Weekly Links: April 15, 2017

Each weekend I highlight any notable articles that I came across over the past week. Though I may not always agree with each of the articles highlighted, they will often provide an interesting argument for their position. We can take some concepts that may or may not align with our vision, then apply them to our framework, and voila, a new idea is born.

Charlie Munger's 10 Rules for Investment Success

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's friend and partner, is quite an investor in his own right. Munger is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and served as chairman of Wesco Financial Corporation from 1984 through 2011. He is also the chairman of the Daily Journal Corporation, based in Los Angeles, California, and a director of Costco Wholesale Corporation. Munger's 10 Rules for Investment Success are detailed in his book Poor Charlie's Almanac. Here they are:

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) Dividend Stock Analysis

Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis:

Company Description: Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. is one of the world's leading agribusiness concerns, with major market positions in agricultural processing and merchandising.

Early Warning Signs of a Dividend Cut

Investors in Dividend Growth Stocks look for stocks that will provide a predictable, sustainable and growing income from dividends. It is bad when a company fails to raise its dividend at its appointed time; However, it is much worse when a company cuts its dividend. In most cases the companies' investors should not have been surprised because there are usually early warning signs that foretold a dividend cut was imminent.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Dividend Stock Analysis

Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Microsoft Corporation (MSFT). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis:

Company Description: Microsoft, the world's largest software company, develops PC software, including the Windows operating system and the Office application suite.

10 Stocks Providing Positive Feedback With Higher Dividends

It seems that every investing article ends with the same conclusion - you should be buying dividend stocks. Beyond the simple concepts, some of the writers are making really bad recommendations and cross-breeding dividend investing with their preferred form of investing. Dividend growth investing is not about exit points, momentum swings, relative strength, sector rotation; instead it is about studying fundamentals, selecting superior stocks and building a portfolio with a long-term horizon. When we buy a dividend stock, we hope to hold it forever.

This week several companies provided their shareholders positive feedback with increased cash dividends: