Tomorrow morning, I will be closing the trade where I was long Google (GOOG) and short Microsoft (MSFT). The trade closing today is quite interesting with Google overtaking Microsoft as the 2nd most important tech company in the world in terms of market cap today. The trade currently stands at +22,61%

Dividend investing is a huge part of my investment strategy. As I’ve mentioned in my now monthly passive income updates, receiving dividend income from my both my Ultimate Sustainable Dividend portfolio and my ETF portfolio is a primary driver of how my retirement will be like a few decades from now:)

I also wrote about why dividend investing is not just a trend and I think that finding the right stocks to include is a critical part. Today we have an interesting analysis as the top pick actually has a very low payout ratio.. !

Today, we are back with our list of the top 100 dividend stocks from the S&P500 and we have a familiar name back on top.

Pitney Bowes (PBI)

Again, while it’s always dangerous to judge a company based only on its dividend yield, PBI does have a stronger profile than many of the other names that have led this name. It’s not perfect as we found out in our newsletter a few weeks ago but still a decent pick. Again though, judging a dividend stock by its yield can turn out to be a dangerous game.

Over the weekend, I will do further research on these 100 names and will send it over to newsletter subscribers next week, be free to join if you haven’t already, it’s free!:)

In the meantime, here is the list!

It’s that time of the year again where I go back to look at the 4 stocks that Picked for our friendly stock picking competition! You might remember that I made 2 technology picks and 2 dividend ones. I’m attempting to win the competition for the 2nd time and while I’m doing very well, I still have not caught up to first place. Before showing the results, here are my 4 picks:

Intel Corporation (INTC): -4.34% It hasn’t been the best of years for Intel but I can certainly live with a -4% return as my worst pick. The company has been a bit disappointing so far this year but I do remain a strong believer in the company as a very stron technology dividend stock.

Travelzoo (TZOO): -4.11% – It has been a difficult year for all players in the daily deal markets and while Travelzoo remains the top name in its category, margins are suffering. I do think that more consolidation will come and still like the pick going into the 4th quarter.

Aflac (AFL): +13,10% – Aflac is an incredible opportunity and it’s no surprise that I also added it to the Ultimate Sustainable Dividend portfolio a few months ago. It has a sound business, steady cash flows, a good international presences and trades at an afforadable price. Even these days when I do filtering to find quality dividend stocks, Alfac frequently makes it to the end!

Apple (AAPL): +65,42% – Last week was a tough one for Apple as it continues to face heavy criticism following the launch of iOS6 and its new maps. Apple screwed up big time on that one and it will pay but in the end, I do still think that Apple remains an incredible value. It’s not by chance that the two leaders of this competition had Apple among their picks, it’s been a clear winner. Earler this year, I said it would be insane to not own Apple and it’s one call that I’ve gotten right and without surprise picked it at the top of my technology power rankings.

That is all for now, I invite you to see how everyone has performed and see their own recaps below:

Disclaimer: Long Apple, Aflac, Intel and Travelzoo

Long LinkedIn (LNKD) & Short Pandora (P) +24,23%

Long Baidu (BIDU) & Short AOL (AOL) -21,82%

Today I am back with a deep look into international stocks that could and should be added to your own version of the Ultimate Sustainable Dividend Portfolio. I started off by looking at some of the top listed ADR’s in terms of dividends while staying away from pink sheet stocks! I also removed stocks that did not have a price of $5, etc.

That helped me reach a number of stocks that certainly have solid potential for greatness. Looking at yield is clearly not enough but it does provide a good starting point. Why am I so motivated in acquiring international dividend stock picks? Because it provides added diversification and a stronger portfolio which is critical in these very difficult economic times. It will end up making a significant difference in the success of my passive income objectives.

You can take a look at the top 50 from my list here:

If you are a member of our free mailing list, you know all about our 7-7-7 rule, where we look for stocks that have increased by an average of 7% or better on sales, earnings per share and dividends per share, signalling very high quality dividend stocks. 6 of those 50 stocks actually fill that criteria. If ever you’d like to sign up for our free newsletter take a look at:

Anyway, back to the subject, here are those 6 stocks:)

For several months now, Frontier Communications Corp (FTR) has been near the very top with a dividend yield of over 10%. One more proof that yield is not the only thing that matters is the fact that FTR saw its dividend yield decline in the past month because its stock price has increase significantly. That being said, I’d still stay away from a company that is paying much more than what it can afford.

I also wrote about why dividend investing is not just a trend and I think that finding the right stocks to include is a critical part. Today we have an interesting analysis as the top pick actually has a very low payout ratio.. !

Today, we are back with our list of the top 100 dividend stocks from the S&P500 and we have a familiar name back on top.

Pitney Bowes (PBI)

There’s no doubt about it, PBI has a much stronger profile than others that have been at the top spot. It’s not perfect as we found out in our newsletter a few weeks ago but still a decent pick. Again though, judging a dividend stock by its yield can turn out to be a dangerous game.

Over the weekend, I will do further research on these 100 names and will send it over to newsletter subscribers next week, be free to join if you haven’t already, it’s free!:)

In the meantime, here is the list!