Last year was the first year I set some personal finance and investing goals in black and white. I posted them on my blog for the world to see and scrutinize. I also posted them on my blog to keep me accountable. In years past, while I set financial goals, they were not written down and consequently not followed up on very well they floated around in my head. In hindsight, I think this blog was a huge enabler for meeting many financial objectives in 2010. I hope this year will be just as successful.

To recap, our goals from last year were:
Goal # 1 – Put down $20,000 on our mortgage.
Goal # 2 – Maximize TFSAs.
Goal # 3 – “Clean-up” RRSP Accounts (ETFs instead of high-MER funds).
Goal # 4 – Frequent contributions to DRIPs.
Goal # 5 – Optimize RRSPs.
Goal # 6 – Save for and take a great trip.

We were fortunate enough to accomplish every one above, 100%, except for #1. That goal was indeed lofty but I think you need to have stretch assignments, at least we like them. In the end we hit 55% of our target for goal #1 and while in grade school 55% means you almost failed, I dont think our efforts were too bad.
Writing about mortgage payments brings me to our first personal finance goal of 2011:

Goal # 1 Increase mortgage payments by $200 per month

With a new place there are lots of expenses. Lots. I dont need to list them because Im sure youve moved enough yourself and you know what they are. The list never seems to end. For us, the initial big ticket items were appliances and window treatments last month. These things werent cheap and neither are the small things when you add them up. Recognizing we can never do it all at once, weve decided to strike a balance in 2011; live for today, make our house a home and take small steps at paying off the mortgage.  If we increase our mortgage payments this year by $200 per month, we figure well save almost $30,000 in interest costs over the life of our mortgage and payoff the house about 4 years earlier – sounds pretty good to us.

Goal # 2 Contribute $5,000 each to TFSAs

Our government has been pretty good to us in recent years, OK, at least in one area with the introduction of the TFSA in January 2009. We figure we better take advantage of this financial tool because who friggin knows when, if or how the rules will change. Governments are famous for that. You already know the deal:

Including this year, you could have contributed up to $15,000 into a TFSA.
The money can be earned or withdrawn completely tax free.
Contribution room can be carried forward indefinitely.
You never lose contribution room when you withdraw money.
More benefits, more benefits

With $10,000 contribution room each, weve got lots of room to manoeuvre in 2011. Wed like to contribute $5,000 each to our TFSAs. We had to withdraw money from our TFSAs in 2010 to purchase those appliances I wrote about. We dont regret this transaction (because we need to eat!) but this purchase left a big hole to fill in our financial plan. 

Goal # 3 Optimize our RRSPs

Thanks to some savvy DIY investors and financial tutors like Canadian Couch Potato, Canadian Capitalist, Michael James on Money, Andrew Hallam, DIY Investor and others, Ive been schooled on the importance of managing our RRSPs efficiently. For many years, my wife and I werent managing our RRSPs, they were managing us. For almost 10 years we held various equity and bond mutual funds in our RRSPs. That changed last year when we accomplished our financial goal called clean-up our RRSP accounts. These knowledgeable DIY investors re-emphasized the drag management fees had on our retirement savings. Armed with this knowledge we made changes last year and now were using a few ETFs in our RRSPs to match returns of the S&P/TSX 60 Index and the DEX Universe Bond Index respectively, instead of equity and bond mutual funds that charged us 2% per year. These changes lowered our management fees by over 80%!

For 2011, we intend to optimize our RRSPs that is contribute only enough needed to avoid paying any more taxes come tax time. This way, we pay ourselves first but we also retain necessary funds for the rest of our financial plan. We figure optimizing our RRSPs in 2011 will cost us a few hundred dollars every month.

Goal # 4 Continue my full Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) with Bank of Nova Scotia

After making major investments (for us anyhow) into businesses like Bank of Montreal, Sun Life, CIBC and Enbridge some time ago, my focus early in 2010 turned to Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS).  I started investing in BNS for many reasons, one of the main reasons being they behaved (not just survived) very well out of the financial storm of 2008-2009.  They too, are a dividend stalwart:  paying dividends for over 150 years.

Many savvy dividend investors like The Rat, themoneygardener, Passive Income Earner and Echo from Boomer & Echo I recall got their invitations to the BNS dividend party years ago, now Im with them.  Glad to be with you gentlemen!   Last year I managed to contribute at least $50 per month into BNS stock, no commission fees, just the cost of a stamp and an envelope.  Hopefully sometime later this year I’ll be at a point whereby I’ll be earning at least one free Bank of Nova Scotia share via my full DRIP every quarter.   I look forward to seeing that compounding machine running.

Goal # 5 Start my full Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) with Fortis

Ive been meaning to do this for some time and I think 2011 should be the year, enough procrastinating already. An overview of Fortis:

Fortis Inc. is the largest investor-owned distribution utility in Canada, serving approximately 2,100,000 gas and electricity customers. Its regulated holdings include a natural gas utility in British Columbia and electric utilities in 5 Canadian provinces and 3 Caribbean countries. Fortis owns non-regulated hydroelectric generation assets across Canada and in Belize and upper New York State. It also owns hotels and commercial real estate in Canada.

Fortis (FTS) pays a healthy (and steady) dividend and is considered a Canadian dividend aristocrat, consistently raising its payout to shareholders year after year.  I want to be part of that payout.

Goal # 6 Build up our emergency fund to $10,000

We have some funds set aside for emergencies but not enough to satisfy our comfort level. Everyone has their own level and ours is $10 K. Weve got some work to do and 2011 is the year to do it.

Unlike last year, we wont be taking any grand trips to South America or any distant lands for that matter.  My wife and I have decided that 2011 is a year to get some work done around the house and furnish it the way we want to. Lawn chairs in our living room are not an option! Those efforts will take time and money and so in 2011, any additional savings beyond our emergency fund will be going towards home improvements.  Were still planning some weekends away, together, with friends and family but no big voyages. Although wed like to travel and experience new worlds there are things to do at home, literally. On the flipside, getting some objectives accomplished around the house in 2011 should give us much more freedom in 2012 – something to look forward to for sure.  I guess thats what goals are all about

What do you think of our financial goals for 2011?  What are yours?

I look forward to hearing from you, have a good weekend!
My Own Advisor

Gas Natural Inc. (EGAS), formerly known as Energy, Inc., is a distributor of natural gas in Montana, Wyoming, North Carolina, and Maine. It was founded in 1909. The stock pays a yield of 5.1% and carries a price to earnings ratio of 7.03.

Baytex Energy (BTE) is an investment trust which generates income from petroleum and natural gas properties. It generates a yield of 5.1%, and has been paying monthly since 2006. The company trades at 23.5 times forward earnings.

Blackrock Apex Municipal Fund Inc. (APX), founded in 1987, owns medium-to-lower grade or unrated municipal bonds, and sports a yield of 6.2%. It sells at a discount to net asset value in excess of 12.7%. Management fees are 0.68%.

Realty Income Corp. (O), with the great single letter stock ticker symbol, yields 5.1%. This real estate investment trust which specializes in commercial retail real estate, has been around since 1969. The stock trades at 16.9 times forward earnings.

Calamos Convertible & High Income (CHY) has a fairly high yield of 8.2%. It trades at about a 1.5% discount to net asset value. However, the management fee is a bit on the high side at 1.13%. This CEF, founded in 2003, invests in high yield fixed income securities and convertible securities.

Provident Energy Trust (PVX) is a Canadian income trust which generates a yield of 8.7% through the marketing of natural gas liquids. It was founded in 1993. Be aware of Canada’s new legislation taxing trust income in effect this year, which would tax the trusts at the corporate level in addition to the shareholder level. However, many analysts believe that this taxation is build into the price of these Canadian trusts.

