2012 Edition -- Progress Report

I have received many inquiries about Top 40 Dividend Growth Stocks for 2012. Here is the latest news.

First, to answer the most basic question. Yes, there will be a 2012 edition. It will be available in a week or two.

I have been working on the 2012 edition since October, when I first began to update, add new material, and reorganize the text. When I needed a break from that, I turned my attention to the Top 40 stocks themselves. Beginning with a starting list of over 450 candidates, I used a series of preliminary tests to knock out obvious non-contenders. After that, the analysis became more detailed. I got the pile down to about 60 "Finalists" in December. Further study has reduced that number to 48. About 32-33 of those are "in," and the rest will be selected after further study.

The eBook's subtitle this year will be How to Create and Maintain a Dividend Growth Portfolio. I have received numerous comments from readers that the text--the investing guide--is more important than the Top 40 stocks themselves. I considered flipping the title, emphasizing the guide and dropping the Top 40 to subtitle status. Like this: 2012 Edition: How to Create and Maintain a Dividend Growth Portfolio featuring Top 40 Dividend Growth Stocks for 2012. But I rejected that because the ongoing Top 40 title has built up an identity of its own. A subtle change in the title this year is to drop the hyphen between DIVIDEND and GROWTH. I want to convey that in this strategy of investing, not only do dividends grow, but generally the stock values grow too.

I am making several improvements and upgrades to the text this year:

• The chapters have been expanded so that there is one full chapter for each "phase" of stock investing: (1) finding excellent companies; (2) valuing them so that you can buy them at attractive prices; and (3) portfolio management. The discussions of all these topics have been enhanced.
• I am adding a "Resource and Article Guide" chapter. This will collect in one place the various resources that I use in writing the eBook, and which I suggest that you use when you are evaluating companies. Plus it will contain a complete guide to the many articles that I have written on dividend growth investing, with direct links to the articles.
• Other new features this year include: a table of all stocks that have ever made a Top 40 list by year; a new chapter on the conceptual and theoretical foundations for dividend growth investing; and a new valuation metric using Morningstar’s "star" stock ratings.
• I decided to opened the Top 40 list to tobacco stocks this year. I had not done that previously, because smoking killed both of my parents. But I decided that I was allowing personal considerations to influence business decisions. People can decide for themselves what companies they do or don't want to invest in based on personal beliefs. I will also cap the number of MLPs (to around 6-8) in order to get a wider variety of stocks into the Top 40.

Publication of the new eBook may be delayed into the third week of January, because we will be having houseguests, and I will not be able to work on the manuscript for a few days. It's always something! Some of you may recall that last year, I had a hard-drive crash at the worst possible time. (And thanks for all of you who told me to get an online backup sytem. Several suggested Carbonite, and I use it now.)

When it is first available, I will announce the 2012 release in this newsletter only. That's not because I'm being coy, but rather it's because I can get an announcement in here almost immediately, including a "Buy" link for those who know they want the eBook without further information. It will take me 2-3 days to update my website to reflect the new edition, which will include a new "description page" about the eBook.

Thank you to everyone for your encouragement and suggestions throughout the year! The encouragement helps keep me going, and several of your suggestions have been implemented in this year's edition.

Stay tuned!