dividend tax political controversy. The corporation paid income taxes on the profit it earned (original tax). The owners of the business then take that profit out for their personal use in the form of a dividend and are taxed at personal income tax rates (second tax). In effect, they have paid the government twice.
The proponents of the dividend tax argue that the wealthy, by definition, own significantly more investments than the poor. Therefore, it would be possible for someone to earn billions of dollars in dividend income and not pay a dime in Federal taxes. This, they say, is inherently unfair. The gap between the rich and the poor would explode over
7 .Selecting High Dividend Stocks
Selecting high dividend paying stocks is an art and science. By putting together a portfolio of dividend stocks, you can use the regular income to spend or to grow your business. Here are some of the stocks at my company, Kennon Green Enterprises.
Joshua Kennon, Kennon Green Enterprises
.Selecting high dividend stocks
An investor desiring to put together a portfolio that generates high dividend income should place great scrutiny on a company’s dividend payment history. Only those corporations with a continuous record of steadily increasing dividends over the past twenty years or longer should be considered for inclusion. Furthermore, the investor should be convinced the company can continue to generate the cash flow necessary to make the dividend payments; a handgun manufacturer, for example, may have a long history of high dividend payments while generating strong cash flow from operations yet not make a good investment because it faces litigation which, if successful, will bankrupt the business.
Dividends related to cash flow - not reported earnings
This brings up an important point: dividends are dependent upon cash flow, not reported earnings. Almost any Board of Directors would still declare and pay a dividend if cash flow was strong but the company reported a net loss on a GAAP basis. The reason is simple: investors that prefer high dividend stocks look for stability. A company that lowers its dividend is probably going to experience a decline in stock price as jittery investors take their money elsewhere. Companies will not raise the dividend rate because of one successful year; so afraid are they of lowering the dividend they will wait the business is capable of generating the cash to maintain the higher dividend payment forever. Likewise, they will not lower the dividend if they think the company is facing a temporary problem.
Debt restrictions
Many companies are not able to pay dividends because bank loans, lines of credit or other debt financing places strict limitations on the payment of common stock dividends. This type of covenant restriction is disclosed in a company’s 10K filing with the SEC.
8 of 9Previous NextDividend Reinvestment Plans or DRIPs
When you use direct stock purchase plans, dividend reinvestment plans, or DRIPs, you pay little or no commission. This leaves more cash in your pocket. Wall Street doesn't advertise these programs because if you use them, it loses the fee income.
.Unless you need the money for living expenses or you are an experienced investor that regularly allocates capital, the first thing you should do when you acquire a stock that pays a dividend is enroll it in a dividend reinvestment plan, or DRIP for short.
How dividend reinvestment plans work
When an investor enrolls in a dividend reinvestment plan, he will no longer receive dividends in the mail or directly deposited into his brokerage account. Instead, those dividends will be used to purchase additional shares of stock in the company that paid the dividend. There are several advantages to investing in DRIPs; they are:
Benefits of enrolling in a dividend reinvestment plan
•Enrolling in a DRIP is easy. The paperwork (both online and in print) can normally be filled out in under one minute.
•Dividends are automatically reinvested. Once the investor has enrolled in a DRIP, the process becomes entirely automated and requires no more attention or monitoring.
•Many dividend reinvestment plans are often part of a direct stock purchase plan. If the investor holds at least one of his shares directly, he can have his checking or savings account automatically debited on a regular basis to purchase additional shares of stock.
•Purchases through dividend reinvestment programs are normally subject to little or no commission.
•Dividend reinvestment plans allow the investor to purchase fractional shares. Over decades, this can result in significantly more wealth in the investor's hands.
•An investor can enroll only a limited number of shares in the dividend reinvestment plan and continue to receive cash dividends on the remaining shares.
In fact, I like dividend reinvestment programs so much that I once wrote an essay for my friends explaining how my family had used the Coca-Cola dividend reinvestment plan to teach my youngest sister how to invest in stock. It became a learning experience so that by the time she reached high school, she understood the relationship between business, profits, dividends and investors
9 of 9Previous NextPractical Examples of Dividend Reinvestment Plans in Action
Direct stock purchase plans and DRIPs make it easy to compound your wealth because you can setup automatic investment plans that take money from your bank account to buy shares regularly. Dividends can be reinvested at little or no cost.
Javier Romero, Getty Images
.Full enrollment in a DRIP Jane Smith owns 1,000 shares of Coca-Cola. The stock currently trades at $50 per share and the annual dividend is $0.88 per share. The quarterly dividend has just been paid ($0.88 divided by 4 times a year = $0.22 per share quarterly dividend). Before she enrolled in Coca-Cola’s dividend reinvestment plan, Jane would normally receive a cash deposit of $220 in her brokerage account. This quarter, however, she logs into her brokerage account and finds she now has 1,004.40 shares of Coca-Cola. The $220 dividend that was normally paid to her was reinvested in whole and fractional shares of the company at $50 per share.
Partial enrollment in a DRIP William Jones owns 500,000 shares of Altria group. The stock currently trades at $49.75 and pays an indicated annual dividend of $2.72 per share ($0.68 per quarter). William would like to receive some cash for living expenses but would like to enroll some of the shares in a DRIP. He calls his broker and has 300,000 shares enrolled in Altria’s DRIP.
When the quarterly dividend is paid, William will receive cash dividends of $136,000. He will also receive 4,100.50 additional shares of Altria Group giving him holdings of 304,100.50 shares (300,000 shares * $0.68 dividend = $204,000 divided by $49.75 per share price = 4,100.50 new shares of Altria Group).
Dividends on dividends
Why are dividend reinvestment plans conducive to wealth building? Notice that William now has 4,100.50 additional shares of Altria stock. When the next quarterly dividend is paid, he will receive $0.68 for each of those shares. That additional income works out to $2,788.34. Those dividends will be partially reinvested in the stock, buying more shares which will pay more dividends.
In even the smallest portfolio, dividend reinvestment plans can result in substantial increases in value over extended periods of time. To demonstrate the power of dividend reinvestment through DRIPs, consider the example given in Jerry Edgerton and Jim Frederick’s August 1, 1997 Money magazine article, Build Your Wealth Drip by Drip: if you had put $10,000 in Standard & Poors 500 stock index at the end of 1985 and not bothered to reinvest your dividends, you would have had $29,150 by the end of 1995. Had you reinvested the dividends, however, your total would have been more than $40,000.
In other words, reinvesting those seemingly-small dividends resulted in an extra $10,850 over ten years. Assuming you continued to add to your principal investment and held those stocks for thirty or forty years, the difference could be hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
More Information - Our Ultimate Guide to Dividend Investing
You're now ready to move on to our Ultimate Guide to Dividend Investing. There, you'll learn advanced dividend strategies, how to avoid dividend traps, how to use dividend yields to tell if stocks are undervalued, and much more
How to Utilize the Berkshire Hathaway Wealth Model in Your Own Life
One of the least understood secrets behind the success of Berkshire Hathaway and its rise from an $8 stock in the 1960’s to more than $118,000 per share today, is that Warren Buffett focuses on two value “buckets” as he put it in a recent shareholder letter. The first bucket consists of the operating businesses in which the company holds a controlling stake and the second of marketable securities such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, et cetera, most of which are held through the insurance subsidiaries such as GEICO, General Re, or National Indemnity, just to name a few.
This arrangement provides several major advantages to Berkshire Hathaway. First, when stocks collapse, Buffett is able to rely on the cash generated by the operating businesses to provide him with funds to redeploy into the market, buying up assets on the cheap. If he were running a mutual fund, this would not be the case and as the value of his holdings fell, Warren would be forced to sell something that was already undervalued to buy something that was even more undervalued. Second, the operating businesses are insulated from daily valuations (except to the extent that the parent holding company is publicly traded), giving it a much more stable net worth and estimated private market value than a mutual fund would have. Thus, banks are more likely to loan on a long-term, fixed-rate basis to a stable business with real assets such as factories, retail stores, computers, and such than they would be on a portfolio of stocks representing shares of those same companies.
In your own life, you are likely to find that it is considerably easier to raise your net worth quickly when focusing on both of these, taking the same “double barrel” approach Buffett and his long-time business partner, Munger, have made a cornerstone of their empire.
For most people, their primary “operating business” would be their day job. Whether you are a teacher, firefighter, accountant, or part-time babysitter, it is this stream of funds that allows you to pay your bills, watch television, buy groceries, and put gas in your car. It is also this income that provides you with your first real capital to acquire investments.
Just like any good business, you want to grow your profits, or in this case salary, wages, and other income from the job, as much as possible with the smallest investment. Thus, if your choices are working more hours to make more money or going back to school to become a doctor, you might opt for the latter due to the much higher earnings down the road by putting in a comparable amount of double and triple-shifts. This leads to a golden rule of wealth building: You must invest in yourself if you want to experience true financial freedom. This means gaining new skills and turning those skills into monetary gain. Only a few days ago, I read a story in a newspaper about a homemaker that has gotten so good at coupon clipping, she can cut a $150 grocery bill down to $40 – keep in mind, that since food is bought with after-tax income, these results are exponentially more impressive than they may appear.
The reality is that those with specialized skills such as heart surgeons, auto mechanics, dentists, plumbers, and fluent speakers of Mandarin Chinese are not being left out of the global economy. Virtually all of us have the potential to add some of these unique skill sets to our vocational toolbox, but the notion that you are going to be able to graduate from high school with nothing more than a diploma, get a job for life, and retire well is naïve. The genie is out of the bottle in the world of globalization and nothing could reverse that (even if the U.S. were to enact massive trade protections, we would experience horrific recession or depression and China and India would eclipse us at an even faster pace
Once you have your primary career on track and are investing in your own skills, it might be time to acquire or establish other operating businesses. For some, this could mean building storage units or car washes. For others, it might include starting a lawn mowing service. One member of my family has a career as a flight attendant, production manager at an embroidery company, and then owns a diaper cake design business on the side. She lives off her salary as a manager, using the other two jobs mostly as pure investment capital to ensure that she has millions of dollars in wealth by her forties despite having an average income and supporting a family.
This is where you really have an opportunity to generate cash doing something you love. When adding these other operating businesses, you should strive to find things that make you “tap dance” to work, to borrow a phrase from Buffett. Let’s say you are 25 years old and manage to sell paintings or perform magic at birthday parties and weddings, generating an extra $96 per week (roughly $5,000 per year). That might not seem like a lot but it’s going to add up to $9,266,500+ by the time you are Warren Buffett’s age if you park it in a Roth IRA and manage to generate the historical 11% rate of return the S&P has brought in for its owners over the long-haul. That’s not a joke. By doing something you love, and putting that money into cash generating assets, you can retire rich. As for the bigger house, car, X-Box, and other stuff you want along the way, that’s why you work your primary job and keep investing in your skills. (If you don’t have time for a second job or activity, remember our homemaker who saved more than $110 a week on groceries? That would be more than enough to achieve the same results.)
