Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) plans to solve one of the Internet’s most vexing problems — most people around the world have no access to it. The notion that Facebook can do this reflects the kind of arrogance the company and its executives have become know for.
The social network issued a press release that said:
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, today announced the launch of internet.org, a global partnership with the goal of making internet access available to the next 5 billion people.
Zuckerberg certainly has�lined up an impressive set of partners:
The founding members of internet.org — Facebook, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm and Samsung — will develop joint projects, share knowledge, and mobilize industry and governments to bring the world online.
Bringing the Internet to five billion people is akin to bringing them food, water or education. The logistics and expense defy even the financial power of companies like Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) and the weak balance sheets of struggling corporations like Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK). The price to accomplish the goal would stretch into the hundreds of billions of dollars, given the nearly impossible task of creating an infrastructure to reach billions of people, let alone sharply cut the costs of what people who are poor or live in poor nations would pay.
10 Best European Stocks For 2015: Delaware Investments Dividend & Income Fund Inc. (DDF)
Delaware Investments Dividend and Income Fund, Inc. is a close-ended balanced mutual fund launched by Delaware Management Holdings, Inc. It is managed by Delaware Management Business Trust. The fund invests in the public equity and fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest 65 percent of its corpus in stocks and 35% in fixed income securities. The fund primarily invests in value stocks of large cap companies. It also invests in convertible securities, preferred stocks, other equity-related securities, and real estate investment trusts. For the fixed income component of the fund�s portfolio the fund invests in high yield corporate bonds rated BB or lower in terms of quality. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P 500 Index. Delaware Investments Dividend and Income Fund, Inc. was formed on March 25, 1993 and is domiciled in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dividends4Life]
According to a Gabelli Funds report, managed distribution policies offer several advantages, including:1. Lower difference between the fund�� market price and its NAV per share.2. Provides support during periods when the stock market is in a decline.3. Provides a measurable performance target for the investment adviser.Below are several high-yield funds from CEFA that have a managed distribution policy (yields as of December 16):Aberdeen Australia Eqty (IAF)- Distribution Yield: 10.4%- Income Yield: 3.46%Bexil Advisers LLC� (DNI)- Distribution Yield: 11.1%- Income Yield: 3.56%BlackRock En Capital&Inc (CII)- Distribution Yield: 8.78%- Income Yield: 2.34%Cornerstone Strat Value (CLM)- Distribution Yield: 18.77%- Income Yield: 1.83%Cornerstone Total Return (CRF)- Distribution Yield: 19.10%- Income Yield: 0.85%Delaware Inv Div & Inc (DDF)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 5.26%Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB)- Distribution Yield: 7.58%- Income Yield: 1.54%Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT)- Distribution Yield: 9.45%- Income Yield: 2.84%MFS Special Value Trust (MFV)- Distribution Yield: 9.60%- Income Yield: 5.73%Nuveen Tx-Adv TR Strat (JTA)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 3.12%TCW Strategic Income (TSI)- Distribution Yield: 10.54%- Income Yield: 7.88%Zweig Total Return (ZTR)- Distribution Yield: 7.27%- Income Yield: 1.95%As noted in the Gabelli report, a managed distribution policy may create confusion regarding the true current yield since the reported yield includes the return of capital portion. You can see the disparity above between the income yield and the distribution (reported) yield.If you are looking for a sustainable and growing dividend, you may want to consider some blue-chip dividend stocks such as these with a Free Cash Flow Payout less than 50%, 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases and a 2%+ yield:3M Co. (MMM) is a diversified global company provides enhanced product functionality in electronics, health care, industrial, consumer
5 Best Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Gafisa SA (GFA)
Gafisa S.A. (Gafisa), incorporated on November 12, 1996, is a diversified national homebuilder serving all demographic segments of the Brazilian market. The Company�� brands include Tenda, which serves the affordable entry-level housing segments, Gafisa, which offers a variety of residential options to the mid to higher income segments and Alphaville, which focuses on the identification, development and sale of residential communities. In addition, it provides construction services to third parties. Gafisa�� core business is the development of residential units in attractive locations. During the year ended December 31, 2009, approximately 55% of the value of its launches was derived from high and mid high-level residential developments under the Gafisa brand. It is also engaged in the development of land subdivisions, also known as residential communities, representing approximately 18% of the value of its launches under the Alphaville brand, and affordable entry-level housing, which represents approximately 27% of the value of its launches under the Tenda brand. In addition, it provides construction services to third parties. Gafisa operates in more than 120 cities, including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Fortaleza, Natal, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Manaus, Porto Alegre and Belem, across 21 states and the Federal District.
