Is house an assest or liability?

Own a house is a American dream. Many people think a house is an assets.
House equity is a piggy bank. I don't think so. If you have only one
house and you live there, even you paid off the mortgage, you still pay
for maintenance, painting, plumbing, tax, ... It's a liability :(

ConAgra Foods Q1 2014 Earnings Call

Today I listened to ConAgra Foods Q1 2014 Earnings Call to learn more
about this company and food industry.

Transcript:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1703222-conagra-foods-management-discusses-q1-2014-results-earnings-call-transcript

Webcast:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1691852-conagra-foods-inc-discusses-q1-2013-results-webcast

Will Janet Yellen be a next Federal Reserve Chair?

With Lawrence Summers withdrew from consideration to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, will Janet Yellen be a next Federal Reserve Chair? Will she do a good job as Allan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke?

Let see...

Minimum wage in California to be $10 an hour

Good. But ... it may be a reason many companies moved to other states
like Texas or Arizona. I'm afraid the job market will be more
competitive. I'm rather have a job with lower pay better than unemployment.

http://news.yahoo.com/california-senate-votes-raise-minimum-wage-10-2016-001949422--business.html

Realty Income Corp

It keep going down. Almost 52 week low. $39.58 down 28% from 52 high.

Why? What's happen? Is there any change in fundamental?

Microsoft Stock Up On the News that CEO Steve Ballmer to retire

On Friday, Aug. 23rd, Microsoft announced Steve Ballmer will retire
within a year. Its stock up 7.2%, closed at $34.75.

Last year, on Nov. 13, 2012, Steven Sinofsky suddenly left Microsoft.
MSFT dropped more than 5%.

Further reading:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/microsoft-ceo-steve-ballmer-to-retire-2013-08-23-91033834

http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/11/13/microsoft-stock-sinofsky/

Special Dividends

According to Wikipedia:

A special dividend is a payment made by a company to its shareholders that the company declares to be separate from the typical recurring dividend cycle, if any, for the company. Usually when a company raises its normal dividend, the investor expectation is that this marks a sustained increase. In the case of a special dividend, however, the company is signalling that this is a one-off payment. Therefore, special dividends do not markedly affect valuation or yield calculations. Typically, special dividends are distributed if a company has exceptionally strong earnings that it wishes to distribute to shareholders or if it is making changes to its financial structure, such as debt ratio.

Vincent Mao, Investor's Business Daily, in 'Department Store Dillard's Unveils Special Dividend'

With the tax rate on dividends possibly rising in 2013, many companies are announcing special dividends to spare shareholders from an increased tax burden.

Department store operator Dillard's (DDS) announced a special dividend late Monday of $5 a share. 

... 

Companies from Drew Industries (DW) to Las Vegas Sands (LVS) to TransDigm (TDG) recently have announced special dividends paid out this year, before taxes go up.

Read More At IBD: http://news.investors.com/investing-the-income-investor/112712-634797-dillards-announces-special-payout-to-shareholders.htm#ixzz2DUCgrtyF