Investopedia: Bull Vs. Bear - Special Dividends Are A Good Thing

Question: Is early payment of dividends an effective way of avoiding the tax due to the fiscal cliff?

Bull's Response
There's really only one fundamental reason for publicly-traded companies to exist - to pool capital from shareholders, invest it in projects that generate positive net economic returns on that capital and return the capital to shareholders. Whatever legal moves a company can take to maximize the value of the capital they return to shareholders is, on balance, a good thing.

So too with the recent spate of special dividends and accelerate dividend payment schedules in light of the potential tax ramifications of the fiscal cliff.

Please follow this link to continue:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Bull-Vs.-Bear---Special-Dividends-Are-A-Good-Thing-ORCL-WMT-HCA-DIS1207.aspx

FinancialEdge: 6 IPOs To Expect In 2012

Although 2011 was a tough year for the markets, and one in which the major indexes made little progress, investors were still willing to tip into the initial public offering (IPO) pool. Well-known companies like LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD), Pandora (NYSE:P) and Groupon (Nasdaq:GRPN) made their debuts as publicly-traded companies, while HCA Holdings (NYSE:HCA) returned to the market. (For more, read How An IPO Is Valued.)




As we now turn to the end of year and look ahead, there are a number of companies intending to go public at some point in the next year. While a bad start to the new year in the markets could lead some (and potentially all) of these names to postpone their offerings, these IPOs are most likely "when, not if" events. Before leaping into the IPO pool, though, investors should remember that playing IPOs can be tricky; not only is it difficult to get access to the low-priced IPO shares, but many of these stocks fall from their initial first-day closing prices.

Read the full piece here:
http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1211/6-IPOs-To-Expect-In-2012.aspx#axzz1gFWhcqZM