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Many boring investors — like myself — like to invest in companies that pay dividends. It’s true that many companies are cutting back on dividends, but you can still find them. And, even though they are basically taxed twice, dividends are a great deal. (This is why I think arguments that higher capital gains taxes will result in less investment is silly. As long as taxes don’t get too high, above 50% — and even that amount is unlikely, there will always be people interested in growing their wealth through investing.)

The Motley Fool points this out about dividends:

The good news, though, is that dividends still pay off in the long run. Lots of studies have shown that if you remove dividends from the equation, stock investments lose most of their punch. Historically, from 1871 to 2003, 97% of returns came from dividends. Moreover, exceptional dividend payers can perform exceptionally well during bear markets.

Dividend investing

Dividend investing can allow you to set up a regular income stream. Every time the stock pays dividends, usually on a quarterly or semi-annually basis, you get your own payment. Some companies even pay dividends monthly. You can choose to keep the money, using it as an income stream, or you can re-invest it. Many companies have dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) that you can take advantage of.

Here are some companies that offer dividends:

• Pepsi
• Johnson & Johnson
• McDonald’s
• Abbott Laboratories
• Allstate
• General Electric

Obviously, you should do your homework and see what works best for you. These are just companies that I, personally, think are likely to do reasonably well and see increased dividends as the recession comes to an end and the market starts to recover.

Disclaimer: I am not an investment professional. Nothing in this piece or on this Web site should be construed as investment advice. Before making investment decisions, do your own research and/or consult with an investment professional. All investment comes with the risk of loss. You are responsible for your own investment decisions and any loss that may result from your decisions.

When you start out investing — and even when you consider yourself an old hand at investing — it is possible to make mistakes. And there are plenty of mistakes to be had. The most important thing, though, is to learn from your mistakes. Stock Trading To Go offers these 5 investing mistakes that are almost inevitable, and that you should learn from when you make them:

1. Not doing research. Many people just invest in a stock that seems “hot” at the time. However, before you invest in something, you should do your research. It’s your money; you’ve worked hard for it. Don’t put it somewhere without figuring out if it’s a good fit for you.
2. Following only one person’s advice. Not everyone can be right all the time. Even Warren Buffett makes mistakes, and he’s generally accepted as The Man. Listen to what a number of different people say, and learn your own style. No one person will have all the answers, and you need to get out there and take responsibility for your own investment decisions.
3. Letting your emotions take charge. Money and investing can get very emotional. But you need to learn how to properly channel your emotions and master them so that you don’t make rash decisions with your investments — decisions you could regret later.
4. Buying on margin. It seems like a really good idea at the time. Leverage! You borrow money and invest it in the stock market. This is a mistake that not everyone makes. And, really, it’s much less painful to learn from someone else’s buying on margin mistake.
5. Buying a “hot” stock. There’s a reason it’s hot — it’s almost reached the end of its profitability. Indeed, about the time something becomes hot is the time that everyone else starts selling — leaving you to reap the problems. This goes along with #1: Do your research. It be boring, but you’re less likely to lose money.

Of course, no one is completely safe; all investment carries risk. But if you avoid the above mistakes, or learn from them if you have fallen into them, you should do reasonably well.

Disclaimer: I am not an investment professional. Nothing in this piece or on this Web site should be construed as investment advice. Before making investment decisions, do your own research and/or consult with an investment professional. All investment comes with the risk of loss. You are responsible for your own investment decisions and any loss that may result from your decisions.

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As the economy continues to show signs of weakness, a number of measures are being taken to shore up Wall Street and the financial system. But, at the same time, leaders are also trying to find ways to keep a meltdown of this magnitude from happening again. And, even though it seems as though we spend a lot of time mentioning Timothy Geithner, there is not a whole lot that can be done about that. He’s just so visible, from comments on the latest currency reserve proposal by China to plans to seize non-bank financial institutions. This time, though, Geithner is proposing regulatory changes to investments.

Complex and opaque investments partially plamed for financial crisis

One of the many culprits being blamed for the financial crisis is greed stemming from the propogation of difficult to understand investments that were under-regulated and allowed to flourish — even though they were highly leveraged and no one knew how to value them. Geithner thinks he can prevent this from happening again by strengthening regulations and requiring transparency. His remarks this morning specifically addressed derivatives, hedge funds and money market mutual funds. These investments have long been outside the purview of traditional regulation. Geithner wants to see more transparency and acknowledgement of risk in  investment. The hope is that by requiring more scrutiny for some investments — especially derivatives — another mess can be prevented in the future.

While this is a nice thought, I wonder how it will work. Regulations that were put in place after the Great Depression, in response to the gross oversights that led to the stock market crash of 1929, were shed about 70 years later. Even if there are regulations in place, who’s to say that — in the name of more explosive economic growth and assurances that things are so much more sophisticated — 70 years from now the same thing won’t happen again? Will we see more deregulation as complacency sets in? Will desire for the wild and unstable growth of the late 1990s and the early 2000s cause backsliding sooner?

It remains to be seen whether or not we really can learn from this mess.