One of the fun things about being a shareholder is that some companies give free perks.  I started tracking companies that provide an extra benefit to being a shareholder. (See my list below.) We purchased some shares of National Beverage (FIZZ) earlier this year and were quite surprised when this unexpected 7lb box showed up on our door step. Unexpected Gift from LaCroix The UPS driver was pulling up to our house right as we were both in the kitchen cooking dinner.  Neither of us had any idea what he could be delivering.  Once I saw the National Beverage logo on the side, I was intrigued.  I was hoping it…

If you are new to investing, one topic that often comes up is dividends.  But what is a dividend, and why should you care about them?  Where do they come from?  Why are some higher than others?  Should you only invest in companies that pay dividends?  Lets take a look at how dividends work. ` Companies exist to earn a profit for their shareholders.  When you buy a share of stock, you become a fractional owner of the business.  As part owner of the business, you are entitled to a proportional fraction of what the company makes in profits.  Now does that mean you get all the money earned by…

Some companies pay regular, predictable dividends on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis.  Most companies usually stick to quarterly payments, but there are some exceptions out there.  But what about companies that do not declare regular dividends, but instead opt for “special dividends”.  These do not  show up in screeners or on finance sites as part of the dividend yield as they are irregular payments without the expectation of recurring. But some companies pay these special dividends very regularly.  If a company pays a “special” dividend every year, in a sense it – almost- becomes a regular dividend.  This leads to me calling these “stealth” dividends.  Why stealth?  Because almost all the…

Recently, our longtime broker, Scottrade, was acquired by TD Ameritrade.  The transition was smooth and uneventful.  All our positions transferred over and I have not experienced any disruptions because of the change.  I initially had no intention of switching brokers, but a deal popped up that was too good to pass up.  Charles Schwab is offering a “tenure trade offer” to all former Scottrade account holders.  They will give you free trades for as long as you have been a Scottrade customer.  Initially I though it went something along the lines of , if you were a customer for 5 years, you got 5 free trades.  This is not the case. If you were with Scottrade for…