Bill Gates has gone from high tech to boring but under valued business, obviously his friend Warren Buffett has had a big affect on Bill...

Most people would agree that an asset allocation should include a defined percentage dedicated to international investments. As a dividend investor, this has been one of the more difficult allocations within my portfolio. I have identified several difficulties in locating, acquiring and owning international stocks:

Canadian National Railway Company (CNI) operates Canada's largest railroad, linking customers in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico through approximately 20,400 miles of track. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

Now that more than half the year is behind us, I thought it would be interesting to look at my top 5 performers through July 31, 2008. As dismal as the stock market has been this year, there are still some bright spots. One bright spot is that my top five performers have all achieved double-digit positive total returns since I owned them and positive returns in 2008. Here they are with comments:

In an utopian world, the perfect dividend stock would be one that is both high-yield and provide a high dividend growth rate. Its share price would appreciate ratable with its increasing dividend. All of this would be driven by increasing earnings and cash flow. Ok, so much for my fantasies, the perfect dividend stock just may be a balanced compromise. Consider the following:

This article looks at how Cascade Investment LLC, Bill Gate's money manager, has become increasingly influenced by Warren Buffett's value investing style.