Double Your Money in America's Finest Companies: The Unbeatable Power of Rising Dividends (Almanac Investor Series) [Hardcover]

Bill Staton has helped thousands of investors increase their wealth with a commonsense approach to investing. It′s simple, and it works: Invest in well–run, profitable companies with long histories of rising annual earnings and dividends. Now, in Double Your Money in America′s Finest Companies, Staton shows readers how to achieve this goal. He reveals how to screen public companies, scrutinize their earnings history, and invest in those that consistently pay higher yearly cash dividends. Staton′s longstanding method of investing allows readers to take charge of their financial future by following an approach that has proven itself time and again.

Making your money work for you ought to be fun, easy, safe, and sure. You shouldn′t have to be a professional or spend every waking moment studying the markets. And you shouldn′t have to take a lot of time from your own career and personal life. Investing, says Bill Staton, isn′t voodoo or hocus–pocus. To invest means to put money to work today so that it will earn more money for the future. Staton, a successful financial advisor and money manager for almost four decades, has helped thousands of people invest wisely—just by following a few simple guidelines.

In Double Your Money in America′s Finest Companies®, he shares his simple, time–tested way to make your money grow at an above–average rate with sub–stantially reduced risk. His investment philosophy is straightforward and uncomplicated: invest in well–run, profitable companies with long histories of rising annual dividends and/or earnings, and watch the profits grow.

Staton′s investment program is built around America′s Finest Companies®—those shown to have delivered consistently superior returns over time—and will teach you how to be your own money manager. The author has whittled down the entire universe of more than 20,000 U.S. stocks to just over 300 of the highest–quality firms that historically have outperformed the market with below–average risk. With no Wall Street jargon, no complicated rules, and no complex formulas, he shows how to build and manage your own "mini–fund" picked from America′s Finest Companies®—and potentially outperform at least 75 percent of the pros 100 percent of the time. Using lively quips and anecdotes to illustrate his points, Staton draws in large part from the philosophies of value investors Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett, helping readers align themselves with the investment wisdom and success of these self–made legends.

This book′s valuable appendix contains a complete listing of America′s Finest Companies® with details on each company that include dividend yields, information on dividend reinvestment programs, and more. Double Your Money in America′s Finest Companies® is an easy–to–read and –understand guide to making money with the cream of American companies. This simple, time–proven, powerful method should help anyone dramatically improve his or her financial health.

Bill Staton, MBA, CFA, began his investment career as a securities analyst with Interstate Securities (now part of Wachovia Securities) in 1971. He founded The Staton Institute® Inc. (www.statoninstitute.com) in 1986, helping thousands of people increase their wealth with a commonsense value approach to investing. A frequent speaker on investing and economic issues, Staton has been profiled or quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, Barron′s, BusinessWeek, and Money magazine. He is the author of five books on investing and has an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.