Dividends

The Federal Reserve is urging Wells Fargo & Co. and dozens of banks getting bailout funds to consider future loan losses and the need to bolster capital before paying dividends to shareholders. The Fed told its regional supervisors in a letter that banks should reduce or eliminate dividends when earnings decline or the economic outlook deteriorates. The guidance may signal that some banks resisted dividend cuts even as regulators grew increasingly concerned about their ability to withstand losses, said Sherrill Shaffer, who served as the New York Fed's chief economist in the 1980s.

WASHINGTON - More than five years after the government seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers are close to breaking even on the controversial bailouts of the mortgage finance giants. The companies said Thursday that they would make another set of large dividend payments to the Treasury after reporting third-quarter profits, continuing a turnaround fueled by the housing market rebound. Combined, the companies have received about $187.5 billion in bailout money, though none since early 2012.

U.S. companies are boosting dividend payments at a steady clip, a boon for investors who are drawn to the regular cash payments Corporate America paid out $24.2 billion in dividends in the first quarter, a nearly 28% rise over the $19 billion shelled out in the the first quarter of 2011, according to Standard & Poor's Corp. This year, 677 companies have raised their payouts, a jump of nearly one-third from the 510 that did so a year ago. Only 31 companies have slashed their payouts this year.

Five years after Washington bailed out more than 700 banks, the money has become a burden for more than 100 community banks that can't seem to repay it. About a dozen of those are in California, and they are facing increasing pressure as the federal government looks to close out the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. The banks will soon face a big increase in the annual dividend they must pay the government on its investment - to 9% from 5%. Some of the banks will have to sell out or bring in new shareholders - who might demand control of the institution in exchange for the cash infusion.

The Obama administration has reached a preliminary agreement with BP executives that would see the oil company pay $20 billion over several years into an independently controlled escrow account to be established to compensate Gulf of Mexico residents affected by the disastrous oil spill, and BP's board of directors has eliminated the company's stock dividend, at least temporarily. The agreement on the escrow account was negotiated in a meeting at the White House on Wednesday morning, the first face-to-face gathering between President Obama and senior BP leadership.

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. announced that it is increasing the quarterly dividend from 23 cents a share to 25 cents a share, payable Nov. 15 to shareholders of record Nov. 1. Sunstone, a real estate investment trust, owns 20 hotels in the West.

Apple Inc. announced that Chief Executive Tim Cook would be passing up on $75 million by not participating in the Cupertino, Calif., company's quarterly dividends. With the company set to start giving out a quarterly dividend of $2.65 a share by the fourth quarter of this year, Cook decided not to collect the dividends for his 1.125 million shares, which would amount to $75 million before they each vested. Cook's decision to decline the payments was announced Thursday by the company through an SEC filing.

NEW YORK - Hoping to save shareholders money, Costco joined a growing list of companies issuing dividend payments this year, rather than waiting and seeing if tax rates rise as Congress wrangles over the "fiscal cliff. " The warehouse retailer said Wednesday that it would pay shareholders a special dividend of $7 a share before the end of the calendar year, "our latest effort in returning capital to our shareholders," said Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti. Dividends, which are profits made from investing in stocks and bonds, are currently taxed at a rate of 15% for the top four tax brackets, and 0% for the bottom bracket.

The number of companies raising cash dividend payments to shareholders jumped last year, reversing a five-year trend of greater corporate stinginess. The turnaround comes as the Bush administration is said to be planning a proposal to cut taxes on dividend income. That could put more pressure on firms to directly share profits with stockholders via higher dividends. A total of 1,425 companies raised dividend payments last year, up 7.

More companies raised dividend payments in February than a year earlier, but the pace of improvement in the trend slowed from recent months, Standard & Poor's said Monday. A total of 158 companies boosted their cash dividend payments, up from 151 in February 2002, S&P said. That was the seventh year-over-year increase in eight months, but it was less impressive than in January, when 197 companies raised dividends compared with 170 a year earlier.

