Top Dividend Stocks in the S&P 500 Index

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The S&P 500 Index is the barometer of the U.S. economy since it constitutes 500 leading companies from the leading industries. The top 10 components in the index based on market cap are Exxon Mobil Corp(XOM), Microsoft Corp(MSFT), Apple Inc.(APPL), Procter & Gamble(PG), Johnson & Johnson(JNJ),General Electric Co(GE), International Business Machines Corp(IBM), JP Morgan Chase & Co (JPM), Pfizer Inc (PFE) and AT&T Inc(T).

The table below lists 33 components of the S&P 500 that pay over 5% dividends:

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Utility stocks in the above list include Duke Energy(DUK), DTE Energy(DTE) and NiSource(NI). Altria(MO), Lorillard(LO) and Reynolds American (RAI) are in the tobacco sector.

Thirty Russell 2000 Stocks with over 10% Dividend Yields

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The Russell 2000 Index measures the performance of about 2000 U.S. small cap stocks. The stocks are selected based on market cap and current index membership.

The index components are rebalanced annually so that larger stocks do not distort the performance of this pure small cap index.  As of December, 2009 the average weighted market cap is $1.0 B and the largest company by market cap is about $5.6B. Financial services, technology, consumer discretionary, health care and producer durables form the top5 sectors in this index.

Some of the ETFs that track the Russell 2000 Index include iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund(IWM), ProShares Ultra Russell2000(UWM) and ETFS Russell 2000 Fund(RTWO).

The table below 30 components of this index that have dividend yields greater than 10%:

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Germany Tops the List of Global Trade Logistics Rankings

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Germany tops the list of countries that were ranked based on the Logistics Performance Indicators (LPI) in a recent study titled “Connecting to Compete 2010: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy” by The World Bank. With Europe’s largest economy and centrally located Germany offers a sophisticated logistics network for companies to reach EU’s 500 million customers. Singapore is ranked number two on the list.

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The U.S. is ranked at number 15. “In terms of how developing countries are doing per region, South Africa (28) is the top performer from Africa; China (27) from East Asia; Poland (30) from Central and Eastern Europe; Brazil (41) from Latin America; Lebanon (33) from the Middle East; and India (47) from South Asia.”Somalia, Eritrea and Sierra Leone are three of the worst countries in terms of logistics infrastructure.

The Big Four Australian Banks Look for Growth Overseas

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According to an article in The Banker magazine, the big four Australian banks have to look outside of Australia for growth.The big four banks in Australia are ANZ (OTC: ANZBY), Commonwealth Bank (OTC:CMWAY), National Australia Bank (OTC:NABZY) and Westpac(WBK). As the domestic market is dominated by these four banks they are more likely to depend on growth in foreign markets especially in Asia.

Some key points from the Banker article:

In the past 18 months the number of second-tier banks has almost halved due to M&A

The Big Four banks hold 73.8% of outstanding mortgages in Australia

ANZ Banking is expanding fast in Asia targeting high net worth retail customers particularly in India and China

“NAB owns Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank in the UK and community bank Great Western in the US. Westpac has strong retail operations in several Pacific island nations. And CBA owns Fiji’s Colonial National Bank, and has minority stakes in China’s Jinan City Commercial Bank and Hangzhou City Commercial Bank. ”

The current dividend yields of the big four Aussie banks areas follows:

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (OTC:ANZBY)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.96%

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC: CMWAY)
Current Dividend Yield: N/A

National Australia Bank (OTC:NABZY)
Current Dividend Yield: 5.45%

Westpac Banking Corp (WBK)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.73%

The Top 10 Bank Holding Companies in the U.S.

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HSBC North America Holdings Inc, a unit of HSBC Holdings plc (HBC) and Barclays Group US Inc, a unit of Barclays plc (BCS) of UK are present in the Top 10 Bank Holding Companies in the U.S. based on assets as of 12/31/2009.

The Top 10 Bank Holding Companies(BHCs) are:

  1. Bank of America (BAC)
  2. JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
  3. Citigroup Inc (C)
  4. Wells Fargo & Co (WFC)
  5. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS)
  6. Morgan Stanley (MS)
  7. Metlife (MET)
  8. HSBC North America Holdings Inc
  9. Barclays Group US Inc
  10. Taunus Corporation

Source: National Information Center of the Federal Reserve System

Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank and JPMorgan Chase are super banks each with assets of over $1 Trillion. The assets of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase exceed $2 Trillion.

The Top 50 BHCs can be found here.