| 5 Excellent, Non-Pipeline Income Stocks Joseph L. Shaefer submits: I believe natural gas will be America’s energy salvation. I’ve previously discussed my favorite natural gas exploration and production firms and my top natural gas (and oil) pipeline companies. But every portfolio needs diversification to mitigate risk and/or short-term under-performance in any one sector or industry. I’d like to find good solid income, if I can, in the food, other-than-natural-gas energy, and basic materials sectors. A number of SA contributors believe, as I do, that a steadily-increasing stream of dividend income is a key component of total return. Many advisors suggest buying a good solid company that pays 2% -- but with the likelihood of increasing that dividend year after year. My variation on that is to find a good solid company that pays 8% -- and with the likelihood of increasing that dividend year after year. I provided a chart of the increasing payout for the past 12 years from one such company, OneOK (OKS), in the second of the two articles cited above. Let’s see if we can’t find others that might provide the same kind of steady growth in other sectors. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
FedEx Reports Jump in Package Deliveries The Good News Economist submits: FedEx (FDX) reported Thursday that it shipped 1,000,000 more packages than expected on Monday -- which it anticipates will be its peak shipping day this holiday. The firm reported that this year's busiest day is up 17% from its busiest day last year.FedEx CEO, Fred Smith further observed that their business has now observed a significant "turning point," and that the company will resume some normal human resources benefits that it had suspended for employees in 2009.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Toyota Saga Continues With Damaging Accusations Ockham Research submits: Toyota Motor Corp (TM) once again finds itself in the hot seat of a public relations challenge. Wednesday, US Regulators announced that they would undergo a formal investigation on Toyota’s Corolla model years 2009 and 2010. This puts yet another of Toyota’s most popular cars in the sights of a growing nightmare for the world’s largest auto maker. To be clear, the investigation is not a recall, but if it were to lead to that it would affect about 500,000 cars. Another potentially damaging bit of breaking news hit the wires Thursday afternoon via Reuters, as a former lawyer for Toyota named Dimitrios Biller claims he has proof of an orchestrated cover-up where Toyota either systematically hid or destroyed legal evidence. The House Oversight Committee panel charged with the investigation has subpoenaed some of the more than 6000 internal documents that the former employee took with him when he departed Toyota back in 2007.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Toyota Invests $50 Million in Tesla Venture Despite Project Contention Joel West submits: Thursday night, Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors announced that its long-promised Model S electric sedan would be built at the closed NUMMI plant in Fremont. The announcement came with a $50 million investment from Toyota (TM).Given this 25-year joint venture between Toyota and GM had established infrastructure, and its April 1 closing was a source of great embarrassment to Toyota, this seems like a no-brainer. However, apparently it only dates to an April meeting between the Toyota CEO, Akio Toyoda, and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, who made the joint announcement Thursday.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
The Dry-Shipping Sector: Poised for Gains? StreetAuthority submits: By David Sterman There are dozens of very large ships plying the global waters that do nothing but ferry dry goods. Think of coal, grain, steel and other such bulk goods. When major nations actively trade these goods, bulk ships are in hot demand and the cost to lease them can surge. But when trading activity cools, their lease rates can plunge very sharply.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |