In October, I began work on the 2014 edition of TOP 40 DIVIDEND GROWTH STOCKS.
Actually, as in previous years, I have been working on it all year. Here's what I mean:
As soon as the 2013 edition was published, I began collecting information for possible inclusion in the 2014 edition. Throughout the year, I maintain an ongoing file of items, including excerpts from my articles on Seeking Alpha, my comments there, my "lessons" in the Daily Trade Alert, and extracts from other sources that I find interesting. I keep building this file all year. I made a final search for additional new material in October. I ended up with more than 170 pages of potential new stuff!
I have been working the new material into the text for the last two months. That creates the first draft of the text. I am very concerned about length, but I also want to be comprehensive. So I try to eliminate redundancies and tighten the writing wherever I can.
Also throughout the year, I collect ongoing information about not only the current Top 40 stocks, but also other likely candidates. This is my 7th year in writing this eBook, and many of the same stocks turn up as legitimate candidates year in and year out.
In a few days, the December edition of the "CCC" document will be available. (For the uninitiated, that is the invaluable Dividend Champions, Contenders, and Challengers.) Those 500 or so stocks will be my starting universe to cull down to the eventual Top 40 for 2014.
There is one important change this year. Because of interest expressed by many readers, I will consider stocks with yields as low as 2% this year, compared to 3% last year. (I will still keep the requirement for utilities of at least 4% and for MLPs of 5%.) This will open up the doors for stocks such as ExxonMobil and Wal-Mart, excellent companies that have been ineligible in the past because of low yields. They must make up for their lower yields with higher dividend growth rates (DGR). I don't know whether any of these stocks will make it to the Top 40, but they will be eligible to compete.
I am making this change to a lower minimum yield this year at the request of many younger readers, who look forward to many years or decades of compounding. They are willing to start with a lower initial yield for a high quality company if it has a higher DGR.
I am happy to report that once again this year the eBook will contain FASTGraphs for every stock. These worked out great for valuation last year. By special arrangement, you will be able to update the FASTGraph for every stock throughout 2014.
There will also be at least one new chapter this year. My demonstration Dividend Growth Portfolio now has more than 5 years under its belt. It has proved to be a great teaching and learning tool. I am gathering all of the information about this portfolio into a self-contained chapter for maximum effectiveness.
I am aiming for publication around mid-January, 2014. Waiting until January allows me to incorporate full-year 2013 data for the stocks. As soon as the new edition is available, I will announce it in this newsletter first.
Regards,
Dave
