Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) released a new tablet computer, a 10-inch touchscreen device called the iPad that can deliver video, music and other online content. The arrival of the tablet has been, as is Apple’s wont, shrouded in secrecy. All that remains secret is whether the iPad will… Read More

The recession has been tough on companies that pay dividends. According to Standard and Poor’s, companies in the S&P 500 cut dividends -21% from 2008 levels. That’s the worst year for dividend cuts both on a dollar and percentage basis since 1938. Read More

The fourth-largest grocer in the United States was in trouble. Its debt was growing and its earnings were shrinking, an unsustainable combination. It needed a turnaround — and quick. Read More

It’s been more than a decade since JetBlue’s (Nasdaq: JBLU) planes first took to the skies. As the company’s business model gained altitude, consumers have continually voted for JetBlue as their favorite carrier. Yet even with its legions of fans on… Read More

Last week a colleague of mine put a clipping from The Wall Street Journal on my desk. To be honest, the headline of the article — “Last Year’s Dividend Slash Was $58 Billion” — caught me a little off guard. Read More

Sitting in his college dorm room, a student stared at his jar of coins, wondering what to do with them. Two years later, Jens Molbak started a company that allowed customers the convenience of pouring their change into a machine and getting dollars in return. Read More

A 13% yield — these days or any other — is impressive for any company. Fewer than 50 out of the thousands listed on U.S. exchanges can match that payout. Such a robust yield is a show-stopper on its own,… Read More

If you’re swimming upriver while the tide is going out, you’ll expend a lot of energy just to stay in place. You get little credit for holding your own while others have been washed far downstream. But when the tide shifts, you’ll be far… Read More

A year ago, high-yield bonds were outcasts. The financial world braced for Armageddon, and investors fled riskier high-yield bonds in droves in anticipation of widespread defaults. Yield spreads — in this case, the difference between yields on high-yield bonds and yields on “AAA”-rated corporate bonds — soared to a record… Read More

It took a talking duck to make one of the largest insurance companies rise from obscurity to one of the most recognized names in the business. Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) provides health insurance for 40 million people worldwide and has received numerous awards for being the best-managed… Read More