As you generate cash, you are going to want to have it invested in the most tax-efficient manner possible. That means taking advantage of your 401k, and an individual retirement account such as a Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or SEP-IRA just to name a few. Here, if wisely and prudently invested, those funds can blossom into a torrent of capital gains, dividends, and interest, all of which is plowed back in to generate even more profits. If the stock market falls, you can take advantage of your operating businesses to dollar cost average your positions, thus taking advantage of the basic principles of value investing.
Dollar cost averaging
IT is a technique designed to reduce market risk through the systematic purchase of securities at predetermined intervals and set amounts. Many successful investors already practice without realizing it. Many others could save themselves a lot of time, effort and money by beginning a plan. In this article, you will learn the three steps to beginning a dollar cost averaging plan, look at concrete examples of how it can lower an investor’s cost basis, and discover how it reduces risk.
Dollar Cost Averaging: What is It?
Instead of investing assets in a lump sum, the investor works his way into a position by slowly buying smaller amounts over a longer period of time. This spreads the cost basis out over several years, providing insulation against changes in market price.
Setting Up Your Own Dollar Cost Averaging Plan
In order to begin a dollar cost averaging plan, you must do three things:
1.Decide exactly how much money you can invest each month. Make certain that you are financially capable of keeping the amount consistent; otherwise the plan will not be as effective.
2.Select an investment (index funds are particularly appropriate, but we will get to that in a moment) that you want to hold for the long term, preferably five to ten years or longer.
3.At regular intervals (weekly, monthly or quarterly works best), invest that money into the security you’ve chosen. If your broker offers it, set up an automatic withdrawal plan so the process becomes automated.
An Example of a Dollar Cost Averaging Plan
You have $15,000 you want to invest in Sprint FON common stock. The date is January 1, 2000. You have two options: you can invest the money as a lump sum now, walk away and forget about it, or you can set up a dollar cost averaging plan and ease your way into the stock. You opt for the latter and decide to invest $1,250 each quarter for three years. (See chart for math of dollar cost averaging plan.)
Had you invested your $15,000 in January 2000, you would have purchased 264.46 shares at $56.72 each. When the stock closed for the year in December of 2002 at $13.69, your holdings would only be worth $3,620!
Had you dollar cost averaged into the stock over the past three years, however, you would own 746.21 shares; at the closing price, this gives your holdings a market value of $10,216. Although still a loss, Sprint FON stock must only go up to $20.10 for you to break even, not $56.72, which would have been required without the dollar cost averaging.
To go a step further, without dollar cost averaging you would break even at $56.72. With dollar cost averaging, you would have turned a profit of $27,326 when the stock hit that price thanks to your lower cost basis ($56.72 sell price - $20.10 average cost basis = $36.62 profit x 746.21 shares = $27,326 total profit.)
Combining the Power of Dollar Cost Averaging with the Diversification of a Mutual Fund
Index funds are passively managed mutual funds that are designed to mimic the returns of benchmarks such as the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, etc. An investor that puts money into a fund designed to mimic the Wilshire 5000, for example, is literally going to own a fractional interest in every one of the five thousand stocks that make up that index. This instant diversification comes with the added bonus. Traditionally, management fees of passive funds are less than one-tenth those of their actively managed counterparts. Over the course of a decade, for example, this can add up to tens of thousands of dollars the investor would have paid in fees to the mutual fund company that, instead, are accruing to his or her benefit.
The dollar cost averaging component reduces market risk, while the index fund investment reduces company-specific risk. This combination can be among the best investment options for individuals looking to build up their long term wealth by having a portion of their portfolio in equities.
Table 1: Sprint FON with Dollar Cost Averaging Plan
Invest date Amount Price per share Shares purchased
Jan. 2000 $1,250 $56.72 22.04
Apr. 2000 $1,250 $54.19 23.07
Jul. 2000 $1,250 $31.34 39.27
Oct. 2000 $1,250 $22.60 53.31
Jan. 2001 $1,250 $22.10 56.50
Apr. 2001 $1,250 $19.05 65.62
Oct. 2001 $1,250 $18.13 68.95
Jan. 2002 $1,250 $16.14 77.45
Apr. 2002 $1,250 $14.58 85.73
Jul. 2002 $1,250 $8.66 144.34
Oct. 2002 $1,250 $11.64 107.39
Total $15,000 $20.10 avg. 746.21
DIVIDEND INVESTING
New investors often want to know: If a stock doesn't pay dividends, isn't buying it like participating in a Ponzi scheme because your return depends on what the next guy in line is willing to pay for your shares? That is a very good question and it's important you understand the answer.
To help you really get down into the details and understand non-dividend paying stocks, I created a story that will make this topic easy to grasp. Don't forget, though, that dividends are a great source of return for shareholders, especially when combined with dollar cost averaging. Investing in non-dividend paying stocks should be the exception, not the rule.
American Apple Orchards, Inc.
Imagine that your father and your uncle decide that they want to start a farming business. They each contribute $150,000 of their savings to a new company, "American Apple Orchards, Inc." They file the paperwork with the Secretary of State, get a business license, and go down to the local bank to deposit the $300,000 in cash. They divide the company into 100,000 pieces ("shares") at $3 per share, each man receiving half of the stock for his contribution. At this point, nothing has changed. (They have a company with no assets other than the $300,000 they contributed to it. They then cut that company into 100,000 pieces. Therefore, each of those pieces represents $3 worth of cash in the bank account because $300,000 divided by 100,000 shares = $3 book value per share.)
The new company uses the $300,000 to secure a $700,000 business loan. This gives them $1,000,000 in cash and $700,000 in debt with a $300,000 net worth (consisting of their original contribution to the company).
The company buys 300 acres of good farmland at $2,500 per acre ($750,000 total), and uses the remaining $250,000 for equipment, working capital, and start-up costs.
The first year, the farm generates $43,000 in pre-tax operating profit. After taxes, this amounts to $30,000.
At the end of the year, your father and uncle are sitting at the kitchen table, holding the Board of Directors meeting for American Apple Orchards, Inc. They see that the annual report the accountant prepared shows $300,000 in shareholder equity at the beginning, with a $30,000 net profit, for $330,000 ending shareholder equity.
In other words, for all of their effort, they earned $30,000 on their $300,000 investment. (Note: Instead of cash, however, the assets consist of farm land, apple trees, tractors, stationary, etc.) That is a 10% return on book value. If interest rates are 4% at the time, this is a good return. Not only did your family earn a good return on their investment, but your father and uncle got to live their dream by farming apples.
Being older men, and wise in the ways of the world, your father and uncle realize that the accountant left something out of the annual report. (It's not the accountant's fault; the GAAP accounting rules don't allow him to put it in the figures.) What is it? Real estate appreciation.
If inflation ran 3%, the farm land probably kept pace, meaning that the appreciation was $22,500. In other words, if they sold their farm at the end of the year, they would get $772,500, not the $750,000 they paid, generating a gain on real estate of $22,500. GAAP accounting rules don't allow this to show up anywhere. That's important to understand.
This means that the $300,000 they originally contributed to the company has grown to $330,000 due to the $30,000 in profits they earned after tax on their apple sales. Yet, they are also $22,500 richer due to the higher value of their land, which won't be included due to accounting rules. That means their real return for the year was roughly $52,500, or 17.5%. (To be fair, you would have to back out deferred taxes for the money that would be owed if they were to sell the land but I'll keep it simple.)
The Choice They Face: To Pay Dividends or Reinvest in the Company?
Now, your father and uncle have a choice. They have a business that has $330,000 in book value but that they know is worth $352,500 ($300,000 contributed capital + $30,000 net profit + $22,500 appreciation in land). So, the accountant says their shares are worth $33.00 each ($330,000 divided by 100,000 pieces). They know their stock is worth $35.20 per share ($352,000 divided by 100,000 pieces).
They have a choice. Do they pay the $30,000 in cash they earned out as a $0.30 per share dividend ($30,000 net income divided by 100,000 shares = $0.30 per share dividend)? Or, do they turn around and pour that $30,000 back into the business to expand? If the orchard can earn 10% on capital again next year, profits should increase to $33,000. Compared to the 4% the local bank pays, wouldn't they be better off not paying out that money as a cash dividend and instead going for the 10% return?
Compounding That Dividend Decision for 20 Years
Imagine that this conversation happens every year for 20 years. Each year, your father and uncle decide to reinvest the profit instead of paying a cash dividend, and each year they earn 10% on capital. The real estate also appreciates 3% per year. The entire time, they never issue, buy, or sell a new share of stock.
On the company's 20th year anniversary, net income is going to be $201,800. Book value, representing profits poured back into the company for expansion, would have grown from $300,000 to $2,000,000. On top of that $2,000,000, though, is the real estate. The land would have appreciated $605,000 from the first day of operation, not one penny of which has ever shown up anywhere in the financial statements. Thus, the book value of the company is $2,000,000 but the true value of the business is at least $2,605,000.
From a book value perspective, the shares are worth $20 each ($2,000,000 book value divided by 100,000 shares). From a "real" value perspective, factoring in the value of the land, the shares are worth $26.05 each ($2,605,000 divided by 100,000 shares).
If the company were to pay out 100% of its profits in cash dividends, cash dividends would be just shy of $2.02 per share ($201,800 net profit for the year divided by 100,000 shares = $2.02 per share cash dividends
In practical terms, that means that the $300,000 your father and uncle invested into American Apple Orchards, Inc. when it was founded 20 years ago has grown to $2,605,000. In addition, the company generates $201,800 in net income each year. A reasonable, fair valuation of the stock when factoring in real estate appreciation is $26.05 per share.
Putting It Together
You want nothing more than to go into business with your father. You decide to approach your uncle and offer to buy his 50,000 shares, representing 50% of the business.
In the 20 years since the company has existed, not a single penny has been paid out to the stockholders as a cash dividend. Would you seriously go to your uncle and offer him the $3 he put in for his shares when the company started instead of the $26.05 value of the shares now?
In other words, if you paid $1,302,500 for 50% of a $2,605,000 farm, do you really think you'd feel like you were part of a Ponzi scheme because the money had been reinvested over the years? Of course not. Your money represents real assets and earning power and you know that if you wanted to, you could vote to stop growth and start distributing profits as dividends in the future. Even though you haven't actually seen that money yet, it has represented a real, and tangible, gain in net worth for your family.
On Wall Street, the same holds true for huge companies. Take Berkshire Hathaway. The stock has gone from $8 to more than $100,000 per share over 40+ years because Warren Buffett has reinvested the profits into other investments. When he took over, the company owned nothing but some unprofitable textile mills. Today, Berkshire owns 13.1% of American Express, 8.6% of Coca-Cola, 5.7% of ConocoPhillips, 1.1% of Johnson & Johnson, 8.9% of Kraft Foods, 3.1% of Procter & Gamble, 4.3% of U.S. Bancorp, 0.5% of Wal-Mart Stores, 18.4% of The Washington Post, 7.2% of Wells Fargo, and totally controls GEICO, Dairy Queen, MidAmerican Energy, Helzburg Diamonds, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Benjamin Moore Paints, NetJets, See's Candies, and much more. That doesn't even include the fact that the holding company just spent $44 billion to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
Is Berkshire worth $102,000+ per share? Absolutely. Even if it doesn't pay out those earnings now, it has hundreds of billions of dollars in assets that could be sold, and generates tens of billions of dollars in profit each year. That has value, even if the shareholders don't get the benefit in the form of cash, because the Board of Directors could literally turn on the spigot and start paying massive dividends tomorrow.
In developed nations, with strong financial markets, the stock market will recognize this gain in value by rewarding a company with a higher stock price. Of course, this is irregular and can take years. But if you bought $8,000 worth of Berkshire back in the day, your 1,000 shares are now worth $100,000,000. If you desired, you could sell off several million dollars worth of stock, or put the shares in a brokerage account and take a small margin loan against them, to fund your lifestyle needs. In effect, you could "create your own" dividend.
You could also donate your shares to a charitable remainder trust that will take your Berkshire, pay you a set return of, say, 5% per year, and then donate all of the stock to your favorite charity when you die. This is a do-it-yourself dividend method.
.Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit at home, reading by the pool, living off dividend checks that arrive regularly through the mail? Before you can even hope to achieve that level of financial independence, you must understand what dividends are, how companies pay dividends, and the different types of dividends that are available such as cash dividends, property dividends, stock dividends, and liquidating dividends, just to name a few.
That's why I put together this step-by-step Dividends 101 resource. It will walk you through the basics, ensuring that you have a solid foundation before diving into the more practical content in our Ultimate Guide to Dividends and Dividend Investing. By starting here, you'll learn to avoid tax traps such as buying dividend stocks between the ex-dividend date and the distribution date, effectively forcing you to pay other investors' income taxes! You'll also learn why some companies refuse to pay dividends, how to calculate dividend yield, and how to use dividend payout ratios to estimate the maximum sustainable growth rate.
Clear off your desk, grab a pen and notepad, and get a cup of coffee. You're about to embark on a journey that will put you years ahead of other new investors on understanding dividends and the important role they plan in your investment portfolio
How a Company Pays Dividends and the Three Dividend Dates that Matter to You
Before a company can pay cash dividends to shareholders, it has to go through a legal checklist that includes declaring a declaration date, ex-dividend date, date of record, and distribution date. As an investor, you need to know what these represent.
Mike Kemp, Getty Images
.Companies that earn a profit can do one of three things: pay that profit out to shareholders, reinvest it in the business through expansion, debt reduction or share repurchases, or both. When a portion of the profit is paid out to shareholders, the payment is known as a dividend. For many investors, "living off dividends" is the ultimate goal (for more information about this, you can read the 10 Part Guide to Income Investing.
During the first part of the twentieth century, dividends were the primary reason investors purchased stock. It was literally said on Wall Street, “the purpose of a company is to pay dividends”. Today, the investor’s view is a bit more refined; it could be stated, instead, as, “the purpose of a company is to increase my wealth.” Indeed, today’s investor looks to dividends and capital gains as a source of increase. Microsoft, for example, did not pay a dividend until it had already become a $350 billion company, long after making the company’s founders and long-term shareholders multi-millionaires or billionaires.
The Process
Dividends must be declared (i.e., approved) by a company’s Board of Directors each time they are paid. There are three important dates to remember regarding dividends.
•Declaration date: The declaration date is the day the Board of Director’s announces their intention to pay a dividend. On this day, the company creates a liability on its books; it now owes the money to the stockholders. On the declaration date, the Board will also announce a date of record and a payment date.
•Date of record: This date is also known as “ex-dividend” date. It is the day upon which the stockholders of record are entitled to the upcoming dividend payment. According to Barron’s, a stock will usually begin trading ex-dividend or ex-rights the fourth business day before the payment date. In other words, only the owners of the shares on or before that date will receive the dividend. If you purchased shares of Coca-Cola after the ex-dividend date, you would not receive its upcoming dividend payment; the investor from whom you purchased your shares would.
•Payment date: This is the date the dividend will actually be given to the shareholders of company.
A vast majority of dividends are paid four times a year on a quarterly basis. This means that when an investor sees that Coca-Cola pays an $0.88 dividend, he will actually receive $0.22 per share four times a year. Some companies, such as McDonald’s, pay dividends on an annual basis
Cash Dividends, Property Dividends, and Special One-Time Dividends
Cash dividends literally represent money sent to you in the mail or direct deposited into your bank account. The goal of successful investing is to be able to have cash dividends pour into your life regularly so you don't need to work unless you desire.
John Shaw, Getty Images
.Cash Dividends
Regular cash dividends are those paid out of a company’s profits to the owners of the business (i.e., the shareholders). A company that has preferred stock issued must make the dividend payment on those shares before a single penny can be paid out to the common stockholders. The preferred stock dividend is usually set whereas the common stock dividend is determined at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors (for reasons discussed later, most companies are hesitant to increase or decrease the dividend on their common stock). You can find a detailed discussion of preferred stock and its dividend provisions in The Many Flavors of Preferred Stock: A Possible Investment for Your Fixed Income Portfolio.
Property Dividends
A property dividend is when a company distributes property to shareholders instead of cash or stock. Property dividends can literally take the form of railroad cars, cocoa beans, pencils, gold, silver, salad dressing or any other item with tangible value. Property dividends are recorded at market value on the declaration date.
Special One-Time Dividends
In addition to regular dividends, there are times a company may pay a special one-time dividend. These are rare and can occur for a variety of reasons such as a major litigation win, the sale of a business or liquidation of a investment. They can take the form of cash, stock or property dividends. Due to the temporarily lower rates of taxation on dividends, there has been an increase in special dividends paid in recent years.
To add sugar to spice, there are times when these, special one-time dividends are classified as a “return of capital”. In essence, these payments are not a payout of the company’s profits but instead a return of money shareholders have invested in the business. As a result, return of capital dividends are tax-free.
Special one-time dividends sometimes offer an opportunity for arbitrage
Dividends and How They are Different From Stock Splits
Stock dividends are issued when a firm mails additional shares of stock to the owners instead of, or in addition to, cash dividends. Although you aren't any richer with stock dividends that you were before, there are strong psychological benefits.
.Stock Dividends
A stock dividend is a pro-rata distribution of additional shares of a company’s stock to owners of the common stock. A company may opt for stock dividends for a number of reasons including inadequate cash on hand or a desire to lower the price of the stock on a per-share basis to prompt more trading and increase liquidity (i.e., how fast an investor can turn his holdings into cash). Why does lowering the price of the stock increase liquidity? On the whole, people are more likely to buy and sell a $50 stock than a $5,000 stock; this usually results in a large number of shares trading hands each day.
A practical example of stock dividends:
Company ABC has 1 million shares of common stock. The company has five investors who each own 200,000 shares. The stock currently trades at $100 per share, giving the business a market capitalization of $100 million.
Management decides to issue a 20% stock dividend. It prints up an additional 200,000 shares of common stock (20% of 1 million) and sends these to the shareholders based on their current ownership. All of the investors own 200,000, or 1/5 of the company, so they each receive 40,000 of the new shares (1/5 of the 200,000 new shares issued).
Now, the company has 1.2 million shares outstanding; each investor owns 240,000 shares of common stock. The 20% dilution in value of each share, however, results in the stock price falling to $83.33. Here’s the important part: the company (and our investors) are still in the exact same position. Instead of owning 200,000 shares at $100, they now own 240,000 shares at $83.33. The company’s market capitalization is still $100 million.
A stock split is, in essence, a very large stock dividend. In cases of stock splits, a company may double, triple or quadruple the number of shares outstanding. The value of each share is merely lowered; economic reality does not change at all. It is, therefore, completely irrational for investors to get excited over stock splits. If you do not still fully understand this, you must read How to Think About Share Price. It will clear up any lingering confusion.
One of the more interesting theories of corporate dividend policy is that managements should opt for stock dividends over all other kinds. This will allow investors that want their earnings retained in the business (and not taxed) to hold on to the additional stock paid out to them. Investors that want current income, on the other hand, can sell the shares they receive from the stock dividend, pay the tax and pocket the cash - in essence, creating a “do-it-yourself” dividend
5 of 9Previous NextCorporate Dividend Policy, Dividend Payout Ratio, and Dividend Yield
The dividend payout ratio is important because its inverse, the retained earnings ratio, allows you to calculate a stock's maximum sustainable growth rate by multiplying it by the return on equity.
.Are high dividends good or bad? The answer depends upon your personality, financial circumstances and the business itself.
In Determining Dividend Payout: When Should Companies Pay Dividends?, you learned that, “a company should only pay dividends if it is unable to reinvest its cash at a higher rate than the shareholders (owners) of the business would be able to if the money was in their hands. If company ABC is earning 25% on equity with no debt, management should retain all of the earnings because the average investor probably won't find another company or investment that is yielding that kind of return.”
At the same time, an investor may require cash income for living expenses. In these cases, he is not interested in long-term appreciation of shares; he wants a check with which he can pay the bills.
Dividend Payout Ratio
The percentage of net income that is paid out in the form of dividend is known as the dividend payout ratio. This ratio is important in projecting the growth of company because its inverse, the retention ratio (the amount not paid out to shareholders in the form of dividends), can help project a company’s growth.
Calculating Dividend Payout Ratio
Coca-Cola’s 2003 cash flow statement shows that the company paid $2.166 billion in dividends to shareholders. The income statement for the same year shows the business had reported a net income of $4.347 billion. To calculate the divided payout ratio, the investor would do the following:
$2,166,000,000 dividends paid
---------(divided by)---------
$4,347,000,000 reported net income
The answer, 49.8%, tells the investor that Coca-Cola paid out nearly fifty percent of its profit to shareholders over the course of the year.
Dividend Yield
The dividend yield tells the investor how much he is earning on a common stock from the dividend alone based on the current market price. Dividend yield is calculated by dividing the actual or indicated annual dividend by the current price per share.
The Washington Post pays an annual dividend of $7 and trades at $910 per share; Altria Group (formerly Philip Morris) pays an annual dividend of $2.72 and trades at $49.75 per share. By calculating dividend yield, the investor can compare the amount he would earn in cash income annually from each security.
Washington Post Dividend Yield Calculation
$7.00
----(divided by)----
$910
= 0.0077 or 0.77%
Altria Group Dividend Yield Calculation
$2.72
----(divided by)----
$49.75
= 0.055 or 5.5%
In other words, despite the fact that the Washington Post pays a higher per-share dividend, $100,000 invested in its common stock would yield only $770 in annual income as opposed to the same amount invested in Altria Group which would yield $5,500. An investor interested in dividend income and not capital gains should opt for the latter, all else being equal.
6 of 9Previous NextThe Dividend Tax Debate
The IRS taxes dividends twice: Once when the company earns the money, and again when paid out to stockholders! In other countries, companies get a tax deduction to encourage managements to reward owners instead of building empires on their dime.
Will Terry, Getty Images
.Dividends, like interest, are taxed at a person’s individual tax rate. Capital gain taxes, on the other hand, are assessed according to the length of time an investor held his investment and can be as low as half the rate levied on dividends income. This difference in tax treatment is another reason many investors opt for long-term equity holdings that reinvest capital into the business instead of paying it out in the form of a dividend; by avoiding the double-taxation, they can compound their wealth at a faster rate.
There is a significant dividend tax political controversy. The corporation paid income taxes on the profit it earned (original tax). The owners of the business then take that profit out for their personal use in the form of a dividend and are taxed at personal income tax rates (second tax). In effect, they have paid the government twice.
The proponents of the dividend tax argue that the wealthy, by definition, own significantly more investments than the poor. Therefore, it would be possible for someone to earn billions of dollars in dividend income and not pay a dime in Federal taxes. This, they say, is inherently unfair. The gap between the rich and the poor would explode over
7 .Selecting High Dividend Stocks
Selecting high dividend paying stocks is an art and science. By putting together a portfolio of dividend stocks, you can use the regular income to spend or to grow your business. Here are some of the stocks at my company, Kennon Green Enterprises.
Joshua Kennon, Kennon Green Enterprises
.Selecting high dividend stocks
An investor desiring to put together a portfolio that generates high dividend income should place great scrutiny on a company’s dividend payment history. Only those corporations with a continuous record of steadily increasing dividends over the past twenty years or longer should be considered for inclusion. Furthermore, the investor should be convinced the company can continue to generate the cash flow necessary to make the dividend payments; a handgun manufacturer, for example, may have a long history of high dividend payments while generating strong cash flow from operations yet not make a good investment because it faces litigation which, if successful, will bankrupt the business.
Dividends related to cash flow - not reported earnings
This brings up an important point: dividends are dependent upon cash flow, not reported earnings. Almost any Board of Directors would still declare and pay a dividend if cash flow was strong but the company reported a net loss on a GAAP basis. The reason is simple: investors that prefer high dividend stocks look for stability. A company that lowers its dividend is probably going to experience a decline in stock price as jittery investors take their money elsewhere. Companies will not raise the dividend rate because of one successful year; so afraid are they of lowering the dividend they will wait the business is capable of generating the cash to maintain the higher dividend payment forever. Likewise, they will not lower the dividend if they think the company is facing a temporary problem.
Debt restrictions
Many companies are not able to pay dividends because bank loans, lines of credit or other debt financing places strict limitations on the payment of common stock dividends. This type of covenant restriction is disclosed in a company’s 10K filing with the SEC.
8 of 9Previous NextDividend Reinvestment Plans or DRIPs
When you use direct stock purchase plans, dividend reinvestment plans, or DRIPs, you pay little or no commission. This leaves more cash in your pocket. Wall Street doesn't advertise these programs because if you use them, it loses the fee income.
.Unless you need the money for living expenses or you are an experienced investor that regularly allocates capital, the first thing you should do when you acquire a stock that pays a dividend is enroll it in a dividend reinvestment plan, or DRIP for short.
How dividend reinvestment plans work
When an investor enrolls in a dividend reinvestment plan, he will no longer receive dividends in the mail or directly deposited into his brokerage account. Instead, those dividends will be used to purchase additional shares of stock in the company that paid the dividend. There are several advantages to investing in DRIPs; they are:
Benefits of enrolling in a dividend reinvestment plan
•Enrolling in a DRIP is easy. The paperwork (both online and in print) can normally be filled out in under one minute.
•Dividends are automatically reinvested. Once the investor has enrolled in a DRIP, the process becomes entirely automated and requires no more attention or monitoring.
•Many dividend reinvestment plans are often part of a direct stock purchase plan. If the investor holds at least one of his shares directly, he can have his checking or savings account automatically debited on a regular basis to purchase additional shares of stock.
•Purchases through dividend reinvestment programs are normally subject to little or no commission.
•Dividend reinvestment plans allow the investor to purchase fractional shares. Over decades, this can result in significantly more wealth in the investor's hands.
•An investor can enroll only a limited number of shares in the dividend reinvestment plan and continue to receive cash dividends on the remaining shares.
In fact, I like dividend reinvestment programs so much that I once wrote an essay for my friends explaining how my family had used the Coca-Cola dividend reinvestment plan to teach my youngest sister how to invest in stock. It became a learning experience so that by the time she reached high school, she understood the relationship between business, profits, dividends and investors
9 of 9Previous NextPractical Examples of Dividend Reinvestment Plans in Action
Direct stock purchase plans and DRIPs make it easy to compound your wealth because you can setup automatic investment plans that take money from your bank account to buy shares regularly. Dividends can be reinvested at little or no cost.
Javier Romero, Getty Images
.Full enrollment in a DRIP Jane Smith owns 1,000 shares of Coca-Cola. The stock currently trades at $50 per share and the annual dividend is $0.88 per share. The quarterly dividend has just been paid ($0.88 divided by 4 times a year = $0.22 per share quarterly dividend). Before she enrolled in Coca-Cola’s dividend reinvestment plan, Jane would normally receive a cash deposit of $220 in her brokerage account. This quarter, however, she logs into her brokerage account and finds she now has 1,004.40 shares of Coca-Cola. The $220 dividend that was normally paid to her was reinvested in whole and fractional shares of the company at $50 per share.
Partial enrollment in a DRIP William Jones owns 500,000 shares of Altria group. The stock currently trades at $49.75 and pays an indicated annual dividend of $2.72 per share ($0.68 per quarter). William would like to receive some cash for living expenses but would like to enroll some of the shares in a DRIP. He calls his broker and has 300,000 shares enrolled in Altria’s DRIP.
When the quarterly dividend is paid, William will receive cash dividends of $136,000. He will also receive 4,100.50 additional shares of Altria Group giving him holdings of 304,100.50 shares (300,000 shares * $0.68 dividend = $204,000 divided by $49.75 per share price = 4,100.50 new shares of Altria Group).
Dividends on dividends
Why are dividend reinvestment plans conducive to wealth building? Notice that William now has 4,100.50 additional shares of Altria stock. When the next quarterly dividend is paid, he will receive $0.68 for each of those shares. That additional income works out to $2,788.34. Those dividends will be partially reinvested in the stock, buying more shares which will pay more dividends.
In even the smallest portfolio, dividend reinvestment plans can result in substantial increases in value over extended periods of time. To demonstrate the power of dividend reinvestment through DRIPs, consider the example given in Jerry Edgerton and Jim Frederick’s August 1, 1997 Money magazine article, Build Your Wealth Drip by Drip: if you had put $10,000 in Standard & Poors 500 stock index at the end of 1985 and not bothered to reinvest your dividends, you would have had $29,150 by the end of 1995. Had you reinvested the dividends, however, your total would have been more than $40,000.
In other words, reinvesting those seemingly-small dividends resulted in an extra $10,850 over ten years. Assuming you continued to add to your principal investment and held those stocks for thirty or forty years, the difference could be hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
More Information - Our Ultimate Guide to Dividend Investing
You're now ready to move on to our Ultimate Guide to Dividend Investing. There, you'll learn advanced dividend strategies, how to avoid dividend traps, how to use dividend yields to tell if stocks are undervalued, and much more
How to Utilize the Berkshire Hathaway Wealth Model in Your Own Life
One of the least understood secrets behind the success of Berkshire Hathaway and its rise from an $8 stock in the 1960’s to more than $118,000 per share today, is that Warren Buffett focuses on two value “buckets” as he put it in a recent shareholder letter. The first bucket consists of the operating businesses in which the company holds a controlling stake and the second of marketable securities such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, et cetera, most of which are held through the insurance subsidiaries such as GEICO, General Re, or National Indemnity, just to name a few.
This arrangement provides several major advantages to Berkshire Hathaway. First, when stocks collapse, Buffett is able to rely on the cash generated by the operating businesses to provide him with funds to redeploy into the market, buying up assets on the cheap. If he were running a mutual fund, this would not be the case and as the value of his holdings fell, Warren would be forced to sell something that was already undervalued to buy something that was even more undervalued. Second, the operating businesses are insulated from daily valuations (except to the extent that the parent holding company is publicly traded), giving it a much more stable net worth and estimated private market value than a mutual fund would have. Thus, banks are more likely to loan on a long-term, fixed-rate basis to a stable business with real assets such as factories, retail stores, computers, and such than they would be on a portfolio of stocks representing shares of those same companies.
In your own life, you are likely to find that it is considerably easier to raise your net worth quickly when focusing on both of these, taking the same “double barrel” approach Buffett and his long-time business partner, Munger, have made a cornerstone of their empire.
For most people, their primary “operating business” would be their day job. Whether you are a teacher, firefighter, accountant, or part-time babysitter, it is this stream of funds that allows you to pay your bills, watch television, buy groceries, and put gas in your car. It is also this income that provides you with your first real capital to acquire investments.
Just like any good business, you want to grow your profits, or in this case salary, wages, and other income from the job, as much as possible with the smallest investment. Thus, if your choices are working more hours to make more money or going back to school to become a doctor, you might opt for the latter due to the much higher earnings down the road by putting in a comparable amount of double and triple-shifts. This leads to a golden rule of wealth building: You must invest in yourself if you want to experience true financial freedom. This means gaining new skills and turning those skills into monetary gain. Only a few days ago, I read a story in a newspaper about a homemaker that has gotten so good at coupon clipping, she can cut a $150 grocery bill down to $40 – keep in mind, that since food is bought with after-tax income, these results are exponentially more impressive than they may appear.
The reality is that those with specialized skills such as heart surgeons, auto mechanics, dentists, plumbers, and fluent speakers of Mandarin Chinese are not being left out of the global economy. Virtually all of us have the potential to add some of these unique skill sets to our vocational toolbox, but the notion that you are going to be able to graduate from high school with nothing more than a diploma, get a job for life, and retire well is naïve. The genie is out of the bottle in the world of globalization and nothing could reverse that (even if the U.S. were to enact massive trade protections, we would experience horrific recession or depression and China and India would eclipse us at an even faster pace
Once you have your primary career on track and are investing in your own skills, it might be time to acquire or establish other operating businesses. For some, this could mean building storage units or car washes. For others, it might include starting a lawn mowing service. One member of my family has a career as a flight attendant, production manager at an embroidery company, and then owns a diaper cake design business on the side. She lives off her salary as a manager, using the other two jobs mostly as pure investment capital to ensure that she has millions of dollars in wealth by her forties despite having an average income and supporting a family.
This is where you really have an opportunity to generate cash doing something you love. When adding these other operating businesses, you should strive to find things that make you “tap dance” to work, to borrow a phrase from Buffett. Let’s say you are 25 years old and manage to sell paintings or perform magic at birthday parties and weddings, generating an extra $96 per week (roughly $5,000 per year). That might not seem like a lot but it’s going to add up to $9,266,500+ by the time you are Warren Buffett’s age if you park it in a Roth IRA and manage to generate the historical 11% rate of return the S&P has brought in for its owners over the long-haul. That’s not a joke. By doing something you love, and putting that money into cash generating assets, you can retire rich. As for the bigger house, car, X-Box, and other stuff you want along the way, that’s why you work your primary job and keep investing in your skills. (If you don’t have time for a second job or activity, remember our homemaker who saved more than $110 a week on groceries? That would be more than enough to achieve the same results.)
As you generate cash, you are going to want to have it invested in the most tax-efficient manner possible. That means taking advantage of your 401k, and an individual retirement account such as a Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or SEP-IRA just to name a few. Here, if wisely and prudently invested, those funds can blossom into a torrent of capital gains, dividends, and interest, all of which is plowed back in to generate even more profits. If the stock market falls, you can take advantage of your operating businesses to dollar cost average your positions, thus taking advantage of the basic principles of value investing.
Dollar cost averaging
IT is a technique designed to reduce market risk through the systematic purchase of securities at predetermined intervals and set amounts. Many successful investors already practice without realizing it. Many others could save themselves a lot of time, effort and money by beginning a plan. In this article, you will learn the three steps to beginning a dollar cost averaging plan, look at concrete examples of how it can lower an investor’s cost basis, and discover how it reduces risk.
Dollar Cost Averaging: What is It?
Instead of investing assets in a lump sum, the investor works his way into a position by slowly buying smaller amounts over a longer period of time. This spreads the cost basis out over several years, providing insulation against changes in market price.
Setting Up Your Own Dollar Cost Averaging Plan
In order to begin a dollar cost averaging plan, you must do three things:
1.Decide exactly how much money you can invest each month. Make certain that you are financially capable of keeping the amount consistent; otherwise the plan will not be as effective.
2.Select an investment (index funds are particularly appropriate, but we will get to that in a moment) that you want to hold for the long term, preferably five to ten years or longer.
3.At regular intervals (weekly, monthly or quarterly works best), invest that money into the security you’ve chosen. If your broker offers it, set up an automatic withdrawal plan so the process becomes automated.
An Example of a Dollar Cost Averaging Plan
You have $15,000 you want to invest in Sprint FON common stock. The date is January 1, 2000. You have two options: you can invest the money as a lump sum now, walk away and forget about it, or you can set up a dollar cost averaging plan and ease your way into the stock. You opt for the latter and decide to invest $1,250 each quarter for three years. (See chart for math of dollar cost averaging plan.)
Had you invested your $15,000 in January 2000, you would have purchased 264.46 shares at $56.72 each. When the stock closed for the year in December of 2002 at $13.69, your holdings would only be worth $3,620!
Had you dollar cost averaged into the stock over the past three years, however, you would own 746.21 shares; at the closing price, this gives your holdings a market value of $10,216. Although still a loss, Sprint FON stock must only go up to $20.10 for you to break even, not $56.72, which would have been required without the dollar cost averaging.
To go a step further, without dollar cost averaging you would break even at $56.72. With dollar cost averaging, you would have turned a profit of $27,326 when the stock hit that price thanks to your lower cost basis ($56.72 sell price - $20.10 average cost basis = $36.62 profit x 746.21 shares = $27,326 total profit.)
Combining the Power of Dollar Cost Averaging with the Diversification of a Mutual Fund
Index funds are passively managed mutual funds that are designed to mimic the returns of benchmarks such as the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, etc. An investor that puts money into a fund designed to mimic the Wilshire 5000, for example, is literally going to own a fractional interest in every one of the five thousand stocks that make up that index. This instant diversification comes with the added bonus. Traditionally, management fees of passive funds are less than one-tenth those of their actively managed counterparts. Over the course of a decade, for example, this can add up to tens of thousands of dollars the investor would have paid in fees to the mutual fund company that, instead, are accruing to his or her benefit.
The dollar cost averaging component reduces market risk, while the index fund investment reduces company-specific risk. This combination can be among the best investment options for individuals looking to build up their long term wealth by having a portion of their portfolio in equities.
Table 1: Sprint FON with Dollar Cost Averaging Plan
Invest date Amount Price per share Shares purchased
Jan. 2000 $1,250 $56.72 22.04
Apr. 2000 $1,250 $54.19 23.07
Jul. 2000 $1,250 $31.34 39.27
Oct. 2000 $1,250 $22.60 53.31
Jan. 2001 $1,250 $22.10 56.50
Apr. 2001 $1,250 $19.05 65.62
Oct. 2001 $1,250 $18.13 68.95
Jan. 2002 $1,250 $16.14 77.45
Apr. 2002 $1,250 $14.58 85.73
Jul. 2002 $1,250 $8.66 144.34
Oct. 2002 $1,250 $11.64 107.39
Total $15,000 $20.10 avg. 746.21
DIVIDEND INVESTING
New investors often want to know: If a stock doesn't pay dividends, isn't buying it like participating in a Ponzi scheme because your return depends on what the next guy in line is willing to pay for your shares? That is a very good question and it's important you understand the answer.
To help you really get down into the details and understand non-dividend paying stocks, I created a story that will make this topic easy to grasp. Don't forget, though, that dividends are a great source of return for shareholders, especially when combined with dollar cost averaging. Investing in non-dividend paying stocks should be the exception, not the rule.
American Apple Orchards, Inc.
Imagine that your father and your uncle decide that they want to start a farming business. They each contribute $150,000 of their savings to a new company, "American Apple Orchards, Inc." They file the paperwork with the Secretary of State, get a business license, and go down to the local bank to deposit the $300,000 in cash. They divide the company into 100,000 pieces ("shares") at $3 per share, each man receiving half of the stock for his contribution. At this point, nothing has changed. (They have a company with no assets other than the $300,000 they contributed to it. They then cut that company into 100,000 pieces. Therefore, each of those pieces represents $3 worth of cash in the bank account because $300,000 divided by 100,000 shares = $3 book value per share.)
The new company uses the $300,000 to secure a $700,000 business loan. This gives them $1,000,000 in cash and $700,000 in debt with a $300,000 net worth (consisting of their original contribution to the company).
The company buys 300 acres of good farmland at $2,500 per acre ($750,000 total), and uses the remaining $250,000 for equipment, working capital, and start-up costs.
The first year, the farm generates $43,000 in pre-tax operating profit. After taxes, this amounts to $30,000.
At the end of the year, your father and uncle are sitting at the kitchen table, holding the Board of Directors meeting for American Apple Orchards, Inc. They see that the annual report the accountant prepared shows $300,000 in shareholder equity at the beginning, with a $30,000 net profit, for $330,000 ending shareholder equity.
In other words, for all of their effort, they earned $30,000 on their $300,000 investment. (Note: Instead of cash, however, the assets consist of farm land, apple trees, tractors, stationary, etc.) That is a 10% return on book value. If interest rates are 4% at the time, this is a good return. Not only did your family earn a good return on their investment, but your father and uncle got to live their dream by farming apples.
Being older men, and wise in the ways of the world, your father and uncle realize that the accountant left something out of the annual report. (It's not the accountant's fault; the GAAP accounting rules don't allow him to put it in the figures.) What is it? Real estate appreciation.
If inflation ran 3%, the farm land probably kept pace, meaning that the appreciation was $22,500. In other words, if they sold their farm at the end of the year, they would get $772,500, not the $750,000 they paid, generating a gain on real estate of $22,500. GAAP accounting rules don't allow this to show up anywhere. That's important to understand.
This means that the $300,000 they originally contributed to the company has grown to $330,000 due to the $30,000 in profits they earned after tax on their apple sales. Yet, they are also $22,500 richer due to the higher value of their land, which won't be included due to accounting rules. That means their real return for the year was roughly $52,500, or 17.5%. (To be fair, you would have to back out deferred taxes for the money that would be owed if they were to sell the land but I'll keep it simple.)
The Choice They Face: To Pay Dividends or Reinvest in the Company?
Now, your father and uncle have a choice. They have a business that has $330,000 in book value but that they know is worth $352,500 ($300,000 contributed capital + $30,000 net profit + $22,500 appreciation in land). So, the accountant says their shares are worth $33.00 each ($330,000 divided by 100,000 pieces). They know their stock is worth $35.20 per share ($352,000 divided by 100,000 pieces).
They have a choice. Do they pay the $30,000 in cash they earned out as a $0.30 per share dividend ($30,000 net income divided by 100,000 shares = $0.30 per share dividend)? Or, do they turn around and pour that $30,000 back into the business to expand? If the orchard can earn 10% on capital again next year, profits should increase to $33,000. Compared to the 4% the local bank pays, wouldn't they be better off not paying out that money as a cash dividend and instead going for the 10% return?
Compounding That Dividend Decision for 20 Years
Imagine that this conversation happens every year for 20 years. Each year, your father and uncle decide to reinvest the profit instead of paying a cash dividend, and each year they earn 10% on capital. The real estate also appreciates 3% per year. The entire time, they never issue, buy, or sell a new share of stock.
On the company's 20th year anniversary, net income is going to be $201,800. Book value, representing profits poured back into the company for expansion, would have grown from $300,000 to $2,000,000. On top of that $2,000,000, though, is the real estate. The land would have appreciated $605,000 from the first day of operation, not one penny of which has ever shown up anywhere in the financial statements. Thus, the book value of the company is $2,000,000 but the true value of the business is at least $2,605,000.
From a book value perspective, the shares are worth $20 each ($2,000,000 book value divided by 100,000 shares). From a "real" value perspective, factoring in the value of the land, the shares are worth $26.05 each ($2,605,000 divided by 100,000 shares).
If the company were to pay out 100% of its profits in cash dividends, cash dividends would be just shy of $2.02 per share ($201,800 net profit for the year divided by 100,000 shares = $2.02 per share cash dividends
In practical terms, that means that the $300,000 your father and uncle invested into American Apple Orchards, Inc. when it was founded 20 years ago has grown to $2,605,000. In addition, the company generates $201,800 in net income each year. A reasonable, fair valuation of the stock when factoring in real estate appreciation is $26.05 per share.
Putting It Together
You want nothing more than to go into business with your father. You decide to approach your uncle and offer to buy his 50,000 shares, representing 50% of the business.
In the 20 years since the company has existed, not a single penny has been paid out to the stockholders as a cash dividend. Would you seriously go to your uncle and offer him the $3 he put in for his shares when the company started instead of the $26.05 value of the shares now?
In other words, if you paid $1,302,500 for 50% of a $2,605,000 farm, do you really think you'd feel like you were part of a Ponzi scheme because the money had been reinvested over the years? Of course not. Your money represents real assets and earning power and you know that if you wanted to, you could vote to stop growth and start distributing profits as dividends in the future. Even though you haven't actually seen that money yet, it has represented a real, and tangible, gain in net worth for your family.
On Wall Street, the same holds true for huge companies. Take Berkshire Hathaway. The stock has gone from $8 to more than $100,000 per share over 40+ years because Warren Buffett has reinvested the profits into other investments. When he took over, the company owned nothing but some unprofitable textile mills. Today, Berkshire owns 13.1% of American Express, 8.6% of Coca-Cola, 5.7% of ConocoPhillips, 1.1% of Johnson & Johnson, 8.9% of Kraft Foods, 3.1% of Procter & Gamble, 4.3% of U.S. Bancorp, 0.5% of Wal-Mart Stores, 18.4% of The Washington Post, 7.2% of Wells Fargo, and totally controls GEICO, Dairy Queen, MidAmerican Energy, Helzburg Diamonds, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Benjamin Moore Paints, NetJets, See's Candies, and much more. That doesn't even include the fact that the holding company just spent $44 billion to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
Is Berkshire worth $102,000+ per share? Absolutely. Even if it doesn't pay out those earnings now, it has hundreds of billions of dollars in assets that could be sold, and generates tens of billions of dollars in profit each year. That has value, even if the shareholders don't get the benefit in the form of cash, because the Board of Directors could literally turn on the spigot and start paying massive dividends tomorrow.
In developed nations, with strong financial markets, the stock market will recognize this gain in value by rewarding a company with a higher stock price. Of course, this is irregular and can take years. But if you bought $8,000 worth of Berkshire back in the day, your 1,000 shares are now worth $100,000,000. If you desired, you could sell off several million dollars worth of stock, or put the shares in a brokerage account and take a small margin loan against them, to fund your lifestyle needs. In effect, you could "create your own" dividend.
You could also donate your shares to a charitable remainder trust that will take your Berkshire, pay you a set return of, say, 5% per year, and then donate all of the stock to your favorite charity when you die. This is a do-it-yourself dividend method.
Monday, November 14, 2011
maqsood alam
total 17 Exactly matching Job(s)
RF-engineer
Ewave network (p) ltd.
Rs 1.75L - 2.75L,Chandigarh, Delhi, Patna
BE / B.Tech( Computer Science, Electrical and Electronics, Electronics and Communication )
View & Apply
Posted on 07 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Mobile Applications Developer
Phoenix Infomedia Pvt Ltd
Rs 90000 - 1.25L,Noida
BE / B.Tech( Computer Science, Electronics and Communication, Information Technology )
View & Apply
Posted on 25 Oct
More Jobs by this Employer
Techno-Sales Engineers
TAB Technologies
Rs 1L - 3.5L,Delhi
BCA / BCM( Any Specialization ), BE / B.Tech( Computer Science, Electronics and Communication, Information Technology ), Diploma( Computer, Electronic
View & Apply
Posted on 12 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Trainee - iphone Development
UG Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Rs 1L - 3L,Noida
BE / B.Tech( Computer Science, Electronics and Communication, Electronics and Instrumentation, Information Technology ), MCA( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 24 Oct
More Jobs by this Employer
Freshers/Trainee Programmers - AS400
SrinSoft Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Rs 1.25L - 3L,Chennai
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 14 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
BE/BTech / MTech opening for test engineer...
Oak Systems Pvt Ltd
Rs 1L - 2L,Bengaluru / Bangalore
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 11 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Java Developer
BrizzTV Media Labs Pvt Tld
Rs 3L,Bengaluru / Bangalore
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 09 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Test Engineer
BrizzTV Media Labs Pvt Tld
Rs 3L,Gurgaon
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 09 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Test Engineer
BrizzTV Media Labs Pvt Tld
Rs 3L,Bengaluru / Bangalore
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 09 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Project Manager (Information Technology Proje...
www.AeroSoftCorp.com
Rs 90000 - 3L,Ahmedabad, Bengaluru / Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad / Secunderabad, Mumbai, Pune
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
RF-engineer
Ewave network (p) ltd.
Rs 1.75L - 2.75L,Chandigarh, Delhi, Patna
BE / B.Tech( Computer Science, Electrical and Electronics, Electronics and Communication )
View & Apply
Posted on 07 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Mobile Applications Developer
Phoenix Infomedia Pvt Ltd
Rs 90000 - 1.25L,Noida
BE / B.Tech( Computer Science, Electronics and Communication, Information Technology )
View & Apply
Posted on 25 Oct
More Jobs by this Employer
Techno-Sales Engineers
TAB Technologies
Rs 1L - 3.5L,Delhi
BCA / BCM( Any Specialization ), BE / B.Tech( Computer Science, Electronics and Communication, Information Technology ), Diploma( Computer, Electronic
View & Apply
Posted on 12 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Trainee - iphone Development
UG Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Rs 1L - 3L,Noida
BE / B.Tech( Computer Science, Electronics and Communication, Electronics and Instrumentation, Information Technology ), MCA( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 24 Oct
More Jobs by this Employer
Freshers/Trainee Programmers - AS400
SrinSoft Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Rs 1.25L - 3L,Chennai
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 14 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
BE/BTech / MTech opening for test engineer...
Oak Systems Pvt Ltd
Rs 1L - 2L,Bengaluru / Bangalore
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 11 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Java Developer
BrizzTV Media Labs Pvt Tld
Rs 3L,Bengaluru / Bangalore
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 09 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Test Engineer
BrizzTV Media Labs Pvt Tld
Rs 3L,Gurgaon
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 09 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Test Engineer
BrizzTV Media Labs Pvt Tld
Rs 3L,Bengaluru / Bangalore
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
View & Apply
Posted on 09 Nov
More Jobs by this Employer
Project Manager (Information Technology Proje...
www.AeroSoftCorp.com
Rs 90000 - 3L,Ahmedabad, Bengaluru / Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad / Secunderabad, Mumbai, Pune
BE / B.Tech( Any Specialization )
Sunday, November 6, 2011
0P DAWAR
LalKitab Chart & Planets Houses
Planetory Degree And Their Positions
Planets Sign Position Soya Kismat Jaganewala Benefic/Malefic
Sun Aquarius Dblitted Yes No Benefic
Moon Aries NuSign No No Benefic
Mars Cancer NuSign No No Malefic
Mercury Aquarius FrSign Yes No Malefic
Jupiter Capricorn NuSign No No Malefic
Venus Capricorn Dblitted No No Benefic
Saturn-Ret Aries NuSign No No Malefic
Rahu-Ret Aries NuSign No No Malefic
Ketu-Ret Libra EnSign No No Benefic
House Positions
KhanaNo Maalik PakkaGhar Kismat Soya Exallt Deblt
1 Mar Sun Mars --- Sun Sat
2 Ven Jup Moon Yes Moon ---
3 Mer Mars Mer No Rahu Ketu
4 Mon Moon Moon No Jup Mars
5 Sun Jup Sun Yes --- ---
6 Mer Mer Ketu Ketu No Mer Rahu Ven Ketu
7 Ven Ven Mer Ven No Sat Sun
8 Mar Mars Sat Moon No --- Moon
9 Jup Jup Sat No Ketu Rahu
10 Sat Sat Sat No Mars Jup
11 Sat Sat Jup --- --- ---
12 Jup Jup Rahu Rahu --- Ven Ketu Mer Rahu
Varshphal From 8/10/2011 to 8/10/2012
Lal Kitab Varshphal Prediction
Note: As this report uses database of birth chart predictions, this report is useful only for astrologers.
Sun is in your 12th house this year benefic
If benefic:
(1) If Ketu in the 2nd house the native will earn wealth after 24 years and will have good family life.
(2) If Venus and Mercury are together their then one will benefit from business and the native will always have steady source of income.
If malefic:
(1) Native will suffer from depression, financial loss from machineries and will be punished by the government.
(2) If the other evil planet is in the 1st house, the native will not be able to sleep peacefully at night.
Remedial Measures :
(1) Native should always have a courtyard in his house.
(2) One should be religious and truthful.
(3) Keep a Chakki in the house.
(4) Always forgive your enemies.
Moon is in your 2nd house this year--benefic
The results of the 2nd house, when Moon is placed therein, will be influenced by Jupiter, Venus and the Moon, because this is the Puckka Ghar, the permanent house of Jupiter and Venus is the lord of the second Rashi Taurus. The Moon gives very good results in this house, as it becomes very strong here because of the friendly support of Jupiter against Venus.
Such a native may not have sisters, but will certainly be having brothers. In case he doesn't have, his wife will certainly have brothers. He will certainly receive his due share in parental properties. Whatever be the planetary position otherwise, but the Moon here will ensure male offspring to the native.
The native will receive good education, which will add to his fortune. The Business associated with the things of the Moon will prove highly advantageous. He may be a reputed teacher also.
The Ketu placed in the 12th house will cause eclipse of the Moon here, which will deprive the native either of good education or of male children.
Remedies
(1) Temple within the native's house may deprive the native of male issue.
(2) The things associated with the Moon, i.e., silver, rice, non-cemented floor of the house, the mother and old women and their blessings will prove very lucky for the native.
(3) Offering green colour clothes to small girls continuously for 43 days.
(4) Place the things associated with the Moon into the foundation of your house, e.g., a square piece of silver.
Mars is in your 11th house this year-benefic
Mars gives good results in this house, because this house is influenced by Jupiter and Saturn. If Jupiter is in exalted position, Mars gives very good results. Native is courageous and just and usually a trader.
Remedies
(1) One should never sell one's ancestral property.
(2) Keeping Sindoor or honey in an earthen pot will give good results.
Mercury is in your 12th house this year- malefic
Mercury here destroys night's sleep of the native and causes troubles of many sorts. He loses peace of mind and very often suffers from headache. he has a long life but suffers from Mercury, although, however, if Mercury is accompanied by Saturn in this house very good results follow. Saturn along with sun and Mercury in 12th house also gives good result. Daughters, sisters, father's sister and niece will be unhappy as long as they are living in the native's house. Such persons are generally self praising and of irritable nature. If something right or wrong goes into his mind, he will ensure to stick to it in every manner. If such a native is fond of taking liquor he will be of pretentious nature. Speculation in business will prove harmful. Marriage in the 25th year will prove harmful for the native's wife and father.
Remedies
(1) Throwing new empty pitcher in a river.
(2) Putting on a ring of stainless steel.
(3) Putting kesar tilak on face, head and visiting religious places of worship.
(4) Taking advice of another person before starting any new or important work.
Jupiter is in your 6th house this year-malefic
6th house belongs to Mercury and Ketu also has its effect on this house. so this house will give combined effects of Mercury, Jupiter and ketu. If Jupiter is benefic the native will be of pious nature. He will get everything in life without asking. Donations and offerings in the name of elders will prove beneficial. If Jupiter is in 6th and Ketu is benefic then native will become selfish. However, if Ketu is malefic in 6th house and Mercury is also malefic the native will be unlucky upto 34 years of age. Here Jupiter causes asthma to the native's father
Remedies
(1) Offer things connected with Jupiter in a temple.
(2) Feed the cocks.
(3) Offer clothes to the priest.
Venus is in your 6th house this year-malefic
This house belongs to Mercury and Ketu, who are inimical to each other, but Venus is friendly to both. Venus stands, debilitated in this house. However, if the native keeps the opposite sex happy and provides her with all the comforts, his money and wealth will continue to grow. The wife of the native should not get dressed like a male and should not get her hair cut like a male, otherwise poverty will crop up. Such a native must marry a person who has got a brother or brothers. Further, the native should not leave any work in the midway, i.e., before completion.
Remedies
(1) Ensure that your wife puts gold clips in her hair.
(2) Your spouse must not remain barefooted.
(3) The private parts should be washed with red medicine.
Saturn is in your 2nd house this year-benefic
The native will be wise, kind and just. He will enjoy wealth and will be of religious temperament. However, whether Saturn is benefic or malefic in this house, it will be decided by the planets placed in 8th house. The state of finance of the native will be decided by 7th house, the number of male members in the family by 6th house and age by 8th house. When Saturn is malefic in this house, after the native's marriage his in laws will face problems.
Remedies
(1) Going barefoot to temple for forty three days.
(2) Putting a tilak of curd or milk on the forehead.
(3) Offering milk to snake.
Rahu is in your 2nd house this year
-malefic
If Rahu is in benefic form in 2nd house one gets money, prestige and lives like a king. He will have a long life. 2nd house is influenced by Jupiter and Venus. If Jupiter is benefic then the native will live the early years of his life in wealth and comfort. If Rahu is malefic the native will be poor and have a bad family life, suffer from intestinal disorders. The native is killed by a weapon and is unable to save money. In the 10th, 21st to 42nd years of his life, he loses wealth by theft etc.
Remedies
(1) Keep a solid silver ball in the pocket.
(2) Wear things associated with Jupiter, like gold, yellow cloth, saffron etc.
(3) Keep cordial relations with ones mother.
(4) After marriage do not take any electric equipment from in-laws.
Ketu is in your 10th house this year-benefic
10th house belongs to Saturn. The effect of Ketu here depends upon the nature of Saturn. If ketu is benefic here then the native is lucky, concerned about himself and opportunist. His father dies early. If Saturn is in 6th then one is a famous player. If one keeps on forgiving his brothers for their misdeeds the native will go on progressing. If the character of native is good then he earns a lot of wealth. If Ketu in 10th house is malefic then one suffers from urinary and ear problems. The native has pain in bones. The domestic life is full of worries and troubled if Saturn is in 4th house. Three sons would die.
Remedies
(1) Keep silver pot full of honey in the house.
(2) Keep a dog, specially after forty eight years of age.
(3) Avoid adultery.
(4) Use the remedies of Moon and Jupiter
Varshphal Prediction
9/10/2011-30/11/2011 Dasha Mercury
Mercury Is In Bhav Number 10
You are an eternal optimist, and events of the year will further strengthen your optimistic instincts. You can do reasonably well if you time your investments intelligently based on the best periods hinted for your sign. All round cooperation and happiness can be the reward from your loved ones and associates, victory over opponents and pleasant functions such as marriage or romantic situations parties are also the likely outcomes. Family atmosphere will be quite satisfactory.
30/11/2011-21/12/2011 Dasha Ketu
Ketu Is In Bhav Number 6
Partnerships are good for you this year, in both the professional and personal sphere. However, the most important thing is that you might just have that overwhelming, life-changing experience that you were waiting for so long. Communications and negotiations will click for you and bring in new opportunities. You will generous and help people. There will be frequent travels regarding business/job etc which will bring good luck for you. If employed then service conditions will improve.
21/12/2011-20/02/2012 Dasha Venus
Venus Is In Bhav Number 11
This period brings you success in all comings and goings. Some form of pleasant culmination in your professional life brings rewards and recognition. Happier period for recreation and romance. Your brother and sisters will flourish this year. There will be an increase in your income due to your own efforts. Family life shall be quite happy. An exciting job offer, reward, recognition, or promotion is very possible. You will buy gold items, and precious stones. In general, you will get on very well with friends/associates and people from different walks of life.
20/02/2012-09/03/2012 Dasha Sun
Sun Is In Bhav Number 10
This is a good time for self-expression and the use of your creative abilities in various fields. The most unexpected changes could be expected in your work area and in professional activities which are outstanding for you. There will be favor from the higher authorities and seniors. Positive changes in your personal and professional life will take place. You may gain paternal properties. You would surely be successful during this period and see fulfillment of your wishes.
09/03/2012-09/04/2012 Dasha Moon
Moon Is In Bhav Number 3
This will prove to be a fantastic period for you. You will be very confident with your thoughts and chance of getting promotion is highly recommended. There are chances of sudden travel which seems to be very fruitful. There will be happiness from siblings and from the opposite sex. This is also a good period for your borthers. Thought of changing place or profession should be avoided.
09/04/2012-30/04/2012 Dasha Mars
Mars Is In Bhav Number 8
You should learn to relax to avoid unnecessary mental stress when things seem to be stagnating at the professional front. Resist the urge to change jobs on an impulse driven by feelings of disappointment or frustration. This is also a period which can create troubles or messy situations due to carelessness or negligence creating worries and unnecessary troubles. Health requires immediate attention as injuries and accidents and on the card. There will be disturbance in the family life and also you should be careful of the sex diseases.
30/04/2012-24/06/2012 Dasha Rahu
Rahu Is In Bhav Number 12
This period is marked by the change in place and change in job. You will suffer due to mental anxiety. You won’t have any peace of mind. Family member’s attitude will be quite different. Don’t go for big investment because things may not turn up according to your expectations. Your friends and associates shall not keep their promises. Be careful of wicked friends as your reputation could be made to suffer on their account. Take care of family’s health as the problems related to their health may arise. Do not therefore plan a journey now. Physical ailments are also possible.
24/06/2012-11/08/2012 Dasha Jupiter
Jupiter Is In Bhav Number 5
You are learning new ways of maintaining harmony in your individuality at work and around friends and family. You will reap great rewards as you learn to expand your communication skills and be true to your inner self and your own personal needs. Changes you experience in your life will be deeply felt and lasting. People that you thought overlooked your good efforts will be your greatest and most supportive allies. An auspicious ceremony in the family is likely to take place. This period will also bring prosperity, happiness and success to your children.
11/08/2012-08/10/2012 Dasha Saturn
Saturn Is In Bhav Number 10
The outlook however will remain average mostly throughout the period. You should work on developing your profession rather than focusing on gains. During this period there could be personal issues & minor health issues which could create hurdles for work. There would be challenges and new choices which should be taken carefully. New projects should be totally avoided. This period will experience hurdles due to your un-adjusting nature as well as competition in work environment. Purchase of land and machinery should be postponed for some time.
Planetory Degree And Their Positions
Planets Sign Position Soya Kismat Jaganewala Benefic/Malefic
Sun Aquarius Dblitted Yes No Benefic
Moon Aries NuSign No No Benefic
Mars Cancer NuSign No No Malefic
Mercury Aquarius FrSign Yes No Malefic
Jupiter Capricorn NuSign No No Malefic
Venus Capricorn Dblitted No No Benefic
Saturn-Ret Aries NuSign No No Malefic
Rahu-Ret Aries NuSign No No Malefic
Ketu-Ret Libra EnSign No No Benefic
House Positions
KhanaNo Maalik PakkaGhar Kismat Soya Exallt Deblt
1 Mar Sun Mars --- Sun Sat
2 Ven Jup Moon Yes Moon ---
3 Mer Mars Mer No Rahu Ketu
4 Mon Moon Moon No Jup Mars
5 Sun Jup Sun Yes --- ---
6 Mer Mer Ketu Ketu No Mer Rahu Ven Ketu
7 Ven Ven Mer Ven No Sat Sun
8 Mar Mars Sat Moon No --- Moon
9 Jup Jup Sat No Ketu Rahu
10 Sat Sat Sat No Mars Jup
11 Sat Sat Jup --- --- ---
12 Jup Jup Rahu Rahu --- Ven Ketu Mer Rahu
Varshphal From 8/10/2011 to 8/10/2012
Lal Kitab Varshphal Prediction
Note: As this report uses database of birth chart predictions, this report is useful only for astrologers.
