Word: dividends
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...quite optimistic about 2005. Valuations are not demanding, especially in a world of low inflation and low nominal interest rates. Mergers and acquisitions should boom this year, providing windfalls for the shareholders of takeover targets. I would expect corporate share buybacks to accelerate and dividend growth to remain strong. High returns on equity and low nominal growth mean lots of excess cash available for shareholders' benefit...
...will be next.) The buying binge is also being fueled by rising stock prices--and the loads of cash piling up on corporate balance sheets. The S&P 500 is up 40% from its 2002 low, and companies in the index are sitting on $2.3 trillion in cash. Writing dividend checks is one way to spend the largesse. Microsoft paid $32 billion in dividends last year, and dividends are expected to rise 10% on average this year. Many executives, though, are cracking open the piggy bank and looking for acquisition targets. P&G, for instance, is using its stock...
...backdrop for profits, and also expect the dollar to fall. That's a good combination for the big U.S. multinationals that dominate the stock indexes. After five years of small stocks doing best, says T. Rowe's Notzon, the pendulum should swing back to large stocks that pay a dividend...
...state-owned and one of China's top five electric-power producers, through two acquisitions. Says Li: "We have a number of new opportunities and challenges ahead." Indeed, China Power, which raised $369 million on its opening day, has promised to triple capacity and deliver a 25% dividend in five years.--By Nellie Huang...
...slashing its debt by $4.4 billion. Another sign of confidence: in June, Breen launched Tyco's first ad campaign since the scandal. With so much cash on hand, Breen is in the enviable position of figuring out how to spend it. Next year he plans to raise Tyco's dividend and make at least one acquisition in health care or electronics. Wary of anything that looks like hubris, Breen shrugs off his role as poster boy for corporate housecleaning but admits, "It feels good to be at a great company." --By Jyoti Thottam