THE TOP 40 DIVIDEND STOCKS FOR 2011 Is Well Underway

For the past month, I have been preparing the manuscript for THE TOP 40 DIVIDEND STOCKS FOR 2011. The process proceeds along two parallel paths:


--The screening and selection process for the Top 40 stocks themselves.
--The writing (or rewriting) of the text.


One significant change in the text next year is that I am adding a chapter on the role of dividend stocks in funding retirement. This new chapter is based on my five-article series on Financing Retirement that appeared here earlier this year. The series was very popular and generated significant comments. To convert the articles into a Chapter for THE TOP 40, I am rearranging and condensing the material. I am also working in new or refined concepts that that came up in the comments and in my responses to those comments.


I am also making textual changes to emphasize that the e-book is about dividend growth investing. The subtitle next year will be How to Accumulate Wealth or Generate Income from Dividend-Growth Stocks. References in the text to "Sensible Dividend Investors" are being changed to "Dividend Growth Investors." The e-book has always been about dividend growth investing (as opposed to, say, investing in preferred shares, whose payout rates do not grow). Now the text will be more consistent in reflecting that.


On the stock-selection side, I again this year started out with about 700 stocks. (I collect references to and recommendations of dividend stocks throughout the year.) I am about two-thirds done with paring this starting list down to the real contenders. I do this by applying several minimal requirements regarding yield, consistency of raising dividends, and the like. That will get the list down to around 200 stocks. Then another round of screening will pare the list further to the 75 or so stocks that actually have a realistic chance of being one of the Top 40.


I am aiming for a publication date in January. Some magazine articles or special issues about investing in 2011 are already hitting the shelves in stores. But I like to wait for the current year to end so that I can use full-year 2010 data in my analyses.


I will keep you posted on the progress of THE TOP 40 DIVIDEND STOCKS FOR 2011: How to Accumulate Wealth or Generate Income from Dividend-Growth Stocks every few weeks until the publication date.