I will have to get an accountant when I retire is what I am thinking. (25 years from now if I get nutered after baby #2 is born).
There can be no question but that dividend paying stocks are going to be seeing a resurgence in popularity. I think the market will see a 30% pop when the dividend tax falls off. Remember that, 30%. My question is what will happen to banks? If I can get 3 to 6% on my money in a tax fee dividend AND participate in the long term growth of my equity position (capital gains also getting favorable tax treatment) why in the world would I bother with obnoxious bankers? As I see it, the most likely industry to get hurt is the banking community. Since they are extraordinarily powerful in D.C., I am not fully convinced that dividend tax relief is actually going to happen.
How will the new 15% tax on dividends effect stocks? Will it pull money out of growth stocks and into dividend stocks? Tonight Cramer (of Kudlow and Cramer, and usually a growth stock fan) says he is rearranging the portfolios he manages toward the dividend stocks. Of course, he is usually wrong. It is my understanding that the lower tax won't apply to some of the highest paying dividend stocks because they aren't really dividends. For example, one of my dividend favorites, NAT, in which the dividend is seen as at least a partial expression of depreciation, in their case on oil tankers. The same for all of the oil and gas partnership stocks. Is it the same for REITS? I still like ACAS, one of the rare true growth stocks paying over 10% in true dividend, and paying it in June.
I bought Merge Technology (MRGE) today. A wall flower stock, with 9 inside buyers (only 2 sellers), 15 institutuinal owners of which 13 are buying, excellent growth, nice PEG, IBD Rating of 88 = B+, 6 out of 8 checks for The Foolish 8 method, nice clean chart with great volume coming up the right side for the breakout, making a low vol. handle, others seem to agree when you check the Clearstation chart (which is showing a 'green' uptrend), what else can I say? Set the stop at $8.50 or so.
See the annotated graph of this recommendation at:
http://clearstation.etrade.com/cgi-bin/bbs?Cmd=post&post_id=4419874
