How do you find good stocks with the best monthly or quarterly dividends?

tradejewel: How do you find good stocks with the best monthly or quarterly dividends?
What does the ex-dividend date mean?

How can you trade stocks so you buy it in time to obtain the dividend, but make money and sell it too? Or are dividend stocks better to hold and get income? What are some good stocks to buy?

Answers and Views:

Answer by betmoneyonit
https://www.dividend.com/

Let me try and explain. The ex-dividend date is the date that the dividend and the stock split. If you are holding stock on or after the ex-dividend date and sell it, you keep the dividend and who ever buys it only gets the stock.

If you sell the day before the ex-dividend date, you lose the dividend for that period. So, if you are looking to pick up a dividend paying stock you would want to get it the day before it goes to ex-dividend.

Remember though if you are thinking of getting in right before that date, and then dumping them, the amount of the dividend to be paid to share holders comes off the top of the stock price and must be made back up over time, so you would be operating at about break even if you got out immediately.

Go take a look at Bank of America. That is a very nice dividend paying company. Growth on one end and one of the most generous dividends of all big companies.

Answer by beancounter
Here’s a free stock screener where you can search for stocks by their dividend yield. Many online brokerages have similar tools. You shouldn’t only buy a stock based on its yield, though – you should look at the fundamentals of their balance sheet and their history to see if they can continue it.

The ex-dividend date is the day when you will no longer be able to receive the dividend. So if you want the dividend, buy it one day before the ex-dividend date.

In the short-term stocks will drop by about the price of their dividend on the ex-dividend date. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less but it’s not a strategy you can count on. IMO dividend stocks are better to hold, particularly ones with a history of increasing their dividend.

A few I like: GE, NAT (an old personal favorite), FRO, PG, JNJ, VZ, UPS, NST, NGG, RAI, PCU. If you’re willing to take risk in financials BAC, WFC and C look good to me as well.