re: buy and hold?

haha i dont know how much money id have left if we got to that point, I bought alot today with 40% of my available cash, I saw prices i hadn't seen in months and dove in....

No they completely do fit the criteria on the surface but:

1.I hate GE, like I said in another post, tell me what they do in 5 words or less.You can't bc they do everything imaginable, and their financial arm is what burned them in the recent recession. Coke is soda, PM is cigarettes, GE is clusterfrick

2. ATT is misleading bc their payout ratio is unsustainable and I think the stock is frankly overpriced at 30x earnings. You wan't a telecom with a big yield thats still growing, but China Mobile, the yield is near 5% and china mobile has 700 million customers and growing, yes double our american population. China mobile has tons of cash, ATT has tons of debt, I don't like it, don't like utilities in general, they're low growth, low dividend increases ie under 5%

3.JNJ I like, I just never bought into it.

4.Pfizer,Dupont,Waste Management I don't really follow much, it's not a knock against them, I just like buying what I know, so you very well could have some phenomenal things.

Im just very bullish on consumer staples that tend to not be affected by consumers reducing spending habits.I can't forsee any economic collapse that would turn people away from sodas,cigarettes, or toilet paper.I could see an economic collapse where people would drive less and use less gas, cut their high end phone with ATT to a pay as you go like cricket. I know unemployed people who come in my stores and buy cigarettes and sodas while walking on foot. I can't really see an unemployed person footing $120/month phone bill like i do with ATT for my iphone. Just remember 1 in 6 americans is on food stamps, those people will have a hard time buying expensive things, but cheap cans of soda or a cheap pack of smokes is always within reach.....especially for those who sell their benefit cards for cash haha

You've given me something to read into tonight as i watch the game. Waste Management seems like a monopoly. I was recently introduced to another monopoly after reading in barrons about how mccormick basically is one in the spice industry.

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haha nice....and like i said earlier in this thread, i like chevron but the growth just isnt there for me, bc the countries that are really ramping up oil usage india and china specifically have different oil sources ie sinopec in china.

That chart is exactly why i do not index...nice to see PM as the top performer with MO slightly behind!!! I still have to defend the smoking thesis to most haha

they were mine jim beam when i was 16....put $1000 in 3 or 4 companies to start. Find ones that aren't going anywhere, I suggest the dividend champions list to begin your search. I hope this is the start of an interest in dividends like mine!