I would like to share with the reader an article printed in the financial section of U.S.A. Today on March 7, 2003 which exemplifies the awesome power of a stock dividend.

MICROSOFT TO ISSUE FIRST DIVIDEND TODAY:

Microsoft investors will get their first payday today, when the tech giant shells out its first dividend. At 8 cents a share, the dividend will cost the company $850 million. Co-founder Bill Gates, who owns about 1.2 billion shares will receive a dividend of $96.5 million. The dividend marks a shift for Microsoft, which had long hoarded cash - to the tune of $43.4 billion – for research, acquisitions and legal claims.

After reading this article I couldn’t help thinking about a report, which I believe stated that there were an estimated 33 million people in America living under the official poverty level. Bill Gates, by giving away his Microsoft dividend to those living under the poverty level could begin to create 96 millionaires, year after year after year. What a boost to the economy that would be! Imagine all those new millionaires every year spending money on something other than food, Salvation Army clothing and shelter.

Bill Gates (by giving away his Microsoft dividend) could begin to eliminate all the hardships for those people currently living under the poverty level. Of course, I would probably start feeling sorry for all those people who were living right at the poverty level. I could almost hear Ma telling Pa now, “If we only didn’t sell those $40.00 worth of aluminum cans, we could have been millionaires right now.” Then again, those newly created millionaires would probably begin buying computers filled with Microsoft software and Bill Gates would start getting his money back. And, if that wasn’t enough, the newly created millionaires probably hadn’t read my book! They would probably start using their computers to start day trading in the stock market and end up right back where they started. Holy moly! I better finish this book or they won’t stand a chance!

(Note: Bill Gates and family have already given millions and millions to charity. It was announced on CNBC that on April 24, 2003 Bill Gates had just donated 28 million dollars to S. Africa’s AIDS program.)

As an individual investor in the

About the Author: Charles M. O’Melia is an individual investor with almost 40 years of experience and passion for the stock market. The author of the book ‘The Stockopoly Plan’; published by American-Book Publishing. The book can be purchased at http://www.pdbookstore.com/comfiles/pages/CharlesMOMelia.shtml