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Friday, July 30, 2010

THE GREAT CIGARETTE DIVIDEND MACHINE HEADS HIGHER


Last week, we heaped abuse on the "perfectly hedged" clean energy fund. This kind of investment somehow manages to lose money in both good times and bad.

This week, we take a look at the antidote to faddish ideas like solar and wind energy: We look at the past year's price action in Altria (MO).

Altria is the world's dominant cigarette maker. It's a stock Dan Ferris and Tom Dyson have written bullishly about in DailyWealth (check out their arguments here and here). While it's easy to understand Marlboro's incredible brand power, most people don't understand the government loves it when folks buy Altria cigarettes. The government is even more addicted to the huge taxes it collects from Altria than Altria's customers are addicted to its product.

As you can see from our chart below, the cigarette business is doing well these days. Altria just struck a new 52-week high. Despite this price gain, the stock still yields over 6%. This chart proves that when it comes to making long-term investments, there's no need to chase the "next big thing"… just stick with the incredible cash flow and dividend-producing power of "World Dominators" like Altria.

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