Real Estate Activities
The Company�� real estate business includes developments for sale of residential units; land subdivisions (also known as residential communities); commercial buildings; construction services to third parties, and sale of units through its brokerage subsidiaries, Gafisa Vendas and Gafisa Vendas Rio, jointly referred to as Gafisa Vendas. In the residential buildings product category, Gafisa develops three main types of products: luxury buildings targeted at upper-income customers, buildings targeted at middle-income customers; and affordable entry-level housing targeted at lower-income customers. Quality residential buildi! ngs for middle- and upper-income customers are its core products. Luxury buildings units usually have over 180 square meters of private area, at least four bedrooms and three parking spaces. The development includes swimming pools, gyms, visitor parking, and other amenities.
Buildings targeted at middle-income customers have accounted for the majority of its sales. Units usually have between 90 and 180 square meters of private area, three or four bedrooms and two to three underground parking spaces. Buildings are usually developed in large tracts of land as part of multi-building developments and, to a lesser extent, in smaller lots in attractive neighborhoods. Affordable entry-level housing consists of building and house units. Units usually have between 42 to 60 square meters of indoor private area and two to three bedrooms.
Commercial Buildings
During 2009, the Company launched four commercial buildings. These buildings include Centro Empresarial Madureira, Paulista Corporate, Reserva Eco Office Life and Global Offices.
Construction Service
Gafisa provide construction services to third parties, building residential and commercial projects for developers in Brazil. The Company�� principal construction services clients are large companies, many of them developers that do not build their own projects. As of December 31, 2009, its principal construction services clients were Fibra Empreendimentos Imobiliarios S.A., Sisan-Grupo Silvio Santos, Camargo Correa Desenvolvimento Imobiliario S.A., Helbor Empreendimentos Imobiliarios Ltda., InCons S.A., SDI Desenvolvimento Imobiliario Ltda. and Abyara. It also provides construction services on certain developments where it retains an equity interest.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Gafisa S.A. (NYSE: GFA) is a homebuilder in Brazil, supposedly with more than $1 billion in projects for 2014 alone. This ADR trades at $3.05 against a 52-week range of $2.22 to $5.24, and this is down only about 2% so far in 2014.
5 Best Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Sterling Bancorp(STL)
Sterling Bancorp operates as a bank holding company for Sterling National Bank that provides a range of banking and financial products and services in the Untied States primarily in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. It accepts various deposit products, including checking accounts, money market accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, rent security accounts, retirement accounts, and certificates of deposits; and deposit services comprising account management and information, disbursement, reconciliation, collection and concentration, ACH, and others. The company also provides business and consumer lending, asset-based financing, factoring/accounts receivable management services, equipment leasing, commercial and residential mortgage lending and brokerage, and trade financing services for commercial, industrial and financial companies, and government and non-profit entities. In addition, it offers financing and human resource business process outsourcing support services for the temporary staffing industry, which comprise full back-office, computer, tax, and accounting services, as well as financing to independently-owned staffing companies. The company operates 12 offices, including 9 offices in New York City, two branches in Nassau County, and 1 branch in Yonkers, New York. Sterling Bancorp was founded in 1929 and is based in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jon C. Ogg]
The M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) and Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: HCBK) transaction is the only pending deal of 2012 vintage due to various regulatory concerns. MTB currently has 9% short interest outstanding and PACW 15%. Another merger covered is the deal between Provident New York Bancorp (NASDAQ: PBNY) and Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL), and the balance are simply too small for us to warrant effort.
5 Best Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior S.A. (BLX)
Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. provides trade financing to commercial banks, middle-market companies, and corporations primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company operates in three segments: Commercial, Treasury, and Asset Management. The Commercial segment offers deposits and loans for foreign trade transactions. This segment also provides various products, services, and solutions relating to foreign trade, which include co-financing arrangements, underwriting of syndicated credit facilities, structured trade financing, asset-based financing in the form of factoring, vendor financing and leasing, and other fee-based services, such as electronic clearing services. The Treasury segment offers liquidity management and investment securities activities, including management of interest rate, liquidity, price, and currency risks. The Asset Management segment provides asset management services, including investment advisory services for funds and managed accounts. This division is involved in trading foreign exchange, interest rate swaps, and derivative products. The company was formerly known as Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A. and changed its name to Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. in June 2009. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Panama City, the Republic of Panama.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (NYSE: BLX ) , better and more conveniently known as Bladex, is maintaining its dividend policy. The lender has declared a payout of $0.30 per share of its stock for its Q1, to be paid on May 7 to shareholders of record as of April 29. This amount matches the company's previous disbursement, which has been paid in both of the preceding two quarters. Before that, Bladex dispensed $0.25 per share.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Panama-based supranational bank�Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior� (NYSE: BLX ) announced yesterday its second-quarter dividend of $0.30 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past three quarters after raising the payout 20% from $0.25 per share.
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