High Dividend a Red Flag... I see feathers are being ruffled... At least you still have some feathers - unlike those poor birds drowning in the tar.... Lets clear up a few things boys: The Dividend Capture game is not necessarily just for trading for capital gains, it is to collect the income which is taxed differently depending upon how your accounts are structured... As for the fundamentals of COS , its capex blah blah blah - this is all known to the market - but the stock is still not going up.... So you are wrong and the market is right... Other dud stocks like RIM (and my recent switch from TCK to Cameco - which is just a spec play) are doing quite nicely - unlike COS which is remaining a dud. For the brave it could be wise to sniff around CNQ - or at least watch how it behaves during its upcoming earnings.. But be aware that volality is going to increase signicantly this year -->- so this is a year to be more of a trader than a holder... And, Oh buy the way, YES, the S&P 500 is the 'Benchmark' (or better yet the 'NYSE index'), - if people are making significantly more money than you with less risk holding the world's mostly widely followed stock market Benchmark - you are doing something seriously wrong.. kindest regards...