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Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL). Solid company and good dividend of around 3%.
But the big deal is the shareholder benefits. If you like cruising and have 100 or more shares (I do) then you get $250 on-board-credit for a cruise 14 days or more in addition to the dividend. I own 150 shares and this is equivalent to a 5.35% dividend .... not per year but everytime I cruise on a ship owned by Carnival (e.g. Carnival, Costa, Cunard, Seabourn, Holland America, etc.)
That is a great "dividend" isn't it? I own both CCL & RCL for just that reason. Last year I took 5 cruises of 14+ days on HAL, RCL & Celebrity, and received onboard credits (obc) of $1,250. I already have two RCL cruises booked this year so that's another $500. Over the years, I've received much more in obc's than I paid for the underlying stock itself. And that doesn't even include the quarterly cash dividends that I've received.
Are there any other stocks that offer incentives in addition to dividends? Like CCL's onboard credits. I heard MCD sends it's investors coupons once in a while. Anything else?
WVVI advertised a free wine club for stock owners, but shortly after getting my first two bottles of wine, I got a bill for something like $75/bottle. Talk about a bait and switch.
WVVI advertised a free wine club for stock owners, but shortly after getting my first two bottles of wine, I got a bill for something like $75/bottle. Talk about a bait and switch.
Well, maybe they parsed that phrase to mean free (wine) club. I.e., the club was free, not the wine.
That is a great "dividend" isn't it? I own both CCL & RCL for just that reason. Last year I took 5 cruises of 14+ days on HAL, RCL & Celebrity, and received onboard credits (obc) of $1,250. I already have two RCL cruises booked this year so that's another $500. Over the years, I've received much more in obc's than I paid for the underlying stock itself. And that doesn't even include the quarterly cash dividends that I've received.
I do a cruise about once every eight or nine months and always at least two weeks. Not as much as you but the OBC still mounts up. I actually count dividends as 'income' but use OBC to reduce my cost of ownership. It will not be long before I have completely recovered the cost of the underlying stock.
You have to remember no one is smarter than the market.
You like to say this, but its entirely self-refuting. After all, how exactly can you know this? Wouldn't it require, on some level, you to be "smarter than the market"? How is your claim fundamentally different than saying "I can beat the market"? Its not...and hence self-refuting.
Furthermore, suggesting that people should just buy index funds or whatever else is just a matter of speculation. This is the great scam of the mutual fund industry...
Quote:
Originally Posted by CouponJack
Most people "tout" there winners, but always hide/don't post when they rack up the fees and losers.....
Yes there are people like this, but there are also many that are honest about their investing/trading activities. You just want to believe that everyone is hiding something because it conforms to what you wish to believe...
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Originally Posted by CouponJack
Stock picking is NOT investing and shouldn't be counted on for retirement..(kind of buying lottery tickets which is retirement for the stupid)
Gibberish, investing in individual stocks for long term gain is most certainly investing. Now whether or not a particular individual should do this sort of thing in his/her retirement account is a matter of their tolerance for risk, market knowledge, etc. Its definitely not for everyone.
I agree, avoid the large cap dividend stocks like the plague. They're tied into almost every hedge fund and mutual fund, so they trade in lockstep with the overall market. When the funds sell (and they will when the boomers panic), JNJ, KO, PG, etc. all go down.
What exactly predicates that the boomers are going to panic? Regardless, what you're saying is true for most stocks. Boomers have their funds in all sorts of mutual funds and they invest in all sorts of equities...not just large-caps with good dividends.
Anyhow, I like trading stocks with good dividends that I'm at least mildly interested in holding as investments. That way if your trade goes south (assuming its not leveraged) you can just put it to the side and keep it as an investment. The only dividend stock I own at the moment is Microsoft and its good to see nobody mentioned it! I bought it a few weeks ago. But over the last year or so I've made a decent amount trading large-caps with good dividends, but every trade went well so I didn't have to hold any. I've owned GE 4 times in the last year....
Stock picking is NOT investing and shouldn't be counted on for retirement
I beg to differ. IMHO, assigning a value to a stock, building in a margin of safety, buying it when it's undervalued and holding it while collecting dividends until it's fully valued or overvalued, all while ignoring general market trends is the ONLY way to get any kind of certainty out of the stock market. Refer to my favorite quote below, which I first read years ago and find to be just as true today:
"Bargains are the holy grail of the true stockpicker. The fact that 10-30 percent of our net worth is lost in a market sell-off is of little consequence. We see the latest correction not as a disaster but as an opportunity to acquire more shares at low prices. This is how great fortunes are made over time."
You like to say this, but its entirely self-refuting. After all, how exactly can you know this? Wouldn't it require, on some level, you to be "smarter than the market"? How is your claim fundamentally different than saying "I can beat the market"? Its not...and hence self-refuting.
Furthermore, suggesting that people should just buy index funds or whatever else is just a matter of speculation. This is the great scam of the mutual fund industry...
Yes there are people like this, but there are also many that are honest about their investing/trading activities. You just want to believe that everyone is hiding something because it conforms to what you wish to believe...
Gibberish, investing in individual stocks for long term gain is most certainly investing. Now whether or not a particular individual should do this sort of thing in his/her retirement account is a matter of their tolerance for risk, market knowledge, etc. Its definitely not for everyone.
There will people who "beat" the market but unfortunately those are far and few inbetween (after taxes and costs). If I have a diversified portfolio of low cost investments tailored to my risk tolerance, I will come out ahead over the vast majority of investors who gamble w/an undiversified portfolio. I'll take that anyday.
There will people who "beat" the market but unfortunately those are far and few inbetween (after taxes and costs).
This is just more dogma, you have no idea how many individuals end up beating the market. But more importantly, whether 10%, 20%, etc people beat the market is fairly irrelevant. The more interesting question here whether or not the people that do beat the market have any common attributes, etc.
Another thing that amuses me about this line of thought is that it applies to business as well, namely that most people that start businesses end up not succeeding. Yet.....what would happen if nobody started businesses? There would be no economy. Interestingly as well is that the fewer people that go into business the more opportunity there is in business!
Quote:
Originally Posted by CouponJack
If I have a diversified portfolio of low cost investments tailored to my risk tolerance, I will come out ahead over the vast majority of investors who gamble w/an undiversified portfolio.
Who cares? That isn't the relevant comparison even if true (which you are just assuming is true), the real question is whether you would be better off doing your "diversified portfolio, etc" gimmick or trading/investing in a more serious fashion.
You're filled with shibboleths and dogma...and ironically believe that your particular speculation on the markets it the correct one and others are wrong. That is, you fundamentally fail to realize that you're making the same sort of market speculations that traders and investors are doing, its just that the latter group is aware of such.....
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