Resolutions for dividend investors like me + MORE Feb 1st

MONTREAL – The chairman and chief executive of Amaya Inc. (TSX:AYA) has told the company’s board of directors that he’s interested in buying out other shareholders for $21 per share in cash — 40 per cent above the Friday closing price.
The company’s board has set up a special committee, headed by lead independent director Dave Gadhia, to review any formal proposal brought forward by chairman-CEO David Baazov and any other alternatives.
Amaya, a Montreal-based company that owns PokerStars and various other online gaming businesses, didn’t provide a reason for Baazov’s proposal.
The company’s stock hasn’t recovered since plunging from above $31 in early November after it lowered its financial expectations for 2015.
Amaya’s stock hit a 52-week low of C$13.73 last week and closed Friday at C$14.99 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The post CEO of online gaming firm Amaya interested in buying out other shareholders appeared first on Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News.

Learn, save, invest and prosper with My Own Advisor.
I recently read some articles over the last few weeks about resolutions for investors this year. With oil prices tanking and our Canadian dollar dropping like a stone, I thought I’d offer my own take, when it comes to my approach to dividend investing so here goes.

Stay an owner

My intent (easier said than done when stocks are falling…) is to buy and hold companies that have a long history of rewarding shareholders.  Yes, the market is a mess right now and it could drop much further but I’m confident the companies we own will not only survive this market downturn but most of them will continue to pay dividends during it.  I’m also an owner in thousands of companies via low-cost Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) so this provides me with some additional diversification.

Be patient

If the stock market falls 10%, 20%, or even 30%+, and it worries you, you probably have too many equities in your portfolio.  Stock market corrections and crashes, can, do, and will happen…

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Dominion Resources will spend approximately $4.4 billion to acquire Questar in a big reach to the West for the East Coast energy company.
Dominion is a power producer in the mid-Atlantic region. Questar is in the Rockies and a principal source of gas supply to Western states.
There was a rush of deals last year among energy companies who are bulking up with demand weak and energy prices plunging.
The combined business would serve about 4.8 million electric and gas customer accounts in seven states and would operate more than 15,500 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipelines.
Questar shareholders will receive $25 per share, a 23 per cent premium to its Friday closing price of $20.39. The deal also includes the assumption of Questar’s outstanding debt.
Questar Corp. will keep its headquarters in Salt Lake City. Its stock surged more than 20 per cent Monday before the opening bell.
The transaction is targeted to close by the end of the year, according to Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion Resources Inc…

iRobot’s AVA 500 enables remote collaboration on the go. (iRobot)
Long the subject of science fiction, robots have suddenly become a here-and-now phenomenon. The Roomba, a self-directed vacuum cleaner, is cleaning our floors. Self-driving cars are venturing onto public roads, and robots outnumber workers in factories. There’s even a robot-staffed hotel in Japan.
Meet the artificial intelligence tech your company can use today
Worth US$10.7 billion in 2014, robotics could become a US$83-billion industry by 2020, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report. While advances in artificial intelligence enable new applications, robots already on the market are steadily getting cheaper. Costs have come down by about 25% over the past five years, and they could fall another 20% over the next five, says Travis Briggs, CEO of Robo Global, an investment firm that developed its own 85-stock Robotics & Automation Index ETF (Nasdaq: ROBO).
Demographic issues are also driving demand for automation technology, Briggs says…

The $21-per-share offer represents a 40 per cent premium to Amaya’s closing price Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange