It looks like Dow Chemical will not be able to complete its purchase of Rohm & Haas on time (if ever).

Dow Chemical is now trying to back out of the deal due to “unacceptable uncertainties on the funding and economics of the combined enterprise.”

What they’re really trying to say is that the swift decline in commodities prices has made ROH a less attractive purchase, particularly given what’s happened to share prices and credit conditions since the deal was initially announced.

To make matters more complicated, Dow’s CEO Andrew Liveris said this morning that a dividend cut is another “one of the things we would strongly look at.”

That would be a heck of a move considering that Dow has paid a dividend every year since 1912 without one single decrease!

Learn more about investing in dividends and dividend cuts.

To your dividend investing success,

InvestingInDividends.com

“Laddering” is a good way to hedge your bond portfolio against any sudden change in interest rates. After all, it’s much like the concept of dollar cost averaging into stocks.

It works like this: You buy bonds with various maturities. Then, as they mature, you re-invest the proceeds into new bonds at the highest rung of the ladder (i.e. with the longest maturities).

The approach allows you to always put some money to work at current rates while protecting other portions of the portfolio. So if rates are falling, you have some of your money in longer-dated bonds. If rates are rising, you get to keep buying at higher and higher rates.

No, you never get to plow all of your money in at the exact right time. But rarely can anyone time markets so perfectly anyway.

Learn more about “Laddering” through dividend investing strategies.

To your dividend investing success,

InvestingInDividends.com

The New Year got off to a strong start with stocks posting a nice little pop on the first day of trading. And even after yesterday’s pullback, the broad indexes are still well above their recent lows. Anyone who bought on the dips has done quite well.

Will the good times continue throughout the year?

Fundamentally speaking, our economy is probably in for more pain this year. And don’t expect a bottom in real estate, either. All the latest data points to continued weakness across the board.

But there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, too. Especially when it comes to solid dividend stocks in the right sectors. So start digging around, and you’ll be surprised at what you can find.

Learn more about if the good times will continue throughout 2009 for dividend stocks.

To Your dividend investing success,

Investing in Dividends