Investing Strategy Archives - The Dividend Guy Blog

Why Cash Flow from Operations Isn’t My First Screen—and Where It Wins Big

Blog, Dividend Growth, Investing Strategy

Cash flow is powerful—but as a first screen, it’s too volatile. I start with the Dividend Triangle—multi-year trends in revenue, EPS, and dividends—to find steady compounders across cycles. Then I bring in cash flow to confirm my thesis and verify the safety of the dividend. If you want CFO mechanics and the BCE visuals, see Part 1: Operating Cash Flow vs Free Cash Flow: Follow the Cash (Case Study). The Dividend Triangle Comes First Your first pass should be fast, comparable, …

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Operating Cash Flow vs Free Cash Flow: Follow the Cash (Case Study)

Blog, Dividend Growth, Investing Strategy

Cash is king—and operating cash flow (OCF or CFO) is the clearest look at how much cash the business actually generates from day-to-day operations. It’s the money that hits the bank after customers pay and the company covers the costs of running the business, before financing and investing decisions. Many investors watch cash flow because it’s harder to “polish” than earnings. When margins are stable, CFO tends to follow revenue trends. That’s why management often talks about revenues and …

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Sell Your Winners Before It’s Too Late [Podcast]

Blog, Investing Strategy, Podcast

Your best stocks won’t stay perfect forever. We lay out a clear framework to decide if/when to take action on winners—whether that means holding, trimming, or exiting. Let's walk through how to define acceptable risk per position, evaluate concentration, and confirm the move. The goal isn’t to cap upside; it’s to make confident, rules-based decisions when a winner gets big—or starts showing cracks. Join our Free Newsletter to end the buy and sell struggles. You'll Learn Why …

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Learn to Love Company Debt: Debt Ratios for Dividend Investors

Blog, Investing Strategy

Debt isn’t your enemy. Mismanaged debt is. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’m comfortable with risk when it’s smart. Leverage, used well, is how capital-intensive businesses build assets that throw off cash for decades. Utilities, pipelines, and telecoms cannot sit around waiting for cash flow to fund projects. They borrow, build, and get paid back through long-lived assets. When management allocates capital wisely, that extra cash often shows up where we like it most: dividend …

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Confused about stock price movement? Listen to this [Podcast]

Blog, Investing Strategy, Podcast

Confused by wild price swings? Here's a repeatable, 3-step playbook to make faster, calmer buy, hold, and sell decisions—without guessing. By the end, you’ll be able to separate noise from news, stress-test a shaky position, recognize when a “bad” quarter is actually better than feared, and act with conviction—whether that means trimming, adding, or doing nothing. We show the process on real names (Nike, Couche-Tard, Granite REIT), and point you to a free replay with slides and cheat sheets so …

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Why I Ignore Morningstar’s Review (What I Do Instead) [Podcast]

Blog, Investing Strategy, Podcast

Star ratings are helpful—until they become a shortcut. Morningstar’s 1–5 stars are primarily about valuation, not business quality. Learn the smarter way to build conviction and why stock price (or past return) shouldn’t drive your decisions. Save your spot (or get the replay) for our New Upcoming Webinar: thedividendguyblog.com/webinar You'll Learn What Morningstar’s Stars Really Measure For stocks, Morningstar’s stars are driven by the gap between the current price and their fair …

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