Five Stocks of DJ STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index

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The Dow Jones STOXX Nordic Select Dividend Index contains 20 components that have the top dividend stocks from the Nordic countries. The index is defined as:

“the ideal tool to track high-dividend-yielding companies and to participate in their respective dividend payouts, across the Nordic region: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. ”

The following are five companies and their current yields from this index:

1.Company Name: Aktieselskabet Dampskibsselskabet Torm
Ticker: TRMD
Dividend Yield : 8.08%

2.Company Name: Metso Corp
Ticker: MXYCY
Dividend Yield : 21.96%

3.Company Name: Statoilhydro ASA
Ticker: STO
Dividend Yield : 5.11%

4.Company Name: UPM-Kymmene Oyj
Ticker: UPMKY
Dividend Yield : 9.51%

5.Company Name: Volvo AB
Ticker: VOLVY
Dividend Yield : 19.67%

Five Stocks of DJ STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index

Diamonds in the Rough

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Investors have traditionally stayed away from the OTC market (Pink Sheets) since they were considered to be unsafe.While this is true since many penny stocks trade in the pink sheets and are highly risky, there are some high quality foreign companies that trade in this market. Some of these companies are multi-billion dollar well established companies in their domestic countries. When the New York Stock Exchange raised the fees a few years ago and the Sarbane-Oxley regulations came into effect quite a few foreign companies delisted their ADR stocks from the NYSE and listed them in the OTC market.

The following are some of the sponsored ADRs trading in the OTC markets:

1. Nestle SA (NSRGY)
Dividend Yield: 3.29%

2.Enel Societa Per Azioni (ENLAY)
Dividend Yield: 9.84%

3. Swedbank (SWDBY)
Dividend Yield: 29.21%

4.Danske Bank (DNSKY)
Dividend Yield: 15.79%

5. Tesco Plc (TSCDY)
Dividend Yield: 6.17%

6. BNP Paribas (BNPQY)
Dividend Yield: 10.04%

7.Henkel AG (HENKY)
Dividend Yield: 3.35%

Some of these stocks may have thin trading volumes. I will list more foreign stocks listed in the OTC market in future posts.

The Best Banks of the World 2008

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One of the worst performing sector in the current bear market is the financial sector. Many bank stocks are down over 50% or more. The financials in the S&P 500 Index is down 56.3% year-to-date. On the international level, many well known banks have had to raise capital to stay in business.Others have been gobbled up by their competitors.

In this scenario, The Banker magazine presented its Ninth Bank of the Year Awards for 2008.

While now is not the best time to jump into some of these beaten-down financials, it is prudent to watch this sector and monitor developments.

The Banker Magazine selected The Best Banks of the world 2008 based on many criteria including:

  • Questionnaires Submitted by 740 banks from 150 countries
  • Latest Earnings Results
  • Growth Rates
  • Performance data over the period contained in the Questionnaire
  • Other factors like Technology, Acquisitions and Key Strategic Developments

As per the magazine, these winners “are the cream of the global banking community
and the highest achievers in the industry.”

In this post I have listed the Winners at the global level. The table below includes tickers if the bank is traded in the USA.

The Best Banks of the World 2008

[TABLE=127]

Overview:
1.BNP Paribas of France won both the Global Bank of the Year and the award for best bank in Western Europe. BNP Paribas trades on the OTC market with ticker
BNPQY.

BNP Paribas was the 3rd largest in the world and the largest in Eurozone based on assets held as of April 30 this year.(Source: The Banker) BNP is a member of France’s main stock market Index the CAC 40.BNPQy has a yield of 10.04%.

2.Spain-based Banco Santander (STD) won the award for Latin America because the bank has a huge presence in Latin American countries.Santander was part of the consortium that acquired ABN Amro of The Netherlands last year.In October, Santander acquired the remaining 75.65% of Sovereign Bancorp in USA it did not already own. The current dividend yield is 8.50%.

3.Citibank(C) was rescued by the U.S. government by pumping billions of dollars last month after the bank was on the verge of collapse.After reaching an all-time low of $3.05, Citi’s stock has rebounded to close $7.71 yesterday. According to the deal agreed with the government, Citi cannot pay more than $0.01 in quarterly dividends for the next 3 years
without prior approval.

4.New York-based Bank of New York Mellon(BK),was formed after the merger of The Bank of New York Company, Inc. and Mellon Financial Corporation of Pittsburgh.In the last 52 weeks, the stock is down 39%. BK pays a dividend of 3.19%.

5.The Brazilian bank Banco Bradesco(BBD) won the award in the Environmental, Social and Governance category. Bradesco is one of the large private-sector banks in
Brazil.BBD is a component of the Bovespa Index. Similar to its peer Banco Itau (ITU), BBD is down about 57% in the last 52 weeks.

Top Ten Global Personal Care Products Makers

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Personal Care Products include items that we use on a daily basis. Some of the items in this group are hair care products, deodorants, detergents, toothpaste, skin care products, band-aids, baby diapers, tissue, etc. Some of these products are necessities and consumers buy them even when the economy is down. This is one reason why stocks in this sector are good picks to ride out a recession.

In order to identify the Top 10 Companies in the Personal Care Products business I used Computerwire’s DataMonitor list. The following top ranking companies were selected based on their 2007 personal care product revenues:

[TABLE=126]

Note: Companies whose stocks are not traded in the USA are marked with N/A.

Brief Overview:

1. The Procter & Gamble Company (PG) is a Cincinnati,Ohio USA based Fortune 500 company that manufactures a wide range of consumer products and markets them in over 180 countries. P&G owns many of the world-class brands like Gillette, Olay, Pampers, Bounty, Duracell, Vicks, Folgers Coffee, Crest etc. PG has an yield of 2.6% and a P/E of 16.4. Total Revenue in 2007 was $85.0B. In the last 5 year, annual EPS growth was 14.5%.

2.Unilever PLC (UL) is one of the parent companies of the Unilever Group. Another company is Unilever N.V. (UN) based in Holland. Some of Unilever’s brands include Brooke Bond Tea, Ponds, Ben & Jerry’s, Slim Fast, Bertolli, Ragu, Lipton,Close-up, Dove, Thermasilk, etc. UL pays a dividend of 3.01% and the P/E is 10.98%.

3. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is a great American company with a wide range of products in its portfolio. JNJ is also a Dow Jones Industrial Average component. Some of JNJ’s brands are Acuvue, Band-Aid, Nicorette, Tylenol, Neutrogena, Shower to Shower, etc. S&P has a 5-star rating on JNJ. In the past 52 weeks JNJ is down just 16%. Annual dividend growth rate is 15%. In 2007, total revenues were $64.5 B.

4. Another global health and hygiene products maker is Irving, Texas-based Kimberly Clark Corp (KMB). The company makes many paper-based products including Kleenex, Cottenelle, Huggies, etc.

Total Revenues in 2007 was $19.6B. The P/E is 13.89 and the yield is 4.06%.

5. Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL) is a USA-based multi-national company that is famous for the Colgate tooth paste brand worldwide. Colgate owns brands like Ajax, Colgate toothpaste, Fresh Start, Palmolive soap, etc. Similar to JNJ, CL is also a 5-star rated stock by S&P. The current yield is 2.55% and the P/E is 17.93. Annual EPS growth rate in the past 5 years is 8%.

6.New York City, USA-based Estee Lauder (EL) is a manufacturer and marketer of skin care, fragrance and hair care products. Owned brands include Estee Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, American Beauty, Donna Karan,etc. EL has a dividend yield of 2.03%.

7. Incorporated in United Kingdom, GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) is the world’s second largest drug company but also manufactures oral hygienic products, nutritional drinks, etc.GSK is a multi-national corporation with its products being sold in over 140 countries. GSK is a component of the FTSE 100 Index. Some GSK’s brands are Tagamet, Flonase, Aquafresh, etc.

The other companies in the above list Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, Kao Corporation and L’Oreal S.A. do not trade in the organized exchanges in the USA.

Five Most Traded Asian ADRs

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The following are the five most traded ADR stocks from Asia based on Daily Trading Volume:

1.Company Name: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Ticker: TSM
Country: Taiwan

2.Company Name: United Microelectronics
Ticker: UMC
Country: Taiwan

3.Company Name: BHP Billiton
Ticker: BHP
Country: Australia

4.Company Name: Focus Media
Ticker: FMCN
Country: China

5.Company Name: Baidu.com
Ticker: BIDU
Country: China