Of all the ways you can test the holdings in your portfolio, Ben Graham codified what he called the most persuasive in his book Intelligent Investor. Companies paying dividends for 20 consecutive years were first on Graham’s list of high quality. I explained high quality to readers in August 2007, writing: Laurent & Villchur... Back in 1967, Acoustic Research’s demonstration room on Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was ground zero for state-of-the-art high fidelity. My experiences in Cambridge led me to buy the Acoustic Research AR3 speakers and AR turntable that I am … [Read more...]

I learned from Ben Graham nearly six decades ago that there's no better way to assess an investment than the cold hard cash it returns to you in the form of dividends or interest. In September of 2012 I wrote: While at Babson College, I studied Ben Graham’s Security Analysis. I still return to it regularly. In Chapter 35, Ben Graham writes, “For the vast majority of common stocks, the dividend record and prospects have always been the most important factor controlling investment quality and value…. In the majority of cases, the price of common stocks has been influenced more markedly by the … [Read more...]

Investing wisely demands due diligence. While there are certainly thousands of variables affecting any investment decision, narrowing down your focus with some broad questions can help you get started. In August of 2003, I encouraged investors to start with these four questions. I wrote: Ask These Four Questions As I’ve written, the first four questions I ask about a company concern dividend increases, share decreases, debt reductions, and cash accumulations. Many managements decry each of my benchmarks, pleading that the reinvestment of cash is best for shareholders long-term; that actual … [Read more...]

There are few subjects studied by so many, but still so little understood as investing and wine. Nearly everyone you meet has an opinion on both, but start getting specific and you realize the pool of knowledge isn’t deep. You don’t need to be an expert in either, but it helps to get the big picture right. In February of 2011 I wrote: Medieval Monks Terroir (teh-RWAHR). Literally “terrain” in French. David Downie in Food Wine Burgundy explains that originally terroir was used to refer to the particular qualities that soil and climate bestow on wine. The French word climat designates a … [Read more...]

Panic selling during periods of market decline can be devastating to your long-term investment success. In 1987 many investors were frightened out of the market and missed out, not only on the rebound in shares in the following years, but on all the dividends they could have used to buy more shares at depressed prices. I reminded readers of that in February of 2009 when the Great Recession was at its bleakest. Here’s what I wrote: The 1987 Debacle I remember the crash of September/October 1987 like it was yesterday. Virtually overnight, the Dow collapsed to about 1700 from 2700. Terrified … [Read more...]

In November 1999 tech stocks with no dividends seemed like a sure bet. Despite the hype, I was still doing my best to encourage my readers to stick the principles of dividends and compounding. Here’s what I wrote then: Historically, Dividends Provide Much of Total Return What about the base for the economy and the stock market in general? As I’ve written often, the two are inexorably linked. After all, could stocks on average outrun the performance of all the companies that jointly contribute to our country’s gross domestic product? No. and, here’s why. Over seven decades, from 1926 to … [Read more...]