Shop Talk

Check out Newell’s incredible shrinking dividend.
 
There is one thing Newell Rubbermaid shareholders kind of have in their favor.  If you keep cutting the dividend by half, you never get to zero.

That could be important since Newell on Tuesday said it was cutting its quarterly dividend to 5 cents a share from 10.5 cents.  In January, it cut its dividend in half to get to that 10.5 cents.

Newell said it is trying to preserve its investment grade rating and that it is still offering a competitive yield.  But if this trend continues, the dividend will be about three-tenths of a penny by the end of the year.

Of course, that still isn’t zero.
 
Also in the basket:
 
Williams-Sonoma 4th-quarter profit tumbles 
  
Smaller firms battle economy (WWD, subscription required)

(Photo from Newell Rubbermaid’s web site)