Some things to keep in mind when you are doing your due diligence and analysis on these investments. Be careful of the ones with high management fees, watch out for the ones with limited liquidity and which trade very few shares on a daily basis, and if you invest in the municipal bond closed end funds, make sure you know the consequences of the Alternative Minimum Tax. You also want to find the ones that trade at a discount to net asset value, and avoid the ones using excessive leverage.

To see the latest updated list of over 275 monthly dividend stocks, including many that have yields of 8% or more, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Remember, very high yields may not be sustainable.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has a corn processing division which produces ethanol from corn. The stock has a price to earnings ratio of 10.3, a forward P/E of 9.3 and a yield of 2%. Although revenues were up 12.6% for the latest quarter, earnings were down 30.4%.

The Andersons (ANDE), an Ohio based company, is involved in the management of ethanol production facilities and grain and ethanol trading. The stock has a P/E of 12.8, forward P/E of 11.3 and a yield of 1.2%. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 11.5%.

Bunge Ltd. (BG) is a White Plains, New York company founded in 1818 that produces ethanol from sugarcane. The stock has a P/E of 4.9, a forward P/E of 12.3 and a yield of 1.4%. Earnings for the latest quarter were down 8.6%.

A free list of stocks related to ethanol in some way, in an Excel format, which can be updated and sorted, can be found at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Before I acknowledge all the great articles Ive read over the last week or so, I want wish my readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!



2010 was a great year for my wife and I and we have lots to be thankful for. I guess like many folks at this time of year, I find myself being very reflective, which is a good thing in my opinion. Over the last 12 months, I started this blog, met some respected bloggers in the Ottawa area like Canadian Capitalist, Big Cajun Man, Michael James and Larry MacDonald, got married and had an amazing honeymoon, travelled to foreign countries, saw my sister-in-law beat cancer, bought and moved into a new house and watched some of our close friends start families with happy, healthy children. It has been a very rewarding year.

My guess is as good as yours what will happen in 2011 but I must say Im looking forward to what that might be


Over the next couple of weeks, chances are youll see some random posts. I do hope to post Part 2 of my interview with Derek Foster before the calendar turns to January but other than that, no promises. Im going to take some time to unwind, settle into the new place, catch up with family and friends and simply enjoy the holidays.  The red wine is calling now…


Whatever your plans are this holiday season, I hope they keep you safe, happy and healthy. I look forward to sharing more of my financial independence journey with you in 2011.  I think it’s going to be a great year!

Merry Christmas!
Mark

Here are just a few of the excellent articles I read this week.

One way to define cloud computing is having your programs and data stored remotely on a server far away, instead of on individual computers. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can have a fairly dumb computer ans still utilize cloud computing. The clouds are simply the servers of companies that provide this service, and those servers can be located anywhere in the world. If you have Yahoo (YHOO) mail, Google (GOOG) gmail, or hotmail, then you are using cloud computing in a small way. You don’t have the email servers in your office or home, you use the Yahoo or Google servers. Many colleges and universities are turning over their student email services to Google, which saves them money on servers and saves on staffing for support.

These same benefits apply to the private sector, especially when you extend it to data storage and computer software. You don’t need a technician to come out and install new software to each employees’ station. You don’t need a bunch of network administrators monitoring the company’s servers. You don’t need to periodically upgrade computers. You don’t need to own a bunch of servers. You cut down on the costs and issues relating to the disposal of old computers and servers. You don’t need to deal with data security, as that is the job of the cloud computing company. The benefits of clouds are extensive, and there are over 25 stocks in the cloud industry to choose from, according to the Cloud Computer Stock list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, including companies involved in server farms and outsourced storage systems.

Cloud computing as a growing industry now appears almost every day in the financial press. And the interest from investors has been significant. Take for example Salesforce.com (CRM), which is up over 600% since it started trading in 2004.

