The stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends' is becoming more and more popular, especially with the recent increase in the stock market. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.

When you buy dividends, there are many stocks in many different sectors to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork has compiled a free downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week. WSNN.com came up with many companies all with market caps over $500 million. Here are a couple examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

NiSource Inc. NI ex div date: 10/29/2013 market cap: $3.9B yield: 6.53%

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. SKT ex div date: 10/29/2013 $1.3B yield: 4.12%

Zenith National Insurance Corp. ZNT ex div date: 10/29/2013 market cap: $1.2B yield: 6.20%

The rest of the ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the September link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. For more details on dividend definitions, check out definitions of dividend dates. Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Author doesn't own any of the above.

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Investing in real estate has been a strategy that falls in and out of favor depending on what the general economy is doing. In 2008 - 2009 real estate investors took a hard hit with prices dropping significantly but now that the economy seems to be flattening, real estate bargain hunters are beginning to reemerge. This article will discuss how a savvy investor can include some exposure to the real estate market within their portfolio without all the headaches.

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Real estate investors are drawn to the market because of the perceived potential for large returns. However, what many investors don't understand is that the unusually large returns in a strong economy is due to the use of leverage through loans. Because of the high cost of real estate, excessive leverage is one of the only ways  most individual investors can participate in the market but it comes with significant and often unanticipated risks.

Excessive leverage in a fairly illiquid asset like real estate can become an account killer quickly. This is the situation so many investors find themselves in now. Leverage has left them upside down on their losses and in many cases has wiped out years of profits. In the video we will go into more detail about why this happens and what it means.

The stock market offers opportunities to invest in real estate including the possibility of large profits with out the usual problems. This can be done through Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that are publicly listed as a stock and available to almost any investor. A REIT invests in real estate and then sells shares of ownership in the trust on the public market. When you buy a share of a REIT you are buying partial interest in a real estate investment. This allows you to buy real estate without having to use leverage.

Many REITs are specialized in a specific kind of real estate like Plum Creak Timber (PCL) that invests in land used for lumber production or Tanger Factory Outlets (SKT) that owns outlet malls around the U.S. Through REITs you can own a share of stores, commercial properties, residential neighborhoods or other income properties that would be inaccessible to most individual investors otherwise. 

If investing in a single REIT or real estate strategy doesn't offer the level of diversification you desire you may consider REIT Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). These ETFs pool investments in many REITs so that diversification can be improved. The iShares funds FIO (commercial property) and REZ (residential property) are good examples of these kinds of ETFs.

An ETF or REIT adds the advantages of liquidity, low entry prices and transparency to the possibilities of profits. REITs are usually (but not always) negatively correlated with stocks, which helps to smooth your portfolio's growth over the long term. While REITs can experience share price growth most profits come from dividends that can reach 10% or more. This makes them an interesting addition to tax sheltered accounts held over the long term.

When compared to the management requirements, financing hurdles, liability and liquidity issues of a real estate investment, REITs present an attractive alternative.

Many investors have been running away scared from dividend growth investing, after reading the recent harsh statistics from Standard & Poors, which claimed that 1Q 2009 was the worst quarter since 1955. Most investors who got scared from these statistics seem to forget that dividend investing and investing in general is a ...

Many investors have been running away scared from dividend growth investing, after reading the recent harsh statistics from Standard & Poors, which claimed that 1Q 2009 was the worst quarter since 1955. Most investors who got scared from these statistics seem to forget that dividend investing and investing in general is a long[More...]

from MyHappyTrading.com by HappyTrading! ™ Sign up for FREE membership! April 3,2009 - REIT Revival On Friday, April 3rd, a massive upward surge in real estate stocks took place in the final hour of trading. (see RWR ETF, right) Why? One would be tempted to say “short covering” but that was not the whole story. [...]

REITtalk Episode 105 Date: June 14, 2007 Guest: Dave Fick Senior REIT Analyst Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. Important Disclosures: https://stifel.bluematrix.com/docs/html/public_1236.html Program Length: 29:36 Website: http://www.REITcafe.com TOPIC: Dave's group at Stifel recently downgraded office, industrial, retail, and commercial finance REITs. Dave joins me to discuss his view on REITs today and what prompted this downgrade. Topics discussed include: * Why downgrade REITs when they are already trading 15% below peak levels? * What effect are interest rates having on private real estate markets and public REITs? * Capital flows have gone negative; what's behind this change and how long can it last? * Dividend yields are at all time lows; what yields are reasonable and what impact would that have on valuations? * Are there any bright spots in the REIT universe? * Is US real estate too expensive relative to other global markets? * When will it make sense to get back into US REITs? ***************************************** This Episode of REITtalk is sponsored by: Pepper Hamilton, LLP Attorneys at Law www.pepperlaw.com Pepper Hamilton is a multi-practice law firm whose reputation for results goes back more than a century. To learn more about Pepper Hamilton and their Real Estate Capital Markets practice you can visit them on the internet at www.pepperlaw.com Find out how Pepper can keep your next deal sizzling. Call Dave Fick at (215) 981-4000 -- and -- RealFoundations www.RealFoundations.net Delivering world-class business improvement, process optimization, and technology solutions to real estate investors and operators. RealFoundations has years of experience working with leading REITS and institutional investors. For more information on their breadth of services and expertise visit RealFoundations on the internet at www.realfoundations.net -- and -- Ashford Hospitality Trust www.ahtreit.com Ashford Hospitality Trust, the premier capital provider to the hospitality industry. Ashford invests across all hotel segments and all levels of the capital structure. For more information on Ashford's investment strategy and its full range of hotel capital solutions, you can visit them on the internet at www.ahtreit.com. ***************************************** Music: I'd like to thank Derek K. Miller from Vancouver, Canada for providing the music for this episode of REITtalk. http://podcast.penmachine.com.