Stocks took domestic strife in stride, focusing instead on the reopening of businesses and subsiding pandemic panic. Major U.S. market averages just posted their third consecutive week with gains of 3% or more, notes John Dobosz, editor of Forbes Dividend Investor— and a participating speaker at MoneyShow's Virtual Event on June 10-12.
The last time that happened for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which jumped 6.8% last week, was 1933. That was also the year that gross domestic product bottomed during the Great Depression, and when unemployment hit its peak of 25%.
If the employment picture continues to improve, and if hospitals are not full of new Covid-19 cases, this will likely go down as the quickest recession on record–if it is officially declared as such by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
New York-based ViacomCBS (VIAC) — a new addition to our portfolio — is a mass media company that creates and distributes content to audiences around the world. Founded by Sumner Redstone in 1986, the company operates its business in segments that include news and entertainment, cable networks, publishing, and local media.
Its entertainment assets include the CBS Television Network, CBS Television Studios, and CBS Interactive, while cable networks encompass Showtime, CBS Sports Network, and Smithsonian Networks.
ViacomCBS also operates in consumer book publishing with imprints like Simon & Schuster and Scribner. Revenue this year is expected to dip 5.2% to $26.4 billion, and earnings are forecast to decline 25.1%.
Despite the tough year, pessimism is already reflected in the discounts to historical valuations: VIAC trades 51.6% below its five-year average price-to-sales ratio, and 53.1% below its average price-earnings ratio.
Dividends have grown 17% a year over the past decade, and the ex-dividend date for a $0.24 per share quarterly payout is next Friday, June 12.