Salesforce.com is a provider of customer-relationship management services that has promoted ‘the end of software’. Salesforce has customers of all sizes, including Corporate Express division of Staples (SPLS), Daiwa Securities (DSECY.PK), Expedia (EXPE), Dow Jones Newswires subsidiary of News Corp. (NWS-A), SunTrust Banks (STI), and Kaiser Permanente. Salesforce trades at a lofty 89 times forward earnings, debt in the amount of $495 million, with over $769 million in cash. The company just reported a quarterly sales increase of 29.8% year over year, with a 1.8% increase in earnings.

VMware (VMW) is another major cloud and virtualization player. Its product VMware vSphere is a cloud computing data center platform. It sports a forward PE ratio of 49.6. The company has $450 million in debt with $2.9 billion in cash. The company reported that latest earnings increased an incredible 121.4% in earnings on a 45.8% increase in revenues.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) provides on demand applications and online services, including GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, GoToAssist, and GoToMyPC. This debt free company has $902 million in cash and carries a forward PE of 30. The latest quarterly earnings were up 64.3% on a revenue increase of 17.8%.

To access a free Excel spreadsheet database of numerous companies involved in cloud computing in some way, that can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to wsnn.com. You can also get info on the green aspects of cloud computing from my book The Green Light on Green Stocks: A Quick Guide to Green Investing and Making Money in Alternative Energy Stocks, in which I described cloud computing as a green industry and a way of providing money saving services to many corporations.

Disclosure: Author owns YHOO.

By Stockerblog.com

Ken Fisher Interview Part 7
Please note: The complete interview took place on Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Stockerblog: There was an article recently about how some investors got early retirement, they had nothing better to do, did a lot of research on their stocks, and were very successful. The article talked about one guy who built his portfolio from $30,000 to $3,000,000. Do you think that article was about an aberration or just looking at one end of the bell curve?

Fisher: That’s looking at the very few people who are definitely one tip of the bell curve.

And it’s not the average investor that could possibly consider it unless they had an extreme amount of luck to achieve anywhere near that.

The average investor by definition cannot do that. The average investor cannot possibly beat the market. The average investor, at most, can equal the market.

Stockerblog: Speaking of playing the market, the Bunk chapter on swine flu and some of the other things. It seems like someone who trades or does short term investing could actually play the opposite of some of these bunks. The swine flu could be an example or some other major catastrophe where the market has a temporary sell-off, and if you are mentally set to go into the market to do the opposite, a trader could actually do fairly well playing to opposite of the common bunks. Would you agree with that?

Fisher: I think that’s possible but for the average person that thinks its a trade, that he or she is a trader, is exceptionally unlikely. In fact, when we look at the history of traders, most of them don’t do very well.

Said another way, if you say who are the traders we can think of that have become legendary investors, are really, really rich and successful as traders, there aren’t very many of them; although we have a lot of traders in total, which tells you that it’s another one of those things where its a tip of the bell curve where people have a knack to do that but they’re very unusual and they are probably least like our primitive stone age ancestors. They probably have the leave behavioral finance issues embedded into their brains for some reason.

But there aren’t very many of those people and the odds of anyone being one of those people is small.

If the person that can trade these things, which I do believe there are people who can do it but its not me that’s for sure, if there are people good enough to trade these, they are good enough to trade all kinds of other things.

So another one of the bunks that you will remember reading about is my comments about gold, and gold is basically a thing where if you’re a very good trader, gold might be a good thing for you but gold has had an OK return but a huge volatility over time, and 85% of history on a monthly basis has lost money, and made all its total return out of 15% of the months. If you’re a good enough trader, you should be able to trade gold successfully and you should be able to trade all kins of other things too. And you don’t need an trading advice from me, that’s for darn sure.

The fundamental nature of those rare George Soros like traders or Paul Tudor Jones type people, the people at have made money off of trading that have gotten good returns and have had some consistency, because you can trade gold, you can trade oil, you can probably trade swine flu, but most people aren’t very good traders.

End of Part 7

The Debunkery book is available at Amazon.

Ken Fisher obviously doesn’t give individual stock recommendations in his interviews, but some stocks he likes that were mentioned in his recent Forbes columns, including high dividend stocks, are available in the form of a free Excel list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Part 1 of this interview is available HERE.

Part 2 of this interview is available HERE.

Part 3 of this interview is available HERE.

Part 4 of this interview is available HERE.

Part 5 of this interview is available HERE.

Part 6 of this interview is available HERE.

By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com

Disclosure: Interviewer doesn’t own any of the stocks mentioned in this interview series at the time the articles were written.

Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this interview prohibited without permission. All opinions are those of Ken Fisher, and do not represent the opinions of Stockerblog.com or the interviewer. Neither Stockerblog nor the interviewer nor the interviewee are rendering tax, legal, or investment advice in this interview. If you want tax, legal, or investment advice, contact the appropriate professional.

Who they are:

Its a well-known, established Canadian dividend-payer in the energy sector, generating primarily electricity and making sure that electricity gets to their customers. A bit more details from the Emera website:

With strategic energy services and infrastructure that includes electric utilities in the Northeastern US, Atlantic Canada, St. Lucia, Grand Bahama and Barbados, a pumped storage hydro-electric facility, natural gas pipelines, a gas-fired power plant, an energy services company and a renewable tidal energy company, Emera has a diversified portfolio with $5.7 billion in assets.

Indeed.

Why I picked them:

Emera (EMA) continues to evolve, becoming more diverse; growing investments (quotations directly from EMA website):
-For 80 years, Nova Scotia Power Inc., a subsidiary of Emera, has been the primary supplier of safe and reliable power to Nova Scotians.
-In 2001, Bangor-Hydro Electric Company was acquired to provide a secure source of electricity for 117,000 customers in eastern Maine.
-EMA owns 19% of St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited, an electricity utility serving some 50,000 customers in St. Lucia.
-EMA owns 25% of Grand Bahama Power Company, serving some 19,000 customers on the Caribbean island of Grand Bahama.
-EMA has a 50% joint venture interest in Bear Swamp, a hydro-electric facility in Massachusetts.
-EMA has a 12.9% interest in the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline and built the Brunswick Pipeline, both transport natural gas to customers in Atlantic Canada and northeastern U.S.
-EMA owns Emera Energy Services, an energy management company, Emera Utility Services, the largest utility services contractor in Atlantic Canada, Bayside Power, a gas-fired power plant located in Saint John, New Brunswick.

They own an 8.2% interest in OpenHydro, a renewable tidal energy company.
More recently, in November 2010, Emera announced plans with Nalcor Energy to bring energy from the Lower Churchill Project to Newfoundland and Labrador as well as to consumers in the Maritime provinces and New England. Under the agreement, Nalcor will build the generating facilities; Emera and Nalcor will jointly develop transmission capabilities to enable the movement of energy from the Churchill River. This agreement will promulgate a new, regulated transmission utility in Newfoundland and Labrador that will create subsea transmission between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia for the next 35 years. This phenomenal investment is worth over $6 billion CDN; major infrastructure.
Current dividend yield about 3.5% (steady and fits my wheelhouse).
Five year average dividend yield over 4% (solid).
Dividend payout ratio (a tad high) around 70%, but in line with their five year average ratio of about 75%.
Five year average dividend growth rate over 5% (good).
Growing close to $4 billion in market capitalization (good).
Little competition in Atlantic Canada as a power source (very good, the only major game in town).
Increasing earnings over the last few years; (2010 was about $1.6 billion (very good)).
Flying below media hype for the most part, Emera increased their dividend to $0.325 in November 2010, their second bump this year (excellent).
Paid dividends consistently, every quarter for almost 20 years; since 1992 (excellent history).
Has had 17 dividend increases since 1992 (excellent).

I bought Emera because simply put, I couldnt find many reasons not to. It is also a holding in XDV and I think most dividend investors would do very well to hold many of the stocks in this ETF. Just my opinion (and part of my long-term plan).

In closing, I bought a few shares of Emera because Nova Scotians, New Englanders and folks in the Carribean are just like me, we all need power and electricity to live. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, you can put off buying a car, a new suit or even pair of shoes but I doubt you will put off turning the lights on when you get home from work tonight. I know I didn’t. You’ll also probably fire up your computer (to read this post or no doubt catch a hockey game on the tube this week – all requiring electricity. Like other Canadian-dividend payers in my portfolio, my plan to is reinvest all dividends paid to buy more Emera shares every quarter. While I wish I could have purchased EMA lower than my $29+ entry point early last month, I really don’t mind what I paid to get a bunch of shares. I got some other stocks on the cheap this summer and the reality is, you can’t do it all. Also, my $29+ per share will look pretty good when EMA moves to over $35 in 2011. Just a hunch. Finally, I simply enjoy being invested than sitting on the sidelines waiting for the perfect Emera buying opportunity. Im not into timing the market. Forecasting stock prices is like forecasting the weather – I figure Im doomed in each. Instead, Id rather be in the market at reasonable prices and get paid in the process.

Hopefully my primary investing strategy, my dividend investing strategy will continue to work, one more Canadian dividend-payer at a time…

What do you think about my purchase? Good or bad or indifferent, I’d like to know!
Any dividend-paying stocks you have your eye on?

Cheers,
Financial Cents

Getting back to work and into the grove (or rut) from vacation this week, I feel compelled to import some of what Im experiencing at work into my blog today.

Ill set the scene

Youre asked to work on a new project, its high-profile and youre the project manager. Youll be given resources, although there are limits. Youll be given time to complete the project, although there is a due-date down the road. Youll be given scope to work within, although youve got some wiggle room to manoeuvre. Youre excited and you want to get going. Thats great because theres a natural tendency to dive right into the work – do this; do that; full steam ahead. From my perspective, that’s the last thing youd want to do. Enthusiasm and keenness are great attributes for a project but youll have fun soon enough. Successful projects require effective management from the very beginning; creating objectives, plans and communication of your approach to name a few.

Is your personal finance journey any different than a long-term project? Not in my opinion…

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI) project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations of a project. Technical, I agree, but I live this stuff everyday. In plain language, project management is a toolkit for folks to get work done effectively and efficiently.

At work, you might be responsible for implementing a new product or service. In your personal finance journey, the product is you. Youre the long-term project deliverable, financial independence is your outcome. At a very high-level, I dont see many differences between project management principles and the personal finance journey, I’ll explain:

1.Both need clear objectives - The most successful projects have clearly defined objectives from the outset. Wouldnt this apply to your financial journey?

2.Both need good plans - A carefully thought-out project plan serves two purposes. First, it allows everyone involved to understand and perform their part in the project. Second, it serves as a monitoring tool allowing you or others to take action if something doesnt go the way you thought it would. Written plans are always the best. I would argue your financial plan is simply a long-term project in disguise.

3.Both need lots of communication - Your projects at work are a collaborative effort between all of the individuals involved, even if its just you and your boss. Your personal finance project is probably not so personal, it likely affects your spouse, your kids, maybe even your parents. Everyone needs to be on the proverbial same page at home, just like work, if the journey is to be a successful one and all successful ventures begin and end with effective communication.

4.Both need controlled scope Just like work, numerous issues will arise during your project and not all these changes will help you achieve your objectives. There will be setbacks, there will be changes, its inevitable. At work, its important to stay focused on your objectives. I dont see your personal financial journey being any different. In my opinion, it doesnt matter if your financial objectives are 100% GICs or 100% stocks – managing your scope and staying true to your plan is absolutely necessary.

5.Both need sponsorship and support - Projects typically involve several stakeholders, folks who invest time, resources and have a vested interest in the project. If the project is you, you need to remain invested and vested. That can also mean, getting support when necessary, from your spouse, kids, parents, friends or a financial professional when you need it. Rarely can anyone achieve success (financial or otherwise) without help from others. While it may be a personal finance journey, the journey isn’t taken in isolation.

I could go on. I think theres tons of parallels between the project management world many of us experience everyday and the personal finance journey. In the end, good management is simply that, at work or at home.

What do you think?
Do you see any of the same parallels I see?
Do you think I’m nuts and too immersed into my work?

Cheers,
Financial Cents

Surprisingly, there are five health care related stocks that have increased their dividends more than 32 years in a row, according to the Dividend Increasing Stocks list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. For example, the large pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories (ABT) has boosted its dividend every year for 38 years and currently sports a yield of 3.7%. The company, which has been around since 1888, has four divisions: pharmaceutical products, diagnostic products, nutritional products, and vascular products. The stock trades at ten times forward earnings.

Walgreen Co. (WAG) could also be considered a health care company as it operates over 8,000 drugstores all over the United States. The company’s dividend has been bumped up for 35 years in a row and provides a current yield of 2%. The stock has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 12.

Helping to get us through the cold season (pun intended) is Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) which manufactures the famous Kleenex brand of tissues. The company also makes incontinence care products, surgical gowns, rubber exam gloves, infection control products, face masks, respiratory products, pain management products, and numerous other health care products. The stock currently yields a nice CD beating 4.2%, and has increased dividends every year for 38 years. It trades at 12 times forward earnings.

If you want to check out the other health care dividend increasers, including one that has increased its dividend for an amazing 48 years in a row, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com for the free downloadable Excel list which can be sorted and updated.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

So what is cloud computing? It is having your programs and data stored remotely, ‘in the clouds,’ instead of on individual computers. As long as you have Internet connection, you can have a fairly dumb computer ans still utilize cloud computing. So where are these so-called clouds? They are basically, in very simple terms, the servers of companies that provide this service, and those servers can be located anywhere.

Do you have Yahoo (YHOO) mail, Google (GOOG) gmail, or hotmail? Then you are using cloud computing in a small way. You don’t have the email servers in your office or home, you use the Yahoo or Google servers. As a matter of fact, many public universities are turning over their student email services to Google, giving students a type of gmail account. It saves them money on servers and saves on staffing for support.

These same benefits apply to the private sector, especially when you extend it to data storage and computer software. You don’t need a technician to come out an install new software to each employees’ station. You don’t need a bunch of network administrators monitoring the company’s servers. You don’t need to periodically upgrade computers. You don’t need to own a bunch of servers. You cut down on the costs and issues relating to the disposal of old computers and servers. You don’t need to deal with data security, as that is the job of the cloud computing company. The benefits of clouds are extensive, and there are over 25 stocks in the cloud industry to choose from, according to the Cloud Computer Stock list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, including companies involved in server farms and outsourced storage systems.

Salesforce.com is a provider of customer-relationship management services that has promoted ‘the end of software’. Salesforce has customers of all sizes, including Corporate Express division of Staples (SPLS), Daiwa Securities (DSECY.PK), Expedia (EXPE), Dow Jones Newswires subsidiary of News Corp. (NWS-A), SunTrust Banks (STI), and Kaiser Permanente. Salesforce trades at a lofty 76 times forward earnings, debt in the amount of $476 million, with over $742 million in cash. The company just reported a quarterly sales increase of 30% year over year, with a one cent drop in earnings per share.

VMware (VMW) is another major cloud and virtualization player. Its product VMware vSphere is a cloud computing data center platform. It sports a forward PE ratio of 45. The company has $450 million in debt with $2.9 billion in cash. The company reported that latest earnings increased an incredible 121.4% in earnings on a 45.8% increase in revenues.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) provides on demand applications and online services, including GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, GoToAssist, and GoToMyPC. This debt free company has $902 million in cash and carries a forward PE of 29. The latest quarterly earnings were up 64.3% on a revenue increase of 17.8%.

To access a free Excel spreadsheet database of numerous companies involved in cloud computing in some way, that can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to wsnn.com.

Disclosure: Author owns YHOO.

By Stockerblog.com