Sun is in your 12th house this year benefic
If benefic:
(1) If Ketu in the 2nd house the native will earn wealth after 24 years and will have good family life.
(2) If Venus and Mercury are together their then one will benefit from business and the native will always have steady source of income.
If malefic:
(1) Native will suffer from depression, financial loss from machineries and will be punished by the government.
(2) If the other evil planet is in the 1st house, the native will not be able to sleep peacefully at night.
Remedial Measures :
(1) Native should always have a courtyard in his house.
(2) One should be religious and truthful.
(3) Keep a Chakki in the house.
(4) Always forgive your enemies.
Moon is in your 2nd house this year--benefic
The results of the 2nd house, when Moon is placed therein, will be influenced by Jupiter, Venus and the Moon, because this is the Puckka Ghar, the permanent house of Jupiter and Venus is the lord of the second Rashi Taurus. The Moon gives very good results in this house, as it becomes very strong here because of the friendly support of Jupiter against Venus.
Such a native may not have sisters, but will certainly be having brothers. In case he doesn't have, his wife will certainly have brothers. He will certainly receive his due share in parental properties. Whatever be the planetary position otherwise, but the Moon here will ensure male offspring to the native.
The native will receive good education, which will add to his fortune. The Business associated with the things of the Moon will prove highly advantageous. He may be a reputed teacher also.
The Ketu placed in the 12th house will cause eclipse of the Moon here, which will deprive the native either of good education or of male children.
Remedies
(1) Temple within the native's house may deprive the native of male issue.
(2) The things associated with the Moon, i.e., silver, rice, non-cemented floor of the house, the mother and old women and their blessings will prove very lucky for the native.
(3) Offering green colour clothes to small girls continuously for 43 days.
(4) Place the things associated with the Moon into the foundation of your house, e.g., a square piece of silver.
Mars is in your 11th house this year-benefic
Mars gives good results in this house, because this house is influenced by Jupiter and Saturn. If Jupiter is in exalted position, Mars gives very good results. Native is courageous and just and usually a trader.
Remedies
(1) One should never sell one's ancestral property.
(2) Keeping Sindoor or honey in an earthen pot will give good results.
Mercury is in your 12th house this year- malefic
Mercury here destroys night's sleep of the native and causes troubles of many sorts. He loses peace of mind and very often suffers from headache. he has a long life but suffers from Mercury, although, however, if Mercury is accompanied by Saturn in this house very good results follow. Saturn along with sun and Mercury in 12th house also gives good result. Daughters, sisters, father's sister and niece will be unhappy as long as they are living in the native's house. Such persons are generally self praising and of irritable nature. If something right or wrong goes into his mind, he will ensure to stick to it in every manner. If such a native is fond of taking liquor he will be of pretentious nature. Speculation in business will prove harmful. Marriage in the 25th year will prove harmful for the native's wife and father.
Remedies
(1) Throwing new empty pitcher in a river.
(2) Putting on a ring of stainless steel.
(3) Putting kesar tilak on face, head and visiting religious places of worship.
(4) Taking advice of another person before starting any new or important work.
Jupiter is in your 6th house this year-malefic
6th house belongs to Mercury and Ketu also has its effect on this house. so this house will give combined effects of Mercury, Jupiter and ketu. If Jupiter is benefic the native will be of pious nature. He will get everything in life without asking. Donations and offerings in the name of elders will prove beneficial. If Jupiter is in 6th and Ketu is benefic then native will become selfish. However, if Ketu is malefic in 6th house and Mercury is also malefic the native will be unlucky upto 34 years of age. Here Jupiter causes asthma to the native's father
Remedies
(1) Offer things connected with Jupiter in a temple.
(2) Feed the cocks.
(3) Offer clothes to the priest.
Venus is in your 6th house this year-malefic
This house belongs to Mercury and Ketu, who are inimical to each other, but Venus is friendly to both. Venus stands, debilitated in this house. However, if the native keeps the opposite sex happy and provides her with all the comforts, his money and wealth will continue to grow. The wife of the native should not get dressed like a male and should not get her hair cut like a male, otherwise poverty will crop up. Such a native must marry a person who has got a brother or brothers. Further, the native should not leave any work in the midway, i.e., before completion.
Remedies
(1) Ensure that your wife puts gold clips in her hair.
(2) Your spouse must not remain barefooted.
(3) The private parts should be washed with red medicine.
Saturn is in your 2nd house this year-benefic
The native will be wise, kind and just. He will enjoy wealth and will be of religious temperament. However, whether Saturn is benefic or malefic in this house, it will be decided by the planets placed in 8th house. The state of finance of the native will be decided by 7th house, the number of male members in the family by 6th house and age by 8th house. When Saturn is malefic in this house, after the native's marriage his in laws will face problems.
Remedies
(1) Going barefoot to temple for forty three days.
(2) Putting a tilak of curd or milk on the forehead.
(3) Offering milk to snake.
Rahu is in your 2nd house this year
-malefic
If Rahu is in benefic form in 2nd house one gets money, prestige and lives like a king. He will have a long life. 2nd house is influenced by Jupiter and Venus. If Jupiter is benefic then the native will live the early years of his life in wealth and comfort. If Rahu is malefic the native will be poor and have a bad family life, suffer from intestinal disorders. The native is killed by a weapon and is unable to save money. In the 10th, 21st to 42nd years of his life, he loses wealth by theft etc.
Remedies
(1) Keep a solid silver ball in the pocket.
(2) Wear things associated with Jupiter, like gold, yellow cloth, saffron etc.
(3) Keep cordial relations with ones mother.
(4) After marriage do not take any electric equipment from in-laws.
Ketu is in your 10th house this year-benefic
10th house belongs to Saturn. The effect of Ketu here depends upon the nature of Saturn. If ketu is benefic here then the native is lucky, concerned about himself and opportunist. His father dies early. If Saturn is in 6th then one is a famous player. If one keeps on forgiving his brothers for their misdeeds the native will go on progressing. If the character of native is good then he earns a lot of wealth. If Ketu in 10th house is malefic then one suffers from urinary and ear problems. The native has pain in bones. The domestic life is full of worries and troubled if Saturn is in 4th house. Three sons would die.
Remedies
(1) Keep silver pot full of honey in the house.
(2) Keep a dog, specially after forty eight years of age.
(3) Avoid adultery.
(4) Use the remedies of Moon and Jupiter
Varshphal Prediction
9/10/2011-30/11/2011 Dasha Mercury
Mercury Is In Bhav Number 10
You are an eternal optimist, and events of the year will further strengthen your optimistic instincts. You can do reasonably well if you time your investments intelligently based on the best periods hinted for your sign. All round cooperation and happiness can be the reward from your loved ones and associates, victory over opponents and pleasant functions such as marriage or romantic situations parties are also the likely outcomes. Family atmosphere will be quite satisfactory.
30/11/2011-21/12/2011 Dasha Ketu
Ketu Is In Bhav Number 6
Partnerships are good for you this year, in both the professional and personal sphere. However, the most important thing is that you might just have that overwhelming, life-changing experience that you were waiting for so long. Communications and negotiations will click for you and bring in new opportunities. You will generous and help people. There will be frequent travels regarding business/job etc which will bring good luck for you. If employed then service conditions will improve.
21/12/2011-20/02/2012 Dasha Venus
Venus Is In Bhav Number 11
This period brings you success in all comings and goings. Some form of pleasant culmination in your professional life brings rewards and recognition. Happier period for recreation and romance. Your brother and sisters will flourish this year. There will be an increase in your income due to your own efforts. Family life shall be quite happy. An exciting job offer, reward, recognition, or promotion is very possible. You will buy gold items, and precious stones. In general, you will get on very well with friends/associates and people from different walks of life.
20/02/2012-09/03/2012 Dasha Sun
Sun Is In Bhav Number 10
This is a good time for self-expression and the use of your creative abilities in various fields. The most unexpected changes could be expected in your work area and in professional activities which are outstanding for you. There will be favor from the higher authorities and seniors. Positive changes in your personal and professional life will take place. You may gain paternal properties. You would surely be successful during this period and see fulfillment of your wishes.
09/03/2012-09/04/2012 Dasha Moon
Moon Is In Bhav Number 3
This will prove to be a fantastic period for you. You will be very confident with your thoughts and chance of getting promotion is highly recommended. There are chances of sudden travel which seems to be very fruitful. There will be happiness from siblings and from the opposite sex. This is also a good period for your borthers. Thought of changing place or profession should be avoided.
09/04/2012-30/04/2012 Dasha Mars
Mars Is In Bhav Number 8
You should learn to relax to avoid unnecessary mental stress when things seem to be stagnating at the professional front. Resist the urge to change jobs on an impulse driven by feelings of disappointment or frustration. This is also a period which can create troubles or messy situations due to carelessness or negligence creating worries and unnecessary troubles. Health requires immediate attention as injuries and accidents and on the card. There will be disturbance in the family life and also you should be careful of the sex diseases.
30/04/2012-24/06/2012 Dasha Rahu
Rahu Is In Bhav Number 12
This period is marked by the change in place and change in job. You will suffer due to mental anxiety. You won’t have any peace of mind. Family member’s attitude will be quite different. Don’t go for big investment because things may not turn up according to your expectations. Your friends and associates shall not keep their promises. Be careful of wicked friends as your reputation could be made to suffer on their account. Take care of family’s health as the problems related to their health may arise. Do not therefore plan a journey now. Physical ailments are also possible.
24/06/2012-11/08/2012 Dasha Jupiter
Jupiter Is In Bhav Number 5
You are learning new ways of maintaining harmony in your individuality at work and around friends and family. You will reap great rewards as you learn to expand your communication skills and be true to your inner self and your own personal needs. Changes you experience in your life will be deeply felt and lasting. People that you thought overlooked your good efforts will be your greatest and most supportive allies. An auspicious ceremony in the family is likely to take place. This period will also bring prosperity, happiness and success to your children.
11/08/2012-08/10/2012 Dasha Saturn
Saturn Is In Bhav Number 10
The outlook however will remain average mostly throughout the period. You should work on developing your profession rather than focusing on gains. During this period there could be personal issues & minor health issues which could create hurdles for work. There would be challenges and new choices which should be taken carefully. New projects should be totally avoided. This period will experience hurdles due to your un-adjusting nature as well as competition in work environment. Purchase of land and machinery should be postponed for some time.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)