7 Consumer Goods Stocks With 35 Years Of Dividend Increases

(WASHINGTON) — Americans spent at the fastest pace in five months in February, boosting retail spending 1.1 percent compared with January. About half the jump reflected higher gas prices, but even excluding gas purchases, retail sales rose 0.6 percent. The report Wednesday from the Commerce Department showed that Americans kept spending last month despite higher Social Security taxes that took effect this year. The retail sales report is the government’s first look each month at consumer spending, which drives about 70 percent of economic activity.

By Dividend Stocks Online:After a recent selloff, utility stocks that pay dividends have been on the mend. Many of these companies are offering good value and strong yields. But value and yield are only a part of the equation dividend investors use to find the best dividend stocks. For the long term investor we believe the most important factor to be dividend growth.

Charles Lieberman submits:It is disputed in a few corners, but more analysts and strategists view bonds as severely overvalued and stocks as symmetrically cheap. We share this judgment and point to assorted different ways to reach this conclusion. Investors should be trying to inoculate their bonds holdings from losing value at some point and taking advantage of the upside potential in equities. The “lost decade” in stocks could easily be followed by a lost decade in bonds, while stocks recover.

By Dividend Stocks Online:Dividend growth drives stocks higher and increases total return through yield and equity appreciation. As a follow up to our post covering Nasdaq dividend growth stocks, we are highlighting the 10 best Dow dividend growth stocks. The Dow Jones is an index made up of 30 stocks, most of which pay dividends.

Dividends4Life submits: If you want to lower the risk of your income portfolio and position yourself to increase returns, you can not ignore asset allocation. Many dividend investors loaded up on banks and other high-yield financials, only to see their portfolios collapse along with the financial markets. So what can you do to protect your portfolio from stock and sector specific declines?

By Dividend Growth Investor:Every week I scan the list of dividend increases and focus on the consistent dividend growers in a little bit of extra detail. I define consistent dividend grower as companies which have managed to boost distributions for over five consecutive years. Over the past week and a half, the following consistent income stocks raised distributions: