Dividends for Fools:

There have been a number of good articles published recently on The Motley Fool that Dividend Addicts might be interested in reading under the Dividend & Income heading of the website.

Here are three great articles...

Make Your Portfolio Too Good to Fail:

"A great way to support your portfolio in all markets is to invest in some dividend payers. Studies have shown that dividend payers as a group outperform non-dividend payers -- and they do so even more during bear markets. So what should you look for?
- A strong but reasonable dividend -- if it looks too good to be true, it usually is
- A non-cyclical industry
- A track record of maintaining and raising dividends
- Positive free cash flow"


Advice for Young Investors:

"You can invest in each stock with as little as $50 or even less, sometimes, via "direct investing." Dividend reinvestment plans (often referred to as "Drips") and direct stock purchase plans (referred to as "DSPs" and "SPPs," among other things) let you invest in thousands of companies with small amounts of money. Your contributions buy small numbers of shares, or even fractions of shares. With traditional Drips, you need to own one share of stock in your own name before you can add to that. With direct plans, you can buy your first share directly from the company. Both plans permit you to bypass brokerages and their commission fees. (However, these days many brokerages charge very little in fees, and offer many excellent resources."


The Wall Street Myth That Could Destroy Your Portfolio:

"What you thought you knew about analyst estimates, short- or long-term, is bunk. Over both short runs and long runs, these highly paid analysts are overestimating the earnings growth of the companies they so closely track by a mind-blowing margin. On the five-year horizon, actual EPS growth clocked in almost 40% below analysts' estimates. Perhaps just as disconcerting, Cusatis and Woolridge point out that the average five-year estimates were roughly double the rate of GDP growth over the same time period."