5 Advantages of Using Automatic Investment Plans

How do you buy stocks for your portfolio? Do you wait until you have $500, $1,000, or more saved up to invest? As a small investor, I use to purchase shares for my portfolio this way in order to limit the amount of brokerage commissions and fees I would pay. Then I learned of a [...]

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Weekly Round-Up – January 21st, 2012

Welcome to Buy Stocks Online, your source for learning how to invest in the stock market and build wealth. Over the last couple of weeks, I have spent a lot of time researching how to find value in the stock market. While I have been focusing on buying only the top dividend paying stocks available, [...]

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How to Calculate the Graham Number of a Stock

Have you ever worried about paying too much for a stock? As a dividend income investor, I have had this concern many times. Even though I like to take a long term approach to investing, I still don’t like to overpay to own a stock. There is no reason to overpay for a blue chip [...]

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How to Calculate Price to Book Ratio

The Price to Book Ratio (P/B Ratio) is commonly used by value investors to find undervalued stocks in the market. The formula compares a stock’s market value (current price) to its book value (company’s assets). Generally speaking, the lower the P/B ratio of a stock, the more undervalued it may be. The results of this [...]

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Weekly Round-Up – January 14th, 2012

Happy New Year! Last week I highlighted my 2012 investment goals and how I plan to build my dividend income portfolio this year. My goal is to invest $6,000 in new money while continuing to reinvest all dividends using DRIP. If my calculations are correct, I should be close to earning $500 in dividends this [...]

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What is a Good Dividend Yield for a Stock?

What is a good dividend yield for a stock? The answer depends on your investment strategy. Some investors prefer to buy stocks that have lots of growth potential while others may prefer to target value stocks. In the case of growth stocks, many do not pay a dividend at all while others pay very little. [...]

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How to Start Investing with No Money

You don’t need thousands of dollars to start investing in the stock market. In fact, for far less than $100, you can start buying stock in blue chip companies that pay dividends. What many new investors don’t realize is that stocks don’t have to be bought and sold through a stock broker. For as little [...]

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How to Fund Your Dividend Income Portfolio

It is easy to set goals and plan how you want to build your dividend income portfolio. For example, I have set a goal for this year to invest $6,000 of new money into buying quality dividend paying stocks. I also would like to add two new stocks to my portfolio and continue to build [...]

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What is the Cheapest Way to Buy Stocks Online?

In order to be a successful investor, it is important to recognize the costs associated with investing. Commissions and fees charged by brokers to invest in stocks can really hamper a small investor like myself. For example, a $20 commission on a $1,000 investment accounts for 2% of the entire transaction. It is even higher [...]

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December 2011 Dividend Income Portfolio Performance

Another month is almost in the books and it is time to report my dividend income results for December. This is the first time I have posted my monthly results, which should help me stay focused on my long range goals of building a solid dividend income portfolio. I currently own 10 different stocks that [...]

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What is an Automatic Investment Plan?

An automatic investment plan (AIP) is a way for investors to buy stocks on a recurring basis with small amounts of money. The funds to pay for these investments are automatically deducted from a checking or savings account of the investor. There are many different types of automated plans that investors can choose from. For [...]

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2011 Dividend Income Portfolio Performance

Another year has almost ended and it is that time to report my dividend income results for the past 12 months. As I shift my investment strategy from chasing high yielding stocks to searching out only the best dividend stocks, I am slowly starting to build a stable foundation for my income portfolio. I personally [...]

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Weekly Round-Up – December 24th, 2011

The new year is right around the corner, which means it is time to start setting my goals for the new year. I have some lofty goals I would like to meet in 2012 when it comes to growing my dividend portfolio. For starters, I plan to double my dividend income from ~$250 this year [...]

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Yield on Cost Analysis – Abbott Laboratories (ABT)

As a dividend investor, there are several financial ratios I have come to learn and use in my stock analysis. For example, the dividend payout ratio tells me how much of a company’s earnings are going to pay their dividend. The dividend yield lets us know how much return on investment an investor would receive [...]

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What is a Dividend Reinvestment Plan?

A Dividend Reinvestment Plan or DRIP is a tool investors can use to reinvest their dividend payments by purchasing additional shares of the stock. Most online stock brokers offer these plans to their clients as an opportunity to increase the value of an investment. Generally these investments are commission free and can be at a [...]

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2012 Dividend Aristocrat Index

Want to know where to find the best dividend stocks? One place to start your search is the Standard & Poor’s dividend aristocrat index. Each December, Standard & Poor’s will re-balance the index to include new members meeting the criteria and drop others that no longer apply. The 2012 dividend aristocrat list is comprised of [...]

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What is Yield on Cost?

The yield on cost is a simple but effective financial calculation that shows the dividend yield of a shareholder’s investment. Often times, investors rely on the current yield of a stock, which is not very helpful for shares you may already own. The current yield is specific to the current share price as opposed to [...]

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Direct Stock Purchase Plan: Clorox (CLX)

As a income investor, I am always on the lookout for quality companies that offer healthy and sustainable returns. I look at financial data like the P/E ratio of a company, the dividend yield, and even the payout ratio of a company. While these indicators can help me narrow down my list of investment options, [...]

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Can You Buy Stocks Without a Broker?

One of the easiest ways to buy stocks is through an online stock broker. By opening an online brokerage account, investors can typically buy and sell stocks for less than $20 per trade. Some online brokers even offer trades for less than $5 per transaction. While low cost commissions are a great way to limit [...]

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How to Find Stocks that Pay Dividends

One of the first steps in building a solid dividend income portfolio is defining a stock selection strategy. A carefully planned strategy can help an investor find stocks that not only pay a dividend, but are the most stable and secure investment opportunities available. There are hundreds of companies that pay a dividend to their [...]

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