The Virtues of Dividends
紅利的好處
As far as I'm concerned, a dividend payment is the ultimate sign of corporate strength. When a corporation pays a dividend, it's not just handing out cash. We can quickly identify several more positive effects:
在我看來，支付股息是公司實力的最根本的標志。當公司支付股息時，它不僅僅是發放現金。我們可以很快識別出幾個更積極的影響:
> Evidence of shareholder interest. Shareholders only indirectly control the companies they own; management is in charge. Except in extreme circumstances of executive malfeasance, it's hard for shareholders to step in and require companies to pay dividends or make other shareholder-friendly moves. And since no corporation is required to pay cash dividends, it's well within the reach of management to hold on to the cash generated by the business while it calls 100 percent of the shots. By contrast, when management pays a dividend, it's showing direct interest in--and providing a direct return to--the ultimate owners of the business.
股東利益的證據。股東只是間接控制他們所擁有的公司；管理層負責。除了在高管瀆職的極端情況下，股東很難介入并要求公司支付股息或采取其他對股東友好的舉措。由于沒有公司被要求必須支付現金股息，因此管理層可以完全保留業務產生的現金。相比之下，管理層支付股息，既給股東提供了直接的回報，更是企業最終所有者的直接利益的體現。
> Evidence of financial strength. It takes cash to pay a dividend. When the money shows up in your mailbox or brokerage account, the corporation has proved that, at the very least, it has cash available to pay. Financially troubled or fraudulent corporations rarely have the resources to pay meaningful dividends.
財力實力的證據。支付股息需要現金。當錢出現在你的郵箱或經紀賬戶時，公司至少證明了它有現金可以支付。財務困難或欺詐的公司很少有資源支付有意義的股息。
> A firm basis for value. Once a corporation establishes a reliable dividend record, it helps investors appraise the value of the stock with more confidence than current earnings or book values can.
價值的堅實基礎。公司的一條可靠的股息記錄，可以比當前收益或賬面價值，更有信心地幫助投資者評估股票的價值。
> Corporate self-discipline. Let's say a corporation turns a $1 million profit. It also has two investment opportunities that would cost $500,000 apiece. One can provide a 25 percent return on equity, the other just 8 percent. If the company doesn't pay a dividend, chances are pretty good the firm will make both investments, even though the 8 percent prospect is probably not a good use of shareholder's money. If the business has a $500,000 dividend in place, however, the corporation has to maximize the value of the cash that's left, and chances are that only the 25 percent project will actually be funded.
企業自律。假設一家公司獲利了100萬美元。它還有兩個投資機會，每個投資成本為50萬美元。一個可以提供25%的股本回報率，另一個只有8%。如果不支付股息，那么該公司很有可能進行兩項投資，盡管8%的前景可能并不能很好地利用股東的資金。然而，如果企業要發放50萬美元的股息，公司就必須最大化剩余現金的價值，那么很可能就只有25%回報的項目會真正得到投資。
> Better shareholders. Unless you happen to own 100 percent of a corporation's stock, you're not in the business alone. Hundreds, thousands, or millions of other shareholders are essentially your partners in the business. Where the stock's story is all about the share price, you're bound to find many of these partners treating your investment as if it were a racetrack ticket. But steady cash payments--and the higher, the better--attract a better class of shareholder. Folks who are in a stock for income over the long haul are less likely to overreact to temporary difficulties--or temporary gains.
更好的股東。除非你碰巧擁有一家公司100%的股票，否則你并不是一個人在這家企業。成百上千甚至上百萬的其他股東本質上都是你的企業伙伴。如果股票的故事完全是關于股價的，你一定會發現許多這樣的合作伙伴對待你的投資企業就好像它是一張賽馬票。但穩定的現金支付——而且支付得越高越好——會吸引更好的股東。那些為了長期收入而持有股票的人不太可能對暫時的困難或暫時的收益而反應過度。
