Companies Are Optimistic About Their Earnings

In this week's issue of Barron's, Shirley A. Lazo contributed a piece on the sunny outlook of dividends growth. The article reported that, according to S&P's senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt, dividend investors would see dividends rising 11.1% in the first half of 2011. More importantly,

He noted, too, that enrichments are commitments not just to current payments but to coming obligations. So it looks as if companies are optimistic about their earnings and cash flow down the road.

This is encouraging as we are about to enter the earnings season. We will see rosy numbers if the rising dividends correctly reflected companies' confidence towards the economy.