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You know that buying a stock makes you part owner of a company, theoretically with millions of other people. But, while ownership has its privileges (at minimum you get a neat stock certificate and an invitation to the annual meeting), being an owner doesn't necessarily pay. Sure, you make money if the stock goes up, but only if you sell, and you can, in theory, lose all the value of your investment if the stock tanks.
Enter the dividend. Here, you get money simply from holding the stock. Companies pay a yield, which is expressed in a percentage based on the stock's price. For example, if a stock trades at $10, and pays a 10% annual yield, your dividend payment would be a $1. (Usually, companies break out the payments quarterly, so, using our example, you¿d get, well, a quarter each quarter.)
Companies that pay dividends fall into a few categories. First, you've got your big, stable companies that generate enough cash that it makes sense to throw some back to shareholders. Next, there are businesses, like real estate investment trusts, that are in the business of sitting back and receiving cash, then distributing it to holders. And, then there are companies that need to dangle a high dividend yield like a carrot to ease investor fears. Cigarette-maker Altria has been doing this for years.
Simply because a company pays a dividend doesn't make it a good investment. After all, you may want to take a chance on a growth stock that can move higher in price than dividend payers are known to do. But, you can¿t beat the safety of knowing that, even if a stock doesn't move in a year, you¿re at least making something off your investment.
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Friday, May 30, 2008
Preschoolers in Family Child Care Homes Need More Activity
Comtex
INDIANAPOLIS, May 30, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Study Finds 2- to 4-Year-Old Children Not Meeting Daily Physical Activity Recommendations
Young children enrolled in family child care homes are unlikely to be meeting physical activity recommendations for their age group, according to research released today at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Privately owned and operated family child care homes, as the second largest child care provider, may need to assess the opportunities and programs for preschoolers to be active based on these results.
Almost 12 million children under the age of five are in some type of child care, with family child care homes accounting for nearly a quarter of all child care facilities. This small study focused on an objective measurement of physical activity levels in 2- to 4-year-old children in this private setting in seven different, unrelated homes. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) indicate that 26 percent of U.S. children in this age group are overweight or obese.
Twenty-seven preschoolers (12 boys, 15 girls) wore an accelerometer to track activity levels for the duration of their program attendance each day. Researchers completed 86 days of monitoring. Accelerometers were not worn during nap time, and care providers noted times monitors were put on and taken off. The data was analyzed to determine the amount of time spent each day in sedentary, light, moderate and vigorous activity, as well as moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
When the children were not napping, most of their activities were sedentary. On average, 264 of their 330 daily minutes (excluding nap time) were inactive. Light physical activity was achieved just a portion of their day, at around 36.5 minutes, with moderate activities at only about 14 minutes. Vigorous and moderate-to-vigorous activities combined were just approximately 18 minutes.
"This is an initial glimpse into what we can learn by looking at child care in a variety of settings as we continue to search for solutions to reversing inactivity and overweight and obesity in children," said lead author Stewart G. Trost, Ph.D., FACSM. "Previously we knew very little about the physical activity levels of preschoolers in family child care homes, and now our vision is starting to take shape. Getting programs in place to help private care providers and building awareness about boosting these kids' activity is important, and can be an early intervention in getting them active for later stages in their growth and development."
Trost said he and his study team plan to conduct research to better understand the barriers to physical activity opportunities in family child care homes, and implement a "train-the-trainer" intervention program to help home child care providers adopt practices that promote greater amounts of physical activity and encourage healthy eating.
For more information on youth sports and health, please visit www.acsm.org.
The American College of Sports Medicine (www.acsm.org) is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world. More than 20,000 international, national, and regional members are dedicated to advancing and integrating scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine.
The conclusions outlined in this news release are those of the researchers only, and should not be construed as an official statement of the American College of Sports Medicine (www.acsm.org).
The American College of Sports Medicine 55th Annual Meeting is going on now at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind.
SOURCE American College of Sports Medicine
http://www.acsm.org
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
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