It started as a social club, a way for a bunch of Westside workaholics to carve out time for fun while doing a few good deeds on the side. As comfortable alums of prestigious schools, with satisfying careers, they wanted their friendship to become a lever of social change. "We were part of that generation in the '60s and '70s where social causes based on race and poverty came to the forefront," recalled investment banker Rob Deutschman. "We were all exposed to the civil rights movement, to Vietnam, to the campaigns against poverty in urban America.

Sinking money into real estate investment trusts is considered to be one of Wall Street's most complex investments. Owning shares of REITs gives investors an opportunity to get investment exposure to real estate, including apartments, shopping centers and office buildings. But they've gained a reputation of being risky and confusing - especially after the industry was pummeled during the last real estate crash. Even Lloyd McAdams, chief executive of Anworth Mortgage Asset Corp., makes no bones about saying his Santa Monica REIT does carry some risk.

There may be lots of questions yet to be answered about Southern California Edison's permanent shutdown of its San Onofre nuclear plant, but here are a couple about which there's no doubt. Who's responsible? Edison, 100%. Accept no argument that it did the best it could in overseeing a $700-million generator replacement project, but accidents happen. This wasn't an accident: It was the product of what Edison claims was its rigorous oversight of contractors. How much should Edison's customers pay for the misengineering and mismanagement that led to mothballing a hugely important generating station?

This smelled of a huge gamble. Looked like a reach. You had to wondered if it wasn't largely a publicity exercise, if the Dodgers had really spent a total of $61.7 million to sign Hyun-Jin Ryu. Yet nearly a fourth of the way into the season, it's time to give the Dodgers and their scouts great credit for the signing. Ryu, scheduled to start Friday night in Atlanta, has been fairly phenomenal. He has gone directly from the Korean Baseball Organization to the major leagues with relative ease -- like it happens all the time, not like he's the first.

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Shortly before Venezuela's presidential election, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recorded a video supporting Nicolas Maduro, saying he had "stood out brilliantly in the struggle" for a more democratic Latin America. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who was endorsed by Lula in 2010, kept silent on the ultimately victorious candidacy of Maduro, the hand-chosen heir of the late leftist Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez. The difference in demeanor between the two Brazilian presidents was not surprising to Rousseff watchers.

Apple Inc. will spend an unprecedented $100 billion to buy back shares and increase its dividend - a not-so-subtle attempt to appease jittery investors who have seen the company's stock plunge by nearly half in recent months. Although the announcement was intended to send a signal of how strongly executives believe in Apple's future, it came on the heels of an earnings report that included the company's first profit drop in a decade. The mixed messages about Apple's prospects left investors torn about how to feel about everything they learned Tuesday.

Dynegy Inc. said it would not pay dividends in the third quarter and has no plans to reinstate them "in the near term." The Houston-based energy marketer said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its board of directors elected to suspend dividends to focus on the company's plan to raise $2 billion to strengthen finances and improve its image on Wall Street. Dynegy said when the plan was unveiled in June that dividends would be cut in half.

Fewer U.S. companies raised cash dividend payments to shareholders in August than in the same month a year earlier, suggesting that some chief executives turned wary about parting with corporate savings. A total of 118 companies increased their dividends last month, down 24% from 155 in August 2003, according to research firm Standard & Poor's. Dividend increases also were lower in July than a year earlier. The last two months mark a change from the trend of the previous year.

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. is considering boosting dividends or buying back more stock in a move that could appease investors who have been stung by the sharp drop in the stock price. The company revealed it is mulling over such actions after an influential shareholder sued the Cupertino, Calf., technology giant Thursday. In a statement, Apple acknowledged that it had been in "active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders" beyond the $45 billion in dividends and stock buybacks it announced last year.

Ford Motor Co. declared a first-quarter dividend of $0.10 per share, double the quarterly dividend it paid last year. The automaker had only reinstated paying dividends last year as preserved cash to survive the recession and U.S. auto industry restructuring of recent years. “Our ability to double our dividend in one year is a testament to our One Ford plan, which has enabled us to maintain a solid balance sheet, while at the same time growing our business to provide our shareholders with more return on their investments,” said Bob Shanks, Ford's chief financial officer.