HOUSTON - The oldest surviving artificial Earth satellite, Vanguard 1, turned 50 years old on Monday â and continued to turn in its orbit, just as it has done since its launch at the dawn of the Space Age. The craft is in a high orbit that promises to be stable for centuries.
Companies use dividends to pass on their profits directly to their shareholders. Most often, the dividend comes in the form of cash: a company will pay a small percentage of its profits to the owner of each share of stock. However, it is not unheard of for companies to pay dividends in the form of stock.
Dividends are cash distributions of company profits. If your company has 1,000 shares in the hands of investors -- and investors includes yourself, if you own shares -- and you declare a $5,000 dividend, then stockholders will get $5 for each share they own. Capital appreciation is the increase in the share price itself. If you sell a share to someone for $10, and the stock is later worth $11, the shareholder has made $1. That profit, though, exists only on paper and can disappear unless the shareholder locks it in by selling the share.