Dividend Investing Is a Fad

Talk of dividends is everywhere lately. On Fool.com alone you can see plenty of evidence of that. Last week, Dan Caplinger gave us "5 Dividend Stocks You Shouldn't Go Without," Jeremy Phillips told us about his favorite dividend stock, and Tim Beyers and Ilan Moscovitz explained why Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) is the most unlikely dividend play. But why are investors suddenly so fixated on dividends? A week ago, I took a look at what economist Gary Shilling had to say about the economy and the investment landscape. It wasn't pretty, but I think he has a pretty good handle on why many investors are turning to dividends -- namely, they are concerned that capital gains will be hard to come by in the years ahead, and they believe they'll have to count on dividends for most of their returns